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Preventing Linen Loss in a Residential Facility

Linen loss is a big issue in healthcare facilities, especially in long-term care like residential facilities. The problem is so prevalent that it costs the healthcare industry upwards of $800 million yearly. It can happen to even the most careful of facilities.

Here are ways to deal with and prevent linen loss in your residential facility:

1. Understand why linen loss occurs.

Linen loss, particularly in healthcare, occurs at every stage. There are areas, however, where linen loss is more commonplace. One of the most common reasons linen loss occurs is theft, both intentional and unintentional. A good example of unintentional theft is getting your linens mixed up with personal items. Another top reason for linen loss in healthcare is improper disposal. This occurs frequently around ‘soiled linens’ in long-term care settings and misunderstandings on their proper handling. Identifying how linen loss occurs in your facility helps you create solutions that target your specific issues.

2. Label items appropriately.

Labeling is more than just an indication of ownership. It is an essential tool in your infection control efforts. Primarily, it helps with sorting and handling. This allows laundry personnel to process your linens accordingly while ensuring that mix-ups do not occur.

3. Improve your linen handling process. 

Every stage of the linen handling process plays a crucial role in preventing linen loss. You’re looking at a fast-paced movement with many people involved. Keeping track of these items while ensuring accountability can be quite challenging for any on-premise laundry facility. Find ways to streamline your laundry process in a manner that does not jeopardize your efficiency and productivity. This might be harder to achieve with a small, on-premise laundry facility.

OPL’s Are Inadequate For Your Residential Facility Needs

It is easy to think that keeping your laundry management needs in-house is an efficient way to deal with linen loss. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Here’s why:

• Limited capacity. Unless you invest in a massive industrial facility, your on-premise laundry will likely be smaller than that of industrial service providers. This means your capacity for full-scale linen management is limited and must get by with smaller, lower-capacity equipment. Ultimately this leads to multiple servicing cycles – a method that is prone to linen mix-ups and subsequent losses.

• Risk of increasing overheads. OPLs are expensive. Trying to increase your OPL’s capacity is going to cost more.

• Managerial burden. Helping prevent linen loss with your OPL can cost your facility more than just finances. Dealing with the constant barrage of laundry while preventing linen loss can cost you additional burdens on the managerial level.

Securing Your Residential Facility Linen

How do you overcome your laundry burdens without the risk of linen loss if OPLs are not the best way to go? The answer is simple: work with a reliable linen service provider. Your linen service provider should have both experience and expertise. Moreover, your service partner should have straightforward sorting and labeling protocols that help secure your linens against losses and mix-ups. Their handling process should come with safeguards against these types of issues – dedicated route managers, dedicated storage, traceable paper trail, etc.

Contact Crown Linen Today!

Crown Linen has over 100 years of industry expertise and a track record for reliable, secure linen processing. Our medical linen service operations have helped countless medical facilities of all types and sizes. It’s time you experience the excellence that is Crown Linen.

Interested? Call us today at (800) 733-8090 to get started on your service or to learn more about what we can do for you!