  Hospital acquired infections are infections that occur in patients during
hospitalization, which were not present at the time of admission. They are
among the most common adverse events in healthcare around the world, leading to
increased mortality and morbidity rates, prolonged hospitalization periods and
considerable financial burden on both hospitals and patients. Preventive
guidelines and regulations have been devised, however compliance to these is
frequently poor and there is much room for improvement. This paper presents the
prototype of an extensible, configurable cyber-physical system, developed under
European Union funding, that will assist in the prevention of hospital
infections and outbreaks. Integrating a wireless sensor network for the
surveillance of clinical processes with configurable monitoring software built
around a workflow engine as key component, our solution detects deviations from
established hygiene practices and provides real-time information and alerts
whenever an infection risk is discovered. The platform is described from both
hardware and software perspective, with emphasis on the wireless network's
elements as well as the most important software components. Furthermore, two
clinical workflows of different complexity, which are included in the system
prototype are detailed. The finalized system is expected to facilitate the
creation and automated monitoring of clinical workflows that are associated
with over 90% of hospital infections.
