One of the biggest challenges laundry and linen services in a healthcare facility is linen hoarding, according to an article on the American Laundrey News website.
Linen hoarding can be anything from keeping excess linen in patient rooms to stocking nurse servers and then requesting additional linen after the cart is full.
Hoarding can be countered in a healthcare setting by developing an organized, systemic approach to managing circulating inventory, doing so in an efficient and cost-effective manner, according to the specialist.
Experts recommend a facility undergo a linen system review, perform a linen inventory, use linen management software, establish linen utilization policies and make sure everyone in the healthcare facility, from the top down, is educated about linen usage.