MP83-19 HYGIENIC KEYBOARDS - DESIGNED TO REDUCE INFECTIONS, BUT AT WHAT PRICE?

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INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Currently, hospitals are under pressure to reduce hospital-acquired infections.One technique suggested to reduce infection is the use of a novel flat computer keyboard, which are easier to sterilize.In an attempt to reduce infections, our institution replaced all conventional keyboards with a flat "hygienic" keyboard covered by silicone.Although these keyboards are easily cleaned, lack of tactile feedback from conventional keys appeared to make typing more difficult and may increase the potential for errors.Medical errors cost $20 billion and kill 100 thousand people a year in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to compare accuracy, speed and error correction rates between a "hygienic" flat and conventional keyboard.METHODS: A prospective randomized study including 40 participants (physicians, nurses and medical students) was conducted in the perioperative setting.Subjects performed practice and recorded typing tests on the conventional and flat keyboard using a randomized, crossover design.Results were recorded as words per minute (WPM), accuracy, and error correction rates.Accuracy was determined by the number of incorrectly typed characters.The clinical impact of the two different keyboard types was determined by measuring the number of typed words for every patient admitted to the urology service for 30 days.The data for word count, accuracy and speed were compared between a conventional and "hygienic" keyboard when employed for a 1 year period.RESULTS: Subjects typed significantly faster using the conventional keyboard (58 WPM) compared to the flat keyboard (50 WPM; p<0.001).In addition accuracy was significantly higher using the conventional (94.5% vs. 90%; p[0.0236) compared to the flat keyboard.The percent error correction was similar (52% vs 52%; p[0.31).During the one month study period, the urology service typed an average of 526 (43-9480) words for 67 patients with a total of 35,245 words.Applying word and error rates to a one-year period, using the conventional keyboard would save 17.7 hours and 19,032 less errors compared to the flat "hygienic" keyboard.CONCLUSIONS: The optimal solution for reducing infection transmission would not compromise speed or accuracy.This study demonstrates that any potential benefit from reduced infection seen with the flat keyboard comes at the price of a 16% reduction in typing speed and 5% greater error rate.

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