Healthcare continues to move beyond the traditional hospital setting. Physician offices, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, infusion clinics and other outpatient locations now deliver more procedures, treatments and diagnostic services.
 
That trend is expected to continue. The American Hospital Association recently cited projections showing outpatient volumes could grow 20% over the next decade.
 
For outpatient providers, growth brings new challenges — including some that may not be immediately obvious. One of them is linen.
 

More Care Can Mean Different Linen Needs

A clinic that once primarily handled routine office visits may now perform minor procedures. An imaging center may expand hours. A surgery center may add physicians or procedure days. A health system may acquire or open new outpatient locations.
 
Each change can affect the type and quantity of linen a facility uses.
 
Patient gowns, sheets, pillowcases, bath blankets, towels, washcloths and specialty items may all be needed in different quantities as services evolve. For some outpatient locations, scrubs, reusable surgical textiles or environmental services products may also become part of the equation.

The linen order that worked a year ago may not necessarily be the right order today.
 

Limited Space Makes the Balance Important

Unlike hospitals, many outpatient facilities have very limited space dedicated to linen storage. That makes finding the right balance especially important.
 
Too little linen can leave staff scrambling during a busy patient day. Too much can fill valuable storage space, tie up unnecessary inventory and make it more difficult to keep linen areas organized.
 
Rather than simply increasing inventory as patient volume grows, outpatient facilities can benefit from periodically reviewing actual usage, delivery schedules and par levels.
 
The goal is simple: have the linen you need, where you need it, without unnecessarily increasing inventory.
 

Growth Also Creates an Opportunity for Standardization

For health systems operating dozens — or even hundreds — of outpatient locations, growth can lead to significant variation.
 
One location uses one gown while another orders something different. Similar clinics carry different quantities. New sites may inherit ordering practices that don't match the rest of the system.
 
Standardization can help simplify linen programs and control costs, but it doesn't mean every location has to operate exactly the same way. A surgery center has very different needs from a physician office. An imaging center is different from an infusion clinic.

The better approach is to standardize where it makes sense while building service and inventory levels around each facility's actual needs. 

Linen Service Should Grow With You

As outpatient care expands, linen service should adapt with it.
 
That means more than delivering what was ordered each week. It means understanding how a facility operates, monitoring usage changes, helping establish appropriate inventory levels, and adjusting service when patient volumes or services change.
 
At Crown Health Care Laundry Services, we work exclusively with healthcare providers. From small outpatient clinics to large health systems with extensive ambulatory networks, our goal is to make linen one less thing your staff has to worry about.
 
As healthcare continues moving outpatient, we're prepared to move with it.

Have questions? Reach out to your customer service representative or click here to email us.