GIV Gowns are more expensive than traditional paper or cotton gowns. That is true, and we should say it plainly. They are also the product of years of development, proprietary design, better materials, more components, extensive refinement, and input from medical providers across multiple clinical specialties who told us what they needed a gown to do in order to better support both their work and the person wearing it.
The traditional gown was built to provide broad access to the body at the lowest practical cost. GIV Gowns were built around targeted access, meaningful coverage, movement, different bodies, different ages, different specialties, and different moments in care. That additional function comes at a cost because it takes more thought, more material, more construction, and more precision to produce.
We are not asking healthcare organizations or patients to view GIV Gowns as a more expensive version of the same thing. GIV Gowns define a different category: Patient & Clinical Experience Attire. They should be evaluated and budgeted based on what they are designed to contribute to the patient experience, the provider experience, clinical workflow, organizational differentiation, repeated use, and the wider purpose supported through the GIV Back Initiative. When patient satisfaction, provider satisfaction, the emotional and psychological experience of care, staff workflow, and total cost of ownership are considered alongside purchase price, we believe the additional investment is more than justified.
Do we intend for GIV Gowns to replace traditional patient gowns? Very much so. A standard does not deserve to remain the standard merely because it has been inexpensive and familiar for a very long time.
