The Real Dirt on Medical Office Cleaning

Never assume that just because a company advertises medical office cleaning that they are actually up to the task. Many cleaning companies think they can handle medical office cleaning, thinking it is not very different from any other office. However, what they don’t realize is that they will wind up cutting corners by NOT killing germs or cleaning for health. This can be a deadly combination in a medical environment.

Medical office cleaning employees need to understand the proper disinfection techniques and know all about the risk of cross contamination. With the recent cutes in healthcare funding, prevention of infections acquired in a healthcare facility is now more important that ever.

Specialized training in medical office cleaning is what separates the professional medical cleaning services from all others. To make sure that you sign on with a medical cleaning team that has the proper training to do the job ask the following questions and look for the following qualities when hiring your next medical office cleaning service:

Aside from standard training, what is their Bloodborne Pathogens policy and training?

It is very important for employees working in a medical setting to know the proper handling procedures of bodily fluids. A good medical office cleaning service has specialized training to educate their employees on handling biohazards. Leaving out this important training process could put your medical practice at risk and have facing huge liabilities.

Ask for proof: demand to see documented medical cleaning training.

Anyone can simply Google “medical office cleaning training” and learn how to talk the talk, so don’t be satisfied with just a sales pitch of their medical office cleaning training. Insist on seeing the actual training with proof that it is currently being administered to their current employees.

Ask also to see their ISSA certification. ISSA CIMS-GB certification not only sets the standards for medica office cleaning excellence, but raises it to ensure that your office is receiving the attention it needs to keep your medical environment free from the risk of spreading infections.

How do they define clean?

Since a dirty medical office can lead to life threatening infections, visual inspections aren’t always good enough when assessing cleanliness. Does your prospective medical office cleaning company have a measurement system using ATP Meters to expose contaminates that are invisible to the naked eye? What else can they offer you to keep your practice as clean as possible?

Remember that in addition to keeping your patients and visitors healthy, your medical office cleaning staff also plays an important roll in keeping your practice healthy. Patients rarely return to a dirty medical office and they certainly don’t recommend one to their friends. In addition, your HCAHPS scores is also affected by how clean your medical office is, so never underestimate the job of your medical office cleaning team.