If the staff and clinicians in your outpatient healthcare center have ever had a conversation about reusable versus disposable medical apparel and linens, you’re not alone. This is a hot topic in healthcare facilities of all kinds, and we are here to help your facility come to a conclusion once and for all.

We have all heard the words “unprecedented”, “unpredictable”, and “unknown” a lot this year. While those words have become mainstays of casual conversation surrounding COVID-19, they also carry with them a lot of stress on affected industries, businesses, and services, including outpatient healthcare.  

Stay-at-home orders that escalated at the start of COVID-19 caused a suspension of elective medical procedures and reduced patient counts. Just like all other businesses forced to temporarily shut their doors, it became absolutely critical for outpatient centers to reduce costs while patient visits, services, and subsequent revenue was at a standstill. For outpatient centers, many of which spend around 20% of revenue on supplies¹, inventory like medical apparel and linens was a natural cost to cut or reduce.

While some outpatient centers found themselves locked into agreement minimums despite the unprecedented circumstances, others found relief from flexible medical inventory agreements. Keep reading to discover how the pandemic has proved the value of flexible medical inventory programs.

To reuse or to dispose? That is the question.

In fact, it is a question that has provoked debates and research in healthcare settings for decades. Today, however, experts agree that reusing medical textiles is the optimal method. Some of the primary benefits of reusing medical gowns, linens, and other textiles include maintaining a base level of PPE during conventional and crisis capacity times, improving patient and staff satisfaction, enhancing environmental quality, reducing waste, and finally, controlling costs.

While all of these benefits make a compelling case for choosing reusable medical textiles over disposable medical textiles, this blog will focus on how disposable medical apparel and linens are deflating your bottom line—something that the healthcare industry is taking a more critical look at amid COVID-19, which has decreased patient volumes, disrupted patient flow, and reduced revenue.

All types of industries require laundering services, from healthcare and hotels to manufacturing and restaurants. There are laundering companies that serve all of these industries, using the same facilities, delivery trucks, and operating procedures for each. Outpatient healthcare centers, however, produce hazardous medical linens and laundry and therefore require specialized medical laundry services to minimize risks and maximize health, safety, and peace-of-mind for patients.

In this blog, we’re explaining why outpatient healthcare centers specifically need specialized laundering services and what an outpatient-specific laundering program should include for you.

At your outpatient facility, you spend most of your time ensuring that your patients, clinicians, and staff are taken care of. This involves a lot of different details, like managing operations, weekly schedules, and your medical laundry inventory program. Your medical laundry and linens are a vital part of your operation and play an important role in your patients’ experience, so they need to be managed well.

You know how important your existing medical laundry inventory program is, but the truth is, it’s not always at the top of your mind. For your outpatient facility to maintain patient satisfaction, you need a solid medical laundry program.

If the above scenario is all too familiar, keep reading, as we’ll review why your medical laundry inventory program doesn’t work—and how you can fix it.

Non-urgent healthcare organizations and outpatient centers are reopening and scrutinizing their safety and sanitation programs right now. Health institutions and federal and state requirements are urging these healthcare centers to get organized prior to reopening and be diligent about formalizing safety protocols that will impact the wellbeing and comfort levels of staff and patients.

One of the most basic safety protocols to assess is medical apparel and linen laundering. Reusable scrubs, patient gowns, sheets, blankets, and towels are highly susceptible to cross-contamination and the spread of infectious outbreaks if not handled and laundered properly. If you need help assessing your laundry program, read the new eBook: How Safe Is Your Medical Laundry Program and Provider?

Read this blog to understand how HLAC-accredited laundering services can help your outpatient center safely reopen with highly sanitized and laundered medical apparel and linen supplies.

In a busy outpatient medical facility like yours, staff routinely interacts with a wide variety of medical linens that are exposed to contaminants, including lab coats, scrubs, towels, patient apparel, and floor mats, just to name a few. Improper laundry handling can expose staff and patients to bloodborne pathogens, and other hazards that could have been avoided. Between visits from your medical laundry service provider, it’s vital that your teams follow several precautions to protect all of the patients and healthcare workers in your practice.

Read through the information below to get a complete understanding of how you should be handling your soiled linens between visits from your medical linen and laundry service provider.

Has your medical facility ever been so backed up that you simply can’t keep up with your laundry needs? Have you ever opened a storage closet in search of towels, aprons, scrubs, or other medical garments and found nothing but a disorganized mess, or even worse, empty shelves? These frustrations can seriously hamper the office workflow, leading to slowdowns, upset patients, and an unsatisfactory medical experience. That’s where the Nixon Medical Service Difference comes into play.

Outpatient facilities spend around 20% of revenue on supplies.¹ This significant percentage means inventory is big business to suppliers, not to mention mission-critical to outpatient facilities and staff.

Nixon Medical is your complete source for medical apparel, linens, and garments for outpatient facilities. We have the experience and resources it takes to help with every aspect of your medical linen and laundry needs, including laundering, folding, delivery, and stocking services.