hyFive Hand Hygiene Tool
It provides infection prevention and control teams and healthcare managers with real time data on hand hygiene compliance, based on observations aligned with the WHO’s Five Moments for Hand Hygiene, enabling timely action and continuous improvement at hospital and unit level.
hyFive was developed by adapting and further expanding the Norwegian hand hygiene tool NOST, originally created by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
If you are interested in the hyFive tool and would like to deploy it in your setting, please contact us at hyfive
ecdc [dot] europa [dot] eu (hyfive[at]ecdc[dot]europa[dot]eu).
Video tutorials
Multimedia materials
This infographic shows how the hyFive Hand Hygiene Tool works.
Gloves are important in healthcare - but only when used correctly. Overuse, poor changing practices and skipping hand hygiene can help germs spread.
Frequently asked questions
General information
hyFive is a web-based application supporting infection prevention and control through structured hand-hygiene observations, aligned with the ‘5 Moments of Hand Hygiene’ developed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
hyFive works on desktop browsers as well as Android and iOS mobile devices.
No identifiable personal data is collected. Observations cannot be traced back to individuals.
User roles
In all cases, access is role-based, meaning that users only see the data relevant to their role (e.g. observers, administrators and coordinators). Full control over data governance remains with the implementing facility or authority.
Observers record hand hygiene observations during clinical practice.
Coordinators manage facility structures, observers and reporting.
Administrators create and manage the users (coordinators/observers) and oversee the facilities.
Observations and modules
- Hand Hygiene
- Bare Below Elbows
- Gloves
A session is a set of observations conducted during a defined period.
Yes, until they are sent to the next role in the workflow.
Reports and data
Compliance reports and Excel exports are available.
Coordinators and administrators have full access, observers can download their own sessions.
Other
Yes, hyFive supports centralised administration. A designated administrator (e.g. regional or national) can oversee multiple hospitals and extract aggregated results, enabling benchmarking and coordinated monitoring.
Yes, the system uses individual user accounts with role-based access. You can define different roles (e.g. observer, administrator or coordinator). A list of authorised users can be created and managed locally or centrally.
No. In line with data protection principles, hyFive does not record identifiable personal data for healthcare workers observed. Observations are anonymised.
Yes, the system records observation sessions and allows extraction of data related to the number and timing of observations.
Yes, these elements are included in the observation workflow and can be recorded during sessions.
This page includes video tutorials and guidance materials on how to use the tool. For hand hygiene methodology, WHO guidelines are the recommended reference framework.
hyFive does not prescribe or interfere with the observation methodology used. It is a data collection and monitoring tool, which can be adapted to the methodology already in use within each facility or network (e.g. WHO’s ‘5 Moments of Hand Hygiene’, national protocols, or locally defined approaches). Facilities are therefore free to apply their preferred methodology while using hyFive to record and analyse the observations.
The hyFive tool is already available for use and can be implemented in European Union (EU) countries. It is not restricted geographically and can also be used outside the EU, including in emerging economies, provided that the necessary IT infrastructure is in place. The tool has been designed to adapt to different healthcare settings and contexts.
hyFive is provided for free BUT countries or facilities install it at their premises, so that they control their data.
ECDC does not host the app and therefore will not have access to data. Your facility will be responsible for deploying hyFive but, as you will see in the deployment manual, the infrastructure and IT expertise are quite basic
hyFive is currently being prepared for multilingual deployment across EU languages.
