Radiological Care Services
The World's First Full-Service X-Ray Garment Solutions Provider
total X-ray garment solutions
STILL USING WIPES TO “CLEAN?”
The CDC advises that the use of friction is critical in physically removing soil, sweat, skin flora, dirt, organic material and debris from high touch surfaces. The outcomes of one’s cleaning efforts are tied to proper procedures being followed – any soil must first be removed before a true disinfection/sanitization can take place.
Our proprietary, multi-step process leads to better outcomes than just using wipes. The RCS proprietary, multi-step process is a comprehensive program designed to yield measurable before and after results. In using our state of the art, ATP swab testing system, simply put, we let the numbers speak for themselves!
COMPLIMENTARY GARMENT REPAIRS EXTEND THE LIFE OF YOUR X-RAY GARMENTS.
Our goal is to keep your current inventory clean and in good working order for as long as possible! Complimentary repair services help stretch our customers’ budgets as we are able to keep garments in good working condition throughout the year, thus reducing the overall number of new garments that may need to be purchased by the department.
We’re handy, what can we say? While some garment manufacturing companies charge for repairs, our contracted customers receive complimentary repair work while we have their garments in-house for regular service. We can accommodate most everyday repair needs, including replacing worn Velcro, adding hanging straps to skirts, swapping out broken buckles, mending ripped straps, sewing up ripped binding/seams and more. The outside covering of lead wearables takes a beating and is susceptible to rips, tears, burns, fiberglass casting materials, archived stains and more! We work to keep your garments functional and in the game!
BEFORE
AFTER


BEST PRACTICES INCLUDE PROPERLY CHECKING YOUR GARMENTS FOR HOLES, CRACKS & TEARS.
X-ray garments utilized by personnel performing fluoroscopy are routinely inspected for damage to comply with the requirements of hospital accrediting organizations. Radiographic examination of X-ray garments may reveal imperfections ranging from small holes to large tears. Though patient and staff safety depends on the integrity of the X-ray garments being in good standing, there are no standards establishing a criteria for acceptance or rejection of a garment. (Operational Radiation Safety, Vol. 80, May 2001)
Starting in 2017, RCS began providing this additional service offering with the intentions of removing this dreaded task from the “to do” list! You’ve already gathered up your X-ray garments to have them cleaned and sanitized, why not save headaches down the road and just have them radiographically inspected while they are already inside of our facilities being serviced?

RCS PROVIDES ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE OPTIONS FOR X-RAY GARMENT DISPOSAL AND RECYCLING NEEDS.
Part of being a full-service X-ray garment company means also helping customers with garment disposal and recycling needs. X-ray protective garments have historically contained heavy metals, including lead. Lead is included in the Toxic Substances List under the Environmental Protection Act Registry and it should not be disposed of as conventional garbage, but rather as hazardous waste. When disposed of improperly, such materials pose contamination concerns for the environment.
We know you have enough headaches to deal with on a day-to-day basis, so how about we make this simple for you and say, “Just send it to us and we’ll take care of it for you!”. Our environment today faces plenty of challenges, so it is our pleasure to help you do the right thing in terms of garment disposal and recycling.
DOES RCS HELP SOURCE NEW GEAR? NEW X-RAY GARMENTS? PROTECTIVE GLASSES? LEAD BARRIERS? MISC. EQUIPMENT? YES!
Being a full-service provider means much more than just cleaning garments. It is our pleasure to also help meet our customers’ needs in sourcing new X-ray wearables, protective eyeglasses, lead barriers, misc. equipment and more.
When our customers choose to purchase new X-ray wearables through RCS, we automatically inventory these garments, perform the annual X-ray scan to verify the garment’s integrity and then load this data into our cloud-based portal (RADCOMPLY™) for their records. When we ship these new wearables to the customer, they can simply receive them and no further action is needed.

RADCOMPLY™ COMPLIANCE PLATFORM
RADCOMPLY™ is RCS’s proprietary, cloud-based, inventory management software built specifically for lead apron tracking and regulatory compliance. After each round of scheduled service, customers’ RADCOMPLY™ accounts are updated with inventory counts, service records and full documentation for all compliance needs. Individual department reports or entire inventory exports are available in case of an audit or review. All service records, x-ray images, etc. are auto-archived in RADCOMPLY™ for the customer from year-to-year.

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

WHY US?
RCS started out as a garment cleaning company. Since that time, we have evolved into a total solutions provider for X-ray garments. In addition to garment cleaning and sanitization services, we are also providing complimentary garment repairs, X-ray garment scanning services, garment disposal/replacement programs, compliance-based, inventory management programs and more.
Early on, we identified there were several infection control and prevention measures in place within facilities today, but X-ray wearables and aprons were generally overlooked. Additionally, many healthcare networks were challenged with how to provide proper care and documentation of their inventories. The RCS Proprietary, Multi-Step Process is a comprehensive program designed to yield measurable before and after results.
Our process
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Perform Needs Assessment
Identify Inventory – personally pick up or receive shipped protective X-ray garments.
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Pre-Service Evaluation
Evaluate for needed repairs (worn Velcro, torn straps, broken buckles, etc.) Evaluate surface contamination level using our state of the art, ATP swab testing system. X-ray scan the garments to check them for holes, cracks and tears.
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Garments Serviced
Our proprietary, multi-step, servicing process is implemented (cleaning & sanitization are two different steps).
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Post-Service Evaluation
Confirming the results of our cleaning & sanitization process using our state of the art, ATP swab testing system Attach temporary “Clean Tag Labels” to serviced garments and update RADCOMPLY™ software portal for customer.
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Wrapping It Up
X-ray garments are returned to facilities in protective bins and enclosed in an impermeable wrap.
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Documentation
We barcode tag each garment and build department-specific inventories in RADCOMPLY™. This is our compliance-driven, custom software platform for your survey/audit needs. We build a living history for you of each garment and thus help you to always be prepared for audit.
THE WORLD'S FIRST FULL-SERVICE X-RAY GARMENT SOLUTIONS PROVIDER
Frequently Asked questions:
Radiological Care Services (RCS) is a privately held business entity headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team within RCS has worked closely with hospitals for over a combined 20 years. Throughout this time, it has been noted that health networks and surgery centers have many infection control measures in place; however, protective X-ray garments were often overlooked and/or not serviced appropriately. RCS has developed a proprietary, multi-step, testing, cleaning and sanitization system, based upon guidelines provided by the CDC, TJC, HFAP and AORN. Additionally, RCS offers X-ray garment scanning services and repair services for all types of wearables, including stitching, pocket tears, Velcro repair/replacement and more.
This varies greatly from institution to institution. In many hospitals today, X-ray garments are “wiped weekly or monthly” with a sanitizing wipe. The problem with this lies in that Infection Control Professionals and Clinical Staff alike concur that compliance and efficacy in doing this is highly ineffective.
Lysol. Febreeze. Cart Washers. Wipes. We’ve heard a lot of good stories over the years about how these garments are “cleaned.” After developing ringworm from wearing hospital owned garments, we decided it was time to create an industry. We’ve been at this since 2012 and have consulted with the governing bodies and garment manufacturing companies as we have developed and refined our multi-step process over the years. We are the World’s First (and only) Full Service Company and are the industry leaders. We are proud to provide references from AHRA Board Members and members of the AORN Executive Roundtable – We have now grown into providing service into 37+ states and to over 350 facilities. Ask us for some references and we’ll let our customers tell you what it’s like to work with us!
We sure do – Part of being a full-service solutions provider includes being able to provide new X-ray garments, protective glasses, barriers/shields and more. When customers purchase new garments through RCS, these wearables are automatically X-ray scanned, RFID tagged, and loaded into the customer’s portal before being delivered. Also, we can help our customers with old garment disposal, through our hazardous waste disposal program.
Contact bmocco@radcareservices.com for all New X-ray Garment Lead needs.
That same X-ray garment might travel from the OR, through radiology and end up in a patient’s room! This is both a matter of patient and staff safety. HAIs are deemed “Never Events” by CMS and are documented as the 4th largest killer in America. Under the ACA and through Value Based Purchasing, hospitals can be penalized three times for the same mistake. This is nothing to take lightly, as $30.5B was projected to be added to annual healthcare costs in 2014 due to HAIs. What are the costs of readmissions, additional surgical procedures, patient litigation, etc. for your facility? Long before Covid-19 surfaced, health networks were realizing that their quality of care could be improved with regard to the garment inventory.
We let the numbers speak for themselves…the DATA doesn’t lie. The Frequency Case Study (on this website) clearly reflects the efficacy of the RCS Process and also our recommendation for scheduled/regular maintenance. You can review such “before/after” documentation via that case study. When we test an apron, identify elevated RLUs and then later return it to the facility with a ZERO reading of RLUs, we stand proud behind our work and those results. The Board of Health doesn’t like to discover RLUs in a chef’s kitchen; therefore, we don’t like for customers to expose patient and staff members to high RLUs in a medical setting either!
The proprietary, multi-step process at RCS has been developed based upon the X-ray apron manufacturers’ guidelines and recommendations. (In fact, manufacturers of lead aprons recommend routine cleanings to prolong life of the garment!) Through cleaning and repair of your garments with RCS, we help keep your current garments in the game for you!
Hospitals don’t have the time, staff or space to properly service their inventories. Cleaning X-ray aprons and garments is NOT a simple process. Alexander Epstein (Harvard University) researches and writes about biofilms. His work states that layers of bacteria can form biofilms, which he documents to be more repellent of liquid than Teflon-coated surfaces! Thus, the CDC and AORN stating that the physical removal of organic material and debris is crucial as a first step in the overall cleaning and sanitization process. Additionally, we have found in order to clean the lead properly it takes a very specialized cleaning station and appropriate amount of square footage to accommodate each of the steps involved in the RCS multi-step, proprietary process. The complex nature of the process necessitates assigned “space” for each step in the process.
According to the AORN and the CDC, using sanitizing wipes alone will not adequately eliminate the microorganisms on a dirty surface. We have worked closely with both of these organizations in developing our process and have carefully followed their recommendations and “best practices.”
According to CMS, the HAI (hospital acquired infection) situation is growing more dangerous, due to the fact that many HAIs now are unable to be remedied with traditionally used antibiotics. There is now compelling evidence citing that hospital acquired infections are preventable. Trial lawyers have shifted the burden onto the hospitals and the Affordable Care Act and CMS now levy some major penalties on facilities for such infections. Subscribing to routine, scheduled, cleanings for your hospital’s X-ray garment inventory will more than pay for itself. The RCS fees for your facility are only a fraction of those fines acquired from CMS when reporting an HAI – you can’t afford not to find room in your budget for both PATIENT and STAFF safety reasons. RCS contracts are tailored to include different variables such as commitment based pricing tiers, RCS delivery and pick up (limited area) and more. As your partner, we build your program together.
We’ve still got you covered. Though we are headquartered in Indianapolis, we currently support facilities hundreds and thousands of miles away! We have a dedicated shipping and operations team that supports our out-of-State customers’ every need including providing RCS shipping totes and replacement garments for our contracted, out-of State customers. We tailor your program based upon your needs, the quantity of your lead wearable inventory and the frequency in which you will be having the inventory serviced. Though we’re based in Indy now, we’ll be “Coming Soon” to a city/town near you!
In their 2014 Perioperative Standards and Recommended Practices, you will observe that they recommend that, “thorough cleaning AND disinfection of perioperative areas is essential to preventing the spread of potentially pathogenic organisms.” (Cleaning AND Disinfection)
In JCAHO’s “It’s All On The Surface Article”, they position that, “cleaning AND disinfecting environmental surfaces in health care facilities is fundamental in reducing the potential contribution of those surfaces to the incidence of healthcare associated infections (HAIs). Additionally, they note that the “use of friction” is necessary to physically clean and remove dirt, organic material, and debris before disinfection can take place. This is part of the multi-step, proprietary process that has been developed by RCS. Think about it like this – You don’t wax a dirty car!
(CDC – Centers for Disease Control) (JCAHO – Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)