When a facility is looking at their healthcare linen management costs, the focus is often on the price per piece or per pound. While over-all price is very important, many times it is the linen losses driven by poor linen practices that will escalate costs.

Financial Impact of Poor Healthcare Linen Management 

According to the TRSA, almost 30% of healthcare linen is lost to misuse, theft, hoarding, transfers or incorrect disposal. The organization estimates it costs U.S. hospitals $840 MILLION each year. The main areas of loss are all controllable. By implementing or refocusing on tested linen best-management tools, a facility can make dramatic strides in lowering their linen loss costs.

Examples include:

Know where it goes

Use a linen management software to track where your linen is going. You must first be able to see where you are losing linen before you can plan steps for improvement. All Crown customers are offered a web-based software that finds and fixes inefficiencies at no cost.

Choosing the right bag

It may sound simple, but using the right bag is a huge issue. All linen should be placed in blue soiled linen bags, no matter the level of soil. Linens should never be placed in the trash and red biohazard/medical waste bags should NOT be used for linens soiled with blood or bodily fluids.

Using the right tool

Patient care items should not be used for cleanups. Employees must be properly trained as to which linens perform which tasks. Use rags, paper towels and mops for spills, leaks and other housekeeping and maintenance issues to reduce your linen loss numbers.

Educate, educate, and educate some more

Staff should be trained on the basics of good linen management when they are hired, and then throughout the year. Crown has several educational resources which we can make available or help train your staff directly.

How Our Professional Healthcare Linen Management Benefits Your Facility

By implementing best linen management practices, one of our large healthcare system customers saw a 46.6% reduction in linen utilization per patient - without affecting patient care. With Crown, we not only provide high quality, hygienically clean and comfortable linens, but help with all aspects of utilization and management.

Contact Crown Healthcare For Reliable, Ready Healthcare Linens

For more information on how Crown’s linen management system can impact your healthcare facility, contact us here.