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CASE STUDY

St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital

 

St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital (SLCH) had faced challenges in regards to controlling linen loss. When the leadership team learned of the cost associated with their excessive soiled-to-clean ratio, they knew something had to change.


Previously, SLCH tried to minimize linen loss by varying inventory levels in their exchange carts and delivering education about linen use and costs. Despite these efforts, linen utilization continued to climb.

Business Challenge

Having already partnered with IPA to control scrub loss with the scrubEx solution, SLCH again turned to IPA to address its linen loss concerns with the alEx Automated Linen Center.
 

As soon as SLCH alerted its laundry company that the hospital would be installing alEx, the company agreed to delay the impending linen loss bill. The SLCH team then worked hand-in-hand with their laundry company and IPA to develop a successful alEx program.


As part of the alEx targeted control strategy, IPA conducted a linen utilization study to identify the distribution locations where SLCH would see the biggest impact from alEx. The IPA linen consultants also helped configure par levels for the new linen centers based on national best practices and input from the hospital’s linen team. The hospital installed a total of 14 alEx Linen Centers covering more than 80% of all linen distributed.

The alEx Solution

SLCH saved $141,020 in the first year with alEx, or 25% of total linen costs. The hospital also exceeded its soiled-to-clean target by so much that it went from an impending linen loss bill to the laundry issuing a rebate check.


Nurses also are happy with alEx. “There was a lot of fear from our nursing staff about the change to alEx,” said Joe Surace, Vice President of Operations at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital. “Once the nurses saw how alEx communicates with our housekeeping team to keep linen stocked at all times, they realized that linen is now one less thing to worry about when delivering patient care.”


The clearView® linen management software allows leadership to monitor usage by department, enabling proactive service as linen inventory fluctuates. Plus, the linen department runs more efficiently thanks to the transition to par stocking instead of exchange carts.

The Results

  • Saved $141,020 in the first year with alEx, or 25% of total linen costs

  • Replacement costs eliminated

  • Pounds per adjusted patient days reduced from 13.32 to 12.35

  • Increased linen awareness among nurses and other staff

  • Increased linen staff efficiency

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$97K

REPLACEMENT COSTS:

$108,506 SAVED

Actual Spend | ■ Estimated Hospital Spend

[2015]

[2016]

$97K

$10K Rebate

LINEN POUNDS PER APD

YEARLY AVERAGE

[2015]

[2016]

13.32

12.35

PROCESSING COSTS:

$32,514 SAVED

Actual Spend | ■ Estimated Hospital Spend

[2015]

[2016]

$469K

$436K

$467K

$97K

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