Patient Care Linen Usage

Details

Written by Robin Holmes

Question: I am the Manager of a laundry department in a 160 bed nursing home in upstate NY and have been hoping to find some comparative linen usage data specifically related to long term care. As we tighten our belts, I am being asked to bring our laundry linen usage into line with industry averages but I have been unsuccessful in obtaining reliable usage numbers from facilities or vendors in my area. I know other long term care facilities wouldbenefit from this type of data as well.
- Thank you, Dave Zoller

Dave,
I am looking for the same information. I manage the Housekeeping & Laundry at a 192 bed Nursing home in upstate New York. At present we are doing 7.2 lbs per resident day. Using two full-time aides (8 hours, 7 days per week). My laundry chemical costs run 8.9 cents PRD.
- Steve Becker

Answer: There are a variety of ways to measure patient care linen usage on an activity level basis-patient days, adjusted patient days and resident stays. Additionally, the measurement varies by pounds, pieces and cost. Many long term care facilities measure on a pounds per patient day basis. Because the patient mix and product mix can vary from facility to facility, an average comparison may not be the best benchmark. In years past, an industry standard was 8 to 10 pounds per patient day for an extended care facility; however, a better benchmark is to compare performance against your best demonstrated practice within your own facility or a like facility.

Robin Holmes
President/Sr. Consultant
Integrated Linen Systems

(Robin Holmes is an independent consultant with 18 years of experience in the health care industry. She specializes in Linen Utilization Management Systems and Cost Reduction Measures.)