The abundance of data now available to laundry operators due to advances in technology is enhancing opportunities for collaboration between laundry service people and hospital staffs, according to several operators contacted for this article. This process, dubbed “systems integration,” features the sharing of textile-tracking information and other data between laundries and healthcare institutions with a focus on controlling costs and improving the patient experience.

“It’s communication…both with data and face to face,” said David Potack, president of Unitex, Elmsford, NY, when asked for his view of systems integration as a means of facilitating linen management. “We feel very strongly that ...