System and method for hand hygiene compliance management and horizontal pump dispenser therefor

Systems and methods for hand hygiene compliance management include a hand-held personal liquid dispenser including a pump and pump plunger that dispenses liquid from a reservoir inside the dispenser when depressed. The dispenser includes circuitry that detects and records each depression of the plunger, and a port for connection to an external computer to transfer data such as identifiers for the dispenser and its user, and time and date of dispenser usage. A compliance system includes scheduling, training and education in the use of such dispensers, and data collection to track compliance with desired dispenser usage standards. The system may include receivers, transmitters and transceivers to detect and record hand hygiene opportunities, as in patient-occupied areas in a hospital, and transmit personal dispenser usage and other data to a computer.