• The Mayo Clinic reviewed several hand washing studies and concluded that paper towels are better than air-blowing hand driers. Plus, you can use that paper towel to open the door on your way out.... [url]
• If you're really worried about germs on bathroom doorknobs, there's an app for that way to open doors with your feet. If fact, there are TWO products on the market: the Toepener and the StepNpull. [url]
• Wristpull is yet another ingenious device that allows you to open a bathroom door without touching a doorknob with your hands. Watch this video of how it works -- and then begin to worry about the germs on your sleeve/wrist.... [url]

I think the key to making it work would be to make sure hospital workers view it as a helpful way to improve their own performance rather than a way of nagging them or penalizing them when they forget to wash their hands. Wearing the things would be irritating enough without having to worry about getting disciplined when the system made a mistake. One good approach might be to allow workers to disable the beeping feature, but continue collecting data about hand-washing rates. Even if the data weren't perfect, it would be good enough to collect data on hygiene rates in different parts of the hospital. Those parts that showed lower-than-average hygiene could receive additional training.