Introducing the Buddy Badge System™
A philosophical departure from the competition plus our more advanced technology sets Buddy Badge apart







Advanced Technology Based on Science
Buddy Badge System is based on more than seventeen years of scientific research and iterative clinical testing. It is designed to work with healthcare staff workflows and requires no IT changes or building modifications to install and use. Buddy Badge System has been tested at five Toronto Rehab care units at UHN, with results reported in 19 published peer-reviewed journal papers, covering over 459,000 hand hygiene opportunities in our landmark papers.
Licensing & Intellectual Property
The company has the exclusive and worldwide license to all intellectual property related to KITE-UHN’s Hand Hygiene Technology (i.e. Buddy Badge System). It has 8 granted patents.
Engineering Innovation Effective and Affordable Solution Social Innovation Fully Customizable Design and Report
Hygienic Echo addresses the needs of all stakeholders - hospitals, patients and nurses.
The Buddy Badge System is both a technological innovation and a social innovation. Physically, the Buddy Badge is comprised of wearable badges, infrared zone markers, dispenser counters, and badge stations. The Buddy Badge discreetly prompts health care workers to perform hand hygiene when entering or leaving a patient room if they have not already done so. The Buddy Badge is focused on being a “buddy” to health care professionals. That means we are focused on solving problems for the staff as well as the hospital!
Instant prompting provided by the Buddy Badge can double hand hygiene. 8 granted patents. No radio-frequency transmissions. Ready for AI-enabled solution.
Buddy Badge is focused on being a “buddy” to health care professionals. Staff can choose to be anonymous as well.
More than 17 years of scientific research and iterative clinical testing. Reducing hospital stay by one day would already pay for Buddy Badge use per patient bed for 3 years.
The system is designed to be customizable for the users (e.g. personalized reports and dashboards), and customizable for different types of settings (e.g. LTC, food industry, etc.).



Electronic Monitoring of Hand Hygiene Compliance
The first publication of iPAC Canada – Industry Innovations features industry white papers showcasing the benefits of using electronic hand hygiene monitoring.

Effect of intermittent deployment of an electronic monitoring system on hand hygiene behaviors in healthcare workers
An electronic monitoring system was deployed 3 times at 6-month intervals on a musculoskeletal rehabilitation nursing unit in Toronto. Each deployment lasted 4 consecutive weeks. Each wall-mounted soap and hand rub dispenser was outfitted with an activation counter to assess the impact of system deployments on overall handwashing activity.

Secondary measures of hand hygiene performance in health care available with continuous electronic monitoring of individuals
An electronic real-time prompting system collected HH data on a musculoskeletal rehabilitation unit for 12 weeks between October 2016 and October 2017. Aggregate and professional group scores and the distributions of individuals’ performance within groups were analyzed. Soiled utility room exits were monitored and compared with performance at patient rooms. Duration of patient room visits and the number of consecutive missed opportunities were calculated.

Effect of electronic real-time prompting on hand hygiene behaviors in health care workers
Handwashing activity was measured by counting dispenser activations on a single nursing unit before, during, and after installation of the system. The effect of changing the prompt duration on hand hygiene performance was determined by a cluster-randomized trial on 3 nursing units with 1 acting as control. Sustainability of performance and participation was observed on 4 nursing units over a year. All staff were eligible to participate.
Hygienic Echo Inc
in Media and News

Toronto startup’s 'Buddy Badge' slows COVID’s dangerous spread
A nurse walks quickly down a busy hallway in a hospital, navigating the usual obstacle course of medical carts, patient visitors and health care professionals in her path. She’s carrying a blood pressure monitor, and has some pills to administer, when she enters the patient’s room. She knows she needs to pump some sanitizer on her hands, but before she can put down everything she’s holding, her patient calls her over. As she’s about to help the patient out, a small device clipped to her scrubs vibrates.

Canadian-made solution shown to improve hand hygiene
In North America about 5 percent of all patients in a hospital or LTC centre will acquire a hospital acquired infection (HAI), and some of them will die. In fact, 100,000 patients die each year in hospital from HAI and about 400,000 die in LTC – every year.
More frequent handwashing is a simple and effective way to lower infection. However, in a healthcare environment staff get busy treating patients, and sometimes they simply forget to wash up.
The answer may lie with a new Canadian solution called Buddy Badge. It reminds you to wash your hands prior to and after contact with patients.

Keeping an Eye on Hand Hygiene
Study reveals the need for effective ways to audit and promote hand hygiene. “When health care workers were not being observed, hand hygiene was practiced at 40% of all potential opportunities. When auditors were present, this doubled to around 80%,” says Dr. Vaisman. “Notably, the Hawthorne effect was limited to only the short and rare occasions that auditors were present. It also changed based on time of day and location of the auditor.” To address this issue, UHN is already exploring innovative approaches to improve hand hygiene, including the use of a wearable badge that vibrates and beeps to remind health care workers to wash their hands.

U of T startup develops technology that encourages hand hygiene to prevent the spread of COVID19
Improving hand hygiene (HH) is one of the most effective solution to reduce COVID-19 from spreading in hospitals and nursing homes. To this end, Dr. Geoff Fernie is developing a wearable technology that reminds first-line responders to wash their hands despite their busy schedules. This technology could significantly reduce the spread of Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs) including COVID19.

Health startups see surge in interest amid coronavirus crisis
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Hygienic Echo has seen growing interest from investors and potential clients. Dr. Fernie said the coronavirus has helped people realize the economic cost of disease. A veteran of the SARS and H1N1 virus outbreaks, he said COVID-19 has sounded the alarm again on the consequences of poor hand-washing.

Three Little Words
A simple, everyday action can help prevent hospital-acquired infections: wash your hands. To help encourage handwashing, a team led by Senior Scientist Dr. Geoff Fernie invented a wearable badge that provides a discrete reminder in the form of a vibration and gentle beep. With sensors that are easily installed, the badges can determine when a staff member enters or exits a patient room, and whether they have dispensed soap or sanitizer. If they forget to clean their hands, the badge gently vibrates to discretely remind them; after washing, a light on the badge glows green for positive encouragement.

What might destroy our dreams of a happy long life?
Dr. Geoff Fernie talks about his research focus on solving problems like Hospital-Acquired Infections in simple affordable ways to save lives and help people enjoy the rest of their lives.