AND a 38% decrease in direct costs This independent research was just released at the APIC2018 Conference in Minneapolis. The study involved SleepAngel pillows in an ICU environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I will update the post with the link to the study and the poster when I have a public link to share: What is the impact of introducing barrier pillows into a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia? Bassel Molaeb, MPH, CIC, FAPIC - Infection Control Director, Al-Moosa Specialist Hospital
 Background: There is substantial evidence indicating that pillows contribute to the cross-transmission of pathogens and this is attributed to the variability in disinfection technique and the pillow condition and construction. On the other hand, the costs of pillow laundry and replacement are always overlooked. This study discusses the impact of introducing barrier pillows into a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia on cost and incidence density of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-ACB) in the intensive care unit (ICU).
 Methods: Barrier pillows were introduced to replace regular pillows in the hospital. The differences in purchase cost in addition to laundry costs in the pre-intervention (November 2016 to April 2017) versus the post-intervention (May 2017 to October 2017) phases were compared. All infection prevention practices were maintained the same in ICU and the incidence density of MDR-ACB was reviewed and analyzed during the study period. The overall cost savings and the decrease in MDR-ACB incidence density in ICU were analyzed using Z-test and p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
 Results: The intervention resulted in 38% cost reduction (p-value<0.05) with the elimination of laundry costs. In addition, a significant 58% decrease in the MDR-ACB incidence density was observed during the post-intervention phase as compared to the pre-intervention phase. 
 Conclusions: Substantial cost savings are achieved by introducing barrier pillows since they are reusable and require standard surface cleaning only thus making laundry obsolete. Barrier pillows reduce replacement frequency because they are durable and decrease infection risks since no fluids and contaminants can enter the inner of the pillow due to the barrier filter protection and presence of a completely welded seam. The decrease in the MDR-ACB incidence is noted after introducing the barrier pillows although there were no major changes in the infection prevention practices in ICU during the post intervention phase.
 Keywords: 
Barrier pillows, cost reduction, incidence density
