Healthcare

Dock-to-Dock service involves the delivery of clean linen and the collection of soiled linen from the customer site by K-Bro. The preparation of any internal linen carts remains the responsibility of in-house employees. Under this delivery method, K-Bro sends a pre-determined quantity and mix of linen to the hospitals, collects the soiled linen from the site and returns to our facility for processing.

K-Bro’s delivery model with respect to exchange linen carts operates on the premise that responsibility (and accountability) for the cart make-up function is assumed by K-Bro. Using this approach, K-Bro provides its customer with a daily linen quota on an exchange-cart prepared for each department.

Drop-Shelf Cart System

Using this delivery model, K-Bro provides its customer with linen according to quota, by unit, via the use of a drop-shelf cart. When that cart is exchanged/replaced, all remaining clean linen is removed thereby making the cart available for the transport of soiled linen back to K-Bro for processing.

Dedicated Clean Linen Carts/Soil Tub Collection System

This delivery method is an extension of the drop-shelf cart system but results in better linen inventory management through a “top-up” of linen quotas. Using this delivery model, K-Bro provides its customer with daily linen according to quota, by unit, via the use of an exchange cart. A separate soiled linen tub is also provided thus eliminating the need to remove linen from the clean cart. The cart is then returned to K-Bro where it is topped-up to the predetermined quotas.

As part of our service delivery model, K-Bro can provide its customers with on-site or floor-to-floor linen distribution/collection services. Under this model, K-Bro provides the employees who manage the linen cart delivery and exchange function on behalf of the customer. K-Bro employees ensure all soiled and clean linen is moved to and from the designated holding area to the various areas in accordance with the delivery schedule agreed upon between the customer and K-Bro.

Our KOR Services program provides hospitals with a broad range of reusable surgical linen including basic wrappers for use in the MDR/SPD, various surgical gown packs and a variety of custom surgical packs ranging from a single item, to set-up packs, to complete drape packs incorporating everything needed to outfit the OR.

Textiles

Reusable surgical textiles are continually evolving. At K-Bro we make a point of identifying and testing the latest fabrics with a keen eye on barrier technology. The KOR program uses a variety of textiles that meet or exceed the barrier and sterility standards for each of the four barrier levels described in the CSA standards.

Insular Pack-Rooms

K-Bro takes its role in the provision of surgical textiles very seriously. In fact, each K-Bro healthcare plant is equipped with an insular surgical linen pack-room. Each pack-room is equipped with a dedicated HVAC system to ensure the standards required by CSA and HLAC (Hospital Laundry Accreditation Council) regarding air exchanges and positive airflow are met or exceeded.

Quality Assurance

The employees working in our pack-rooms are specially trained and dedicated to this area without rotation elsewhere in the plant. Key barrier items such as surgical gowns and drapes are tagged with their own unique bar-code or RFID number. On every pass through the quality control stage and again at the pack preparation stage, they’re scanned thereby creating a record of who specifically inspected and prepared each item. These measures are all designed to create 100% accountability which in turn maximizes the quality assurance outcome.

The Bottom Line

For hospitals wanting to provide their surgical staff and clients with the highest level of barrier protection in the most cost effective way and with the lowest environmental impact, the choice is clear – our KOR program is unmatched in meeting these objectives.

K-Bro will manage all aspects of uniform and lab coat processing, including laundering, inventory management, labeling and mending on behalf of the customer. In addition, K-Bro will deliver the uniforms to the designated holding area for distribution by either in-house personnel or K-Bro personnel.

Where uniform losses are high, K-Bro can track the uniforms with its uniform tracking system (bar codes/RF chip), so that the location and date of delivery can be verified for each uniform.

K-Bro will manage all aspects of the personal clothing program, including laundering, labeling and mending on behalf of the customer. Return of clothing to each resident can be managed either by in-house personnel or K-Bro personnel.

K-Bro maintains multiple tracking and reporting systems to provide sophisticated internal and external end-user reporting to our customers. Specific functionalities include:

• Linen Ordering and Quota Management Module – Accommodates standard quotas and daily ordering, accurately fill linen orders and ensure these orders reach the intended customer.
• Management Reporting Module – Manages the linen inventory by providing detailed consumption reports on an ad-hoc basis by department, unit or area.
• Warehouse Inventory Control/Linen Discard Tracking Module – Can track the amount of linen injected and discarded on a daily basis. This is compared with daily fill-rate reports to quickly detect which items have high loss rates and require additional inventory.

K-Bro employs a team of dedicated Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) whose primary role is to serve as customer advocates. Through the use of detailed consumption reports, in-service training, and as champions of best practices, they’ll work closely with caregivers to help reduce linen consumption while maximizing patient care.

Our CSR’s also serve as the primary customer contact for nursing staff and department managers on virtually all day to day matters relating to the laundry service program. This simplifies the communication channels and greatly improves the likelihood of a successful outcome on matters such as quota adjustments and repatriating lost and found patient property.

A tour of any K-Bro plant quickly illustrates the economies of scale and impressive automation that play a significant role in K-Bro’s competitive edge. However, another less obvious advantage is our considerable buying power. K-Bro owns and procures more healthcare linen than any other entity in the country thus further reinforcing the economic advantage for our customers.