Hospital laundry cart9/13/2023 ![]() In a requisition system, user departments place orders with the linen department for their linen needs on a daily/weekly basis. While there are fewer issues with the amount of stocking space and inventory, one disadvantage of a replenishment system is a diminished ability to supervise staff during the stocking activity. The par level may be a specific amount established formally through statistical usage analysis, based on the judgment and experience of the linen distribution person stocking the cart, or simply whatever fits on the shelf. In this method, the linen distribution personnel take linen directly to user departments to stock carts and/or closets to a par level. Replenishment systems are the most common approach and are used for all categories of user departments. Major considerations are the amount of space a hospital has for cart staging and the amount of inventory required to maintain the duplicate carts. This method, popular with larger hospitals, is usually implemented in major inpatient departments-the operating and emergency rooms-and works well in conjunction with handheld data-collection devices for linen management software systems. As one full cart is delivered to the user area, the depleted cart is returned to the linen room to be refilled. In an exchange cart system, each user area is allocated two shelved carts capable of holding a 24-hour supply of linen. The traditional ways to supply linen to end-users consist primarily of these methods: exchange cart, replenishment, requisition, or a combination of the three. EXCHANGE CART, REPLENISHMENT AND REQUISITION The balance of the linen stocking locations are designated as outpatient, surgical, or miscellaneous (a catch-all category for locations like dietary, doctor sleep rooms, etc.), and are primarily areas where linen is stocked in smaller quantities in cabinets, drawers or small shelving units. ![]() Thirty-five percent of these stocking locations (about nine per 100 beds) are designated as inpatient departments, which are generally, along with the emergency department, the major linen users in the hospital where linen is stocked on carts in large volumes. A 200-bed hospital would generally have 50 separate stocking locations a 300-bed hospital around 75 and a 400-bed hospital could have close to 100. Responsibility for getting clean linen to the end-user, however, has generally remained in the hands of the hospital.Ī recent study of users of Encompass Group’s ExecutorNET® linen management software program revealed that the average number of distribution locations in a hospital per 100 beds is 25. Materials management, dietary services and environmental services (EVS) were the primary departments to take over responsibility for hospital linen, and many facilities chose to become rental customers and leave management of linen replacement and inventory to a co-operative or commercial laundry. However, with the gradual closure of many hospital OPLs, responsibility for linen management was assumed by department heads who had little training or experience with it. The OPL manager often supervised the entire process, from washing to delivery, to picking up soiled. Many years ago, the responsibility for distribution of hospital linen was the exclusive domain of the on-premises laundry (OPL). Unfortunately, the realm of linen distribution may seem somewhat less compelling to hospital administrators, and the notion that there may be advances in linen distribution technology may have never occurred to them. Press releases announcing these new products are published in medical journals and generate attention and excitement in the hospital executive suite. Cutting-edge products introducing new breakthroughs in medical technology are launched every day in the U.S.
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