HCAHPS, HAIs, CDC, AORN & other Fun Acronyms
Medical and hospital cleaning has become much more challenging in the 21st Century and if your healthcare cleaning company isn’t capable of doing their part, patient safety, confidence, HCAHPS scores and your reputation could all suffer. Hospitals are seeing higher volumes of patients and even though we know more about infection transmission than ever before, Healthcare Associated Infections have become a major point of concern for hospitals, clinics, surgical centers, other medical facilities, health care professionals, patients and their families. Most health care facilities want to be thought of as a place for health and healing, not a place you get sicker.
In 2000 alone, over 100,000 people were killed from health care associated infections (HAIs). Nearly 75% of those fatal infections were considered preventable. With many health care facilities now required to release their rates of infection, patients and their families are paying attention to the cleanliness of their medical facilities when they choose a provider, clinic or hospital for their care or the care of a family member. Don’t let subpar medical cleaning put your patients and staff at risk or soil your facility’s reputation.
Finding a Medical Cleaning Company That Doesn’t Just Want Your Business, They’ve Earned It
Hospital cleaning and medical cleaning services, while an attractive market segment for many commercial cleaning companies, continues to require much more than general office cleaning. Many janitorial companies have gotten on board and sought out training and systems to serve the medical cleaning requirements of area hospitals, clinics, ambulatory centers and even medical facility offices. As we suit up to battle the newest strains of virus and disease that find their way into health care facilities, is your building maintenance company up to the job?
How is Hospital Cleaning More Challenging?
Healthcare-associated infections affect as many as 2 million people every year, yet a third of those cases are considered preventable if the recommended infection control procedures were in place. If your office cleaning company does little more than a cursory cleaning in your office it might look uninviting and yes, even contribute to the spread of common illnesses like cold, flus and respiratory illnesses. But if you get the same substandard cleaning in a hospital or health care setting, it could result in catastrophic complications and even the death of a patient or patients. Even when it comes to medical office cleaning, the care given to compliance issues and safety is paramount. Even medical office cleaning requires that the duties performed must be adapted to a healthcare setting from hospitals to outpatient care centers. Healthcare cleaning comes with its own set of hazards, requirements, safety and compliance issues and if your Detroit commercial cleaning company doesn’t fully understand health care cleaning, they are putting you, your patients, staff and even their people at risk.
Does Your Medical Cleaning Company Understand Health Regulations in Hospital Cleaning
The Hospital Consumer Assessments of "Healthcare Providers and Systems” survey, or HCAHPS, set into motion a plan to reduce reimbursements for poor quality heath care services. On the HCAHPS assessment, the cleanliness of the healthcare environment gets real consideration. Between HIPPA, HCAHPS, OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration), CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommendations, AORN (Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses) recommendations, Blood Borne Pathogen Training and other medical cleaning requirements, is your medical cleaning company doing all they can to keep your health care facility healthy and well-maintained? Your commercial cleaning company should understand pertinent healthcare regulations, basic microbiology, proper use of the proper products, and the correct way to clean a health care or medical facility with approved aseptic cleaning procedures that reduce the risk of HAIs.
Medical Facility Cleaning Standards Are Understandably Different
Medical cleaning requires a solid knowledge of aseptic cleaning, the difference between clean, aseptic and sterile and how the various products, from disinfectants, to sanitizers to detergents are all used. Aseptic cleaning is used in various clinical settings to prevent the spread of pathogens. The primary goal of the aseptic technique is to prevent harmful organisms from spreading and causing infection. In a medical facility, hospital or healthcare setting, cleaning personnel require training and education to be able to effectively clean a facility delivering medical and healthcare services. Your commercial cleaning company’s people must have knowledge of critical and non-critical cleaning, disinfecting protocols, correct product usage, specific product directions, dwell times, when and where personal protective equipment is needed and cleaning for health.
Furthermore, your custodial services must use appropriate Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved, hospital-grade cleaning and disinfectant products wherever necessary including surfaces that could have become contaminated. Likewise, terminal cleaning is a critical component in the infection control process limiting the spread of infection-causing pathogens that can contribute to health care-associated infections (HAIs). Terminal cleaning is utilized to instantly reduce the level of disease causing microorganisms on high-touch areas like remote controls, light switches, telephones, door handles, tables, computer terminals, rails and other oft touched surfaces.
Are Your Janitorial Services In the 21st Century When It Comes to Medical Cleaning?
Where healthcare cleaning services are concerned, your local Michigan janitorial company must fully comprehend their part in surface disinfection and the prevention of HAIs. Whether you are a Facility Manager of a hospital, clinic, outpatient facility, medical office building or surgical center center, your janitorial company must base their healthcare cleaning services program on the latest science, regulatory recommendations and compliance requirements. But how do you choose the right medical office cleaning
company for your medical facility cleaning? While it isn’t as straightforward as other general office cleaning finding a reputable, professional medical office cleaning services isn’t impossible. It does require that you do more due diligence, ask more questions and look hard to separate the fakers from those professional facilities services company committed to their business and your own. Ask your medical office cleaning services or a prospective Detroit area janitorial company about the specifics of health care cleaning. Ask to see documentation of their specific medical cleaning training programs. Any professional janitorial service that has taken the time and money to understand what their hospital cleaning service customers need will be more than happy to share that with you.
Letting Professional Certifications Like CIMS Inoculate You From Substandard Janitorial Companies
Professional certifications like the CIMS, or Cleaning Industry Management Standard, can smooth the road to effective hospital cleaning services. Just as healthcare professionals have certification to designate special training in specific clinical areas, medical office cleaning companies and custodial services can obtain certifications that show they sought and attained mastery in specific, critical areas of their business. Within the building services industry, CIMS certification demonstrates a real commitment to going above and beyond the basics with an adherence to industry best practices, innovation, training and responsiveness to the customers. CIMS certification can offer a valuable resource for a Facility Manager searching for a healthcare cleaning company ready that understands what it takes to clean any facility that administers medical services. CIMS certification is a challenging process that requires health care cleaning companies to demonstrate competencies in several critical areas that affect you as a client. CIMS certification can help you develop a cache of medical office cleaning services that you can then ask to submit cleaning bids and pricing for. CIMS effectively allows you to skip some of the qualifying hurdles and get straight to finding a quality commercial cleaning service that can work within your budget to deliver above average hospital cleaning services to keep your facility and your reputation sparkling and healthy.
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