Every clinic has a version of the same Monday morning. Room 3 is out of table paper, the underpads are gone from the cabinet in room 5, and someone is walking a sleeve of drinking cups down the hall from the break room. None of these items is expensive. All of them stop a visit when they are missing.
An exam room supplies checklist fixes that, but only if it is built around how fast each item actually leaves the room. Here is how to set one up: a par level per room, a weekly and monthly split, one purchase order for the medical and janitorial sides of the cabinet, and a standing order so the reorder happens without anyone remembering to place it.
Start with a par level for every room
PAR stands for Periodic Automatic Replenishment: the quantity of each item a room should hold at the start of a shift, and the count you restock to on a fixed schedule. The formula most inventory systems use is simple: par level = (average daily usage x lead time in days) + safety stock. Base the usage number on what you actually pulled last year, not on a guess.
Count per room, not per clinic. A practice with eight exam rooms and a supplier that delivers within the week should set a room par that covers seven days plus a small cushion, and hold the reserve in one labeled central closet. When every room is stocked to the same par, clinicians stop borrowing between rooms and the counts stay honest.
The exam room supplies checklist, split by how fast it runs out
Exam room consumables fall into two groups. The weekly group turns over with every patient. The monthly group is used once a visit at most, or only for certain visit types. Restock them on different cycles and the weekly items stop hiding the monthly ones.
| Item | Cadence | Starting par per room (adjust to volume) | What drives usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam table paper | Weekly | 1 roll on the table, 1 in the cabinet | Every patient |
| Disposable underpads | Weekly | 1 open bag | Pediatric, wound, and procedure visits |
| Exam gloves, two sizes | Weekly | 1 box per size | Every patient contact |
| Disinfecting wipes | Weekly | 1 canister | Every room turn |
| Drinking and medicine cups | Weekly | 1 sleeve each | Every medication or specimen visit |
| Cotton-tipped applicators and tongue depressors | Monthly | 1 box each | Ear, throat, and wound visits |
| Patient gowns and drape sheets | Monthly | 1 pack each | Full exams only |
| Specimen cups with lids | Monthly | 1 sleeve | Urine collection visits |
| Pillowcases | Monthly | 1 pack | Table dressing changes |
| Hand sanitizer and soap refills | Monthly | 1 spare refill | Dispenser volume |
Keep the checklist in one document with the manufacturer, item number, pack size, and par for every line. That is what a substitute gets compared against when a lot goes on allocation.
Table paper, underpads, and cups: get the spec right
Table paper. Rolls come in 17, 18, 20, and 21 inch widths, 125 or 225 foot lengths, and 12 rolls per carton. Finish is smooth or crepe: smooth is the traditional machine-glazed sheet, crepe is softer, quieter, and grips the table. Measure your tables, pick one width and one finish, and standardize across the clinic so any roll in the closet fits any room.
Underpads. Fill and size determine what the pad can handle. The Dynarex line shows the range: 17 x 24 inch in tissue or 22 gram fluff, 23 x 24 inch in 31 gram fluff, 23 x 36 inch in 45 or 60 gram fluff, and 30 x 30 or 30 x 36 inch in 90 to 105 gram polymer. For a standard exam table, the 23 x 36 inch fluff pad covers the surface and the visit. Move to polymer for procedure rooms and long visits where fluid is expected. Two sizes on the checklist is enough; five is a closet of half-open bags.
Cups. Drinking cups, graduated medicine cups, and specimen cups with lids are three lines, not one, and they run out faster than anyone budgets because the break room and the exam rooms draw from the same case. Give the exam room cups their own line, their own par, and a shelf in the room.
One PO for medical and janitorial
An exam room turns over between patients with disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, can liners, and paper towels. Those items sit in the same cabinet as the table paper, but on most accounts they come from a janitorial vendor while the table paper, underpads, and gloves come from a medical distributor. Two vendors, two delivery days, two invoices.
Put them on one purchase order: table paper, underpads, gloves, cups, applicators, gowns, and drapes on the medical lines; wipes, sanitizer, soap, can liners, and towels on the facility lines; one delivery and one invoice. Keystone's post on consolidating medical and janitorial supply covers the method for multi-building operators.
Standing orders and Net 30
Once the par is set and three months of usage confirm it, move the top fifteen to twenty lines to a standing order: a fixed quantity on a fixed delivery date, weekly or monthly, that ships without a new PO. The distributor holds stock against it, the office manager stops re-entering the same lines, and a backorder shows up as a notice before the shelf is empty. McKesson Medical-Surgical describes the same approach as automated replenishment that maintains stock levels without overordering or letting product expire on the shelf.
Three rules keep a standing order working:
- Review it quarterly. Pull usage by room and compare it to the order. Adjust the par, not the vendor.
- Name an approved alternate for table paper, underpads, and gloves before an allocation, so a substitution does not restart the approval.
- Put it on terms. Net 30 for approved accounts means one monthly invoice instead of a card charge every delivery.
What Keystone supplies
Keystone Supply Group quotes exam room consumables, including table paper, underpads, patient gowns and drapes, pillowcases, cups, basins, emesis bags, and applicators, alongside exam gloves, disinfecting wipes, hand hygiene, and janitorial lines, on a single quote. We work from 60,000 SKUs with stated lead times, stocked in Edina, Minnesota, or sourced through a network of more than 490 distributors, and ship from Edina or direct from the manufacturer. Quotes go out same day during business hours, Net 30 is available for approved accounts, and standing orders are set up by room count. Reach the sales department at Orders@KeystoneSupplyGroup.com or (320) 808-3686.
Browse patient care and exam room supplies or send your room count and current par list for a same-day quote.
Sources
- Quill.com, Exam Table Paper (widths, lengths, smooth and crepe finishes): https://www.quill.com/exam-table-paper/cbl/22750.html
- Mediplies, Dynarex Disposable Underpads (sizes, fill types, and weights): https://mediplies.com/products/disposable-underpads
- FlexScanMD, "How to Create PAR Levels for Medical Inventory Control": https://flexscanmd.com/blog/how-to-create-inventory-par-levels/
- BlueBin, "Healthcare PAR Inventory Management - Best Practices": https://blog.bluebin.com/healthcare-par-inventory-management-best-practices
- McKesson Medical-Surgical, "A practical guide to medical inventory management for healthcare providers": https://mms.mckesson.com/content/insights/a-practical-guide-to-medical-inventory-management-for-healthcare-providers/
