ImageFIRST: Focusing on Patient Experience

“We’re becoming great at helping to remove the headaches from some of our clients so they can focus on patient care,” says Jay Juffre, Executive Vice President of ImageFIRST. “We’ve taken our RFID technology to another level in terms of our ability to manage scrub programs and fluid resistant gowns.”

 

During the pandemic last year, the company started manufacturing its own line of fluid resistant isolation gowns.

 

“We added RFID chips in all of our scrubs and isolation gowns to track what’s coming and going as well as better manage our clients’ needs.” says Juffre.

 

The ScrubVAULT® System allows full accountability for the scrubs being used and by whom. Providers are able to better manage their inventory because the system relies on UHF RFID technology. This ensures providers have the scrubs they need when they need it, making it more beneficial to them and ultimately, also to their patients by freeing up staff to focus more on patient care.

 

ImageFIRST has also taken the ScrubVAULT System to a new level, according to Juffre. They added a Mop Accountability Program which now allows providers to take mops from the same secure vault that can be used with scrubs too. The program leverages an easy-to-use cabinet with a compact footprint that securely stores and dispenses RFID-chipped microfiber mops, giving clients inventory visibility and loss accountability. ImageFIRST’s hospital grade microfiber mops paired with its Mop Accountability Program will help keep any facility clean and safe for staff and patients while controlling costs.

 

“This program allows us to know who takes what when and whether they returned it,” explains Juffre. “It really helps manage those programs that, traditionally, have been headaches to administrators or to hospitals. The nice thing about this program is that it not only increases staff engagement and improves patient care, but it also helps save the health system money, which is always important.”

 

According to Juffre, ImageFIRST is now becoming more involved with facility services by offering products such as hand sanitizers, soap, paper towels, and toilet paper.

 

“We saw many of our customers having a hard time getting these items during COVID last year,” he says. “We saw a need and wanted to continue to be a solution for greater patient satisfaction and take that burden off our clients. A hospital administrator shouldn’t have to worry about running out of toilet paper. The staff needs to focus on patient care.”

 

During the pandemic, Juffre says their response was a testament to the culture and the foundation that it has built.

 

“We put three goals together: keep everybody safe, take great care of our customers, and keep everybody employed,” he says. “Those were bold goals. We executed on the strength of our Customer Advocates coming to work every day and our associates being very dedicated to safety —a value of ours long before COVID broke. So, we sort of doubled down. We doubled down on our culture and what we’ve built as a company. We could have developed any goals in the world, but without the team executing, it wouldn’t have happened. We executed well during the pandemic because of the foundation that we’ve built over the last 50 years.”

 

“ImageFIRST’s approach has always been different than your traditional linen company,” stresses Juffre. “We try to provide solutions and manage a client’s program. We focus on staff engagement and patient care, as opposed to focusing on linen. I think that’s very unique. Many linen companies focus on picking up linen, washing it and bringing it back. What we do is ask clients, ‘How can we partner with you and what’s important to you?’ The proof that what we do works is in our customer loyalty and our customer retention. When people come into our program, they tend to stay with us for a long time.”