Don’t Let Your Medical Office Cleaning Service Making You Sick

The progression of healthcare changes in this modern era is unprecedented, and your medical cleaning company needs to keep up. As new knowledge about cleanliness, infection, and patient satisfaction comes to the forefront, it is critical that your medical office cleaning service adapts with it. It may not seem obvious at first, but your medical janitorial service plays a critical role in your patient’s safety and the ever important HCAHPS score. The concern about getting sick in a hospital is just as relevant as ever, especially with the high volumes of sick patients that many hospitals take on a daily basis. Not too mention newer, antibiotic resistant viruses, bacteria and fungus like candida auris which preys on people with weakened immune systems and has been recently reached New York, New Jersey, Illinois leading the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to add it to it’s list of germs believed to be “urgent threats.” If you are a Facility Manager of any type of clinic, surgical center, hospital or other general care facility, having the right hospital cleaning service is critical to keeping your patients and staff safe. Effective healthcare cleaning services set a solid foundation from which to elevate patient care.

Not Every Hospital Cleaning Service Is Fit To Do The Job 

With medical cleaning, there is simply too much at stake to leave it to amateurs. If your commercial medical cleaning company is not on top of the cutting edge advances in their industry, you, your staff, and patients are all at risk. Unlike other industries, you cannot have a subpar cleaning service in your hospital. While reputation is important in every industry, no where else is patient/consumer perception of cleanliness as important. Literally it can be a matter of life or death. Any medical specialty requires extensive training, experience, knowledge, and a drive to succeed, your medical cleaning service needs the benefit of the same levels of know how. All too often we see janitorial companies that have had some success in general cleaning and think they are ready to become medical cleaners. If your prospective Michigan medical cleaning company can’t clearly demonstrate their industry relevant training, knowledge, and experience along with the respective accreditation, you should not risk your facility’s health and reputation. Failure to do your due diligence can have disastrous results. 

Hospital Housekeeping Is About Far More Than What Lies On the Surface 

Cleaning hospitals and healthcare facilities isn’t a simple task. Healthcare is its own special kind of niche cleaning service.  It has its own risks, compliance and regulatory concerns and requires the utmost care with safety. You can’t take risks with medical cleaning; when your company doesn’t have the experience or the ability to keep up with the industry, there is a potential for harm to your patients, staff, and anyone that comes into contact with your facility. Medicine and the healthcare industry has made huge strides in care over the years, in fact, the advances have been exponential raising life span and increasing the potential for elevated quality of life for many. As such, the supporting industries need to advance with them. It may seem trivial, but HAIs, healthcare acquired infections causes nearly two million cases of infection a year, nearly a third of such infections can be directly traced back to poor facility cleaning. This says nothing of the flu season, it is nearly impossible to determine how many cases of the flu are contracted yearly at hospitals because of a lack of adequate hospital cleaning. All too often general cleaning companies rather than experienced medical cleaning professionals don’t realize that their cleaning needs to go deeper than what lies on the surface. Sure your counters look clean, but you run the enormous risk of spreading virulent illness all over your building if they are not properly disinfected. Cleaning is not just what you can see on the surface, especially in a medical setting. If cleaning isn’t taken seriously and done effectively, people are going to get sick, and you will be met with some catastrophic outcomes that were avoidable with effective cleaning and maintenance.

Compliance And Regulations Are Key 

We’ve put a heavy emphasis on why cleaning for health is critical in your facility, but this isn’t to diminish the importance of making sure your facility looks clean. Effective medical cleaning must impart a deep clean eradicating disease causing germs where they lie AND assure your facility looks clean and welcoming. As you are likely aware, HCAHPS is responsible for keeping track of patient satisfaction and approval and it directly affects you and your facility. How clean your facility appears is a serious consideration for the HCAHPS survey. In fact many industry regulatory services such as HIPAA, HCAHPS, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), CDC (Center for Disease Control), and AORN (Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses) put a heavy emphasis on the importance of how your facility appears to your patients. Your medical facility cleaning services need to know how to clean for both health and appearance, anything less and you are not getting the value and assurances you and your facility deserve.

How to Gauge Your Prospective Michigan Medical Cleaning Company’s Competency

Here are a couple quick questions to gauge the competency of your prospective medical office cleaning companies: Do they know the difference between clean, disinfected, sterile and aseptic? Can they explain the core differences between the application, usages, and various products that they plan to use around your facility such as sanitizers, detergents, virucides, and disinfectants among others? Aseptic cleaning, for instance, is used in a number of different clinical conditions to help reduce the spread of disease and other infection causing pathogens. In any hospital, techniques like this require specific training and experience to master. Understanding the difference between critical and non-critical cleaning, correct product usage, dwell times, product descriptions, protective equipment and disinfection protocol is can be the difference between life and death for some people. Your medical cleaning service provider should be using the correct equipment. Without commercial hospital cleaning grade EPA-approved disinfectant products used on touch points and hot spots with the correct dwell times, you aren’t going to get the results you need. The danger of healthcare associated infections is so prevalent that it has its own cleaning technique to help address. Terminal cleaning is used to target and immediately reduce the bacterial and pathogenic load on high-touch surfaces such as door handles, computer terminals, tables, remotes, rails, and other frequently used, high traffic items. Every aspect of the medical cleaning industry has a proven science backing it. Is your medical cleaning company aware of them?

Does Your Medical Janitorial Service Have What It Takes To Succeed? 

To succeed in the ever advancing medical cleaning industry, your prospective healthcare cleaning company needs to keep moving forward all the time. Relevant industry certifications like the ISSA’s CIMS and CIMS-GB accreditation can be a great way to find these companies. Companies that go out of their way to demonstrate their commitment to the industry's best practices are going to be far better candidates for consideration that those that choose to wing it. Further, like many industry certifications, the CIMS certification can show mastery in different aspects of the cleaning industry, namely, medical. As such, these companies are going to be in a much better spot to meet the unique needs of your medical building. This free tool provides a lot of insight into your prospective medical cleaning services company’s ability to innovate, lead, be responsive and provide a quality service. With certifications like CIMS and evidence-based analysis of a cleaning companies commitment to industry best practices and understanding the specific issues inherent in medical cleaning, you can find a company ready and willing to deliver the services your healthcare facility deserves.

Are You Looking For The Wrong Things In Your Medical Cleaning Company

Red Flags To Look Out For From Your Medical Office Cleaning Company

What should you be looking for when judging janitorial quotes and bids? When considering prospective medical cleaning companies, prices and services can often be very difficult to compare. It really shouldn’t be the case. A professional, established cleaning company should provide you with transparent pricing and a clear quote. Imprecise quotes and cloudy pricing is a sure sign that you aren’t dealing with a professional. Not only does it make it harder to compare quotes from multiple companies to find your best value, it is nearly impossible to hold a cleaning company accountable if you don’t know exactly what you are promised and how much you are paying for it. And while it is imperative quotes are clear, you also should not accept hurried, one size fits all quotes from prospective janitorial companies. The best janitorial quotes come after site visits and reflect specific needs that you have identified. The best janitorial quotes are built around the select needs of your facility and the company’s ability to meet these needs.

How Are Medical Cleaners Screened?

Another important aspect of any cleaning company to look at is their hiring and screening processes. Frontline staff and medical cleaners are the people who will be in and out of your facility performing services. Who they are matters. Is your healthcare cleaning company doing everything (and more) required to vet the people they are sending into your facility? Are they doing comprehensive criminal background checks and drug screening? Are they verifying past employment and checking references? Are they working hard to establish themselves as a good place to work in the community thus attracting and retaining people well suited for the work? The people in your facility must be trustworthy and take their job seriously.

Is Your Healthcare Cleaning Company Training Their People?

While hiring and screening is important, it isn’t the only significant thing to look at regarding your cleaners. Your cleaning staff must be safe AND competent, well trained for general medical cleaning as well as the specific needs of your facility. This means your healthcare cleaning service’s staff needs to be provided with the groundwork of basic commercial cleaning and industry relevant training to meet the unique requirements of your facility. Having staff that is trained specifically in medical cleaning is critical to a successful partnership and effective, consistent service.

Does Your Healthcare Cleaning Company Offer Competitive Pay & Benefits?

Does your janitorial company have strong management, competitive pay and opportunities where employees are rewarded for going above and beyond for their customers? Do they have a culture that supports and encourages great work and a team effort? Do they treat the people like well, people? If not, they are not doing enough to foster employee success and retention. Cleaning staff are often classified as unskilled laborers, but this designation is often misleading. Cleaning staff work hard and require extensive training to do their job effectively. Companies that don’t have competitive pay and rewards aren’t going to attract and retain the best cleaning staff. That leads to high turnover damaging the overall quality, consistency and value of your medical cleaning. Competitive pay and benefits promote employee satisfaction and retention translating into better service and cost savings in the long run.

Communication From Your Medical Cleaning Company Can Be A Life Saver

Everyone makes mistakes and your commercial cleaning company and their staff are no exception. What separates the professional cleaning companies from the not-so-professional cleaning companies is how they handle mistakes when they come up. The best companies know that problems will come up and have a plan in place BEFORE they show up. They tell you if there is an issue no matter how large or small it is so it gets addressed correctly. They don’t let small missteps turn into growing problems and intractable issues.

Accountability Can’t Be a Paper Tiger

While many employees care about and work hard at their jobs, accountability systems help assure reliability and consistency. Accountability can also help motivate even top performers because they know their stellar work isn’t going unnoticed! Accountability can come in the form of a detailed checklist, regular inspections of work done, or “Smart Cleaning plans” that can help keep teams on track. Is your Hospital cleaning service assuring accountability from their team? Regular janitorial inspections can be a great way to assure accountability and even catch issues before they spiral out of control. We see all too often that companies will start with a plan for effective service and then just assume that it is being implemented and done correctly without any follow up. Janitorial inspections help prevent mediocre work and even help push for continual improvement from your health care cleaners.

Medical Cleaning & Green Cleaning Often Go Hand In Hand

Many companies have environmental and sustainability directives they are striving to meet. Green cleaning can offer an effective and budget-friendly way to help your medical facility reach its green cleaning goals. Green cleaning technology has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last ten years and is both effective and relatively easy to implement. With the right medical office cleaning company you can get access to innovative cleaning equipment, green cleaners and resource saving methods that help reduce waste, reduce resource and energy usage, improve indoor air quality, and stop sound pollution in your facilities. The best part of it is, it can even help you save money.

Cleaning For Health Can’t Be Optional

Cleaning for health focuses on best practices that effectively clean in a way that minimizes the spread of disease causing germs and utilizes products and practices to safeguard the health of everyone involved: cleaning employees, your employees and patients. These practices can include the use of color-coded cleaning rags to avoid cross contamination. This helps assure a towel used to clean a toilet isn’t used again to wipe down a door handle. This is important in any facility but nowhere more important that in a facility rendering medical treatment. Proper labeling of cleaning products with specific use instructions is also critical to assure cleaners knows exactly how each product is to be used. Furthermore, training cleaners on proper, manufacturer recommended contact times and dwell times assures disinfectant efficacy. Similarly, utilizing established best practices like “touch point” cleaning for maximum impact where it is needed most can raise the level of your cleaning significantly. Finally, regular equipment maintenance should be implemented to insure optimal operation and effectiveness.

Good Cleaning Doesn’t Happen By Accident

Good cleaning doesn’t happen by accident. The best medical cleaning companies start with a solid plan. If you current medical cleaning company is on shaky ground and isn’t constantly striving to meet your individual needs, it might be time to move on.

Stathakis operates right here in southeastern Michigan delivering effective, professional medical cleaning services. You might say our “treatment plans” vastly outperforms those of our competition. If you want the most effective health care cleaning services for your facility delivered with professionalism, value and responsiveness, please contact us and we can work with you to put together a clear, straightforward, workable plan for your individual facility.

With Medical Cleaning You Simply Have More On the Line

Medical cleaning requires a higher level of skill than basic office cleaning. There is simply more on the line and as such, medical cleaners require more training and more oversight. But that doesn’t mean you should be paying sky high prices. And medical office cleaning, like all cleaning should come with transparent pricing and a clear picture of exactly what services you are getting and at what price.

When looking at prospective commercial medical cleaning companies, you are likely to find everything from an almost unfathomable low low prices to complete and total sticker shock. Even more problematic  is that these prices are rarely reflective of the type of service that you can expect. Price does not always equal value, and when it comes to medical office cleaning, value is key.

If you should steer clear of suspiciously low prices while still searching for value, how exactly do you as the Facility Manager find a medical cleaning company that offers effective service at a fair price? It all comes down to getting a sense of what your prospective medical cleaning company is offering and finding out exactly how it will be implemented in your facility. No matter if you are looking for a Dearborn medical cleaning service or a Detroit healthcare cleaning company, having the right information to make an informed decision is the most important part of partnering with any service provider.

What to Look For In A Medical Cleaning Bid

Don’t let a prospective healthcare cleaning company give you is a cleaning quote based solely on square footage. While square footage gives us some information, it doesn’t tell the whole story. There are so many different aspects of your facility that need to be factored into the price of cleaning your building. If a commercial cleaning company is basing a janitorial quote on simple square footage, not only does this speak to their inexperience, you will not get a real, meaningful number. Understanding what makes up a proper medical cleaning bid is the best way to analyze the price you are given and understand what you should be looking for. Here are some of the most crucial components of any bid by your Auburn Hills medical cleaning service:

Location, Location, Location: Depending on where your building is, weather and labor markets can impact pricing.

Frequency: How often your facility must be cleaned is largely dependent on the amount of traffic it sees and what type of work is done there.

Square Footage: While not to be used a single gauge for the price of cleaning, it is important to consider the size of a facility when it comes down to estimating a price.

Square Footage by Floor Type: Each type of flooring in your facility requires different cleaning procedures that require different labor hours.

The Level of Required Cleaning: What are the specific needs of your facility? A medical building requires a different level of cleaning than a standard office building.

The Number of Restrooms: Restrooms are often one of the most time consuming, difficult to clean areas in your entire building. The number of restrooms should always be taken into account in order to provide an accurate bid.

Building Traffic: The more people, the more to clean. The busier buildings might require more from their commercial cleaners.

Let’s Be Clear About Medical Cleaning Pricing

Transparent pricing is an essential part of getting the right services at the best value. After all, how can you compare medical cleaning quotes side by side if prospective cleaners fail to give you clear, easy to understand medical building cleaning quotes? Transparent prices and clear, easy to understand bids can also help you avoid low low quotes that do not offer value because they simply include less work than your facility requires, as well as sky high office cleaning quotes that are charging significantly more for the same services another medical cleaning company might provide for less. Transparent pricing can help you steer clear of overly low bids that may be a sign of inexperience or illegal hiring while shopping for the best overall value for your facility. A clear medical cleaning bid is another essential aspect of partnering with the right service and getting the best value for your dollar. Being able to compare cleaning quotes is key to making the right choice for your budget and facility, so having an unclear price point causes major problems. On top of that, when a quotes is unclear, it is often a sign that the company is inexperienced or is trying to hide fees by making it difficult to understand what your paying for.

Overly Low Pricing A Sure Sign of Safety Shortcuts

In order to secure the most accurate, clear pricing, ask prospective medical cleaning companies how many hours they intend to spend cleaning your facility. Annualize that cost and divide it by the annual number of labor hours to calculate an hourly billable rate. If a medical cleaning company is charging too little, you can almost guarantee they will take shortcuts on people and processes designed to protect you, your building and it’s occupants. These can include illegal hiring and subcontracting as well as inadequate drug and criminal background screening.  Well thought out medical cleaning bids should always include the following:

• Insurance & taxes
• Direct costs (ex. cleaning supplies, toilet paper, etc.).
• Profit
• Employee vacation time
• Labor costs
• Employee health insurance
• A management fee

By looking at these seven core pieces of a janitorial bid, you should be able to determine the value of the service you are receiving and exactly what should expect if you partner with this company.

Profit Must Be a Part of the Equation

Of course we would all like cheap cleaning services, seriously, how much easier would it be to stay on budget if we could just name our price. But if your medical cleaning company isn’t turning a reasonable profit, it won’t ultimately benefit either of you. When a company makes money, it is able to reinvest into employee training, new equipment, and innovative technologies that will benefit you in the long run. Further, a company that isn’t making money isn’t likely to be in business very long causing problems for you in the future. Just as you are, you medical cleaning company is running a business. That being said, there is a difference between a reasonable profit margin and exorbitant pricing. If you choose to outsource your labor to a professional Farmington medical cleaning service, understand exactly what you are paying for and what constitutes profit for the company.

The REAL Value of an Experienced Medical Cleaning Company

As with any service business, one of the single greatest hard costs is labor. So, if you are in the unfortunate position of needing to trim spending to meet tight budgets, reducing the number of labor hours is the fastest way to do it. However, how do you cut down on labor hours without sacrificing the overall cleanliness of your facility? The harsh truth is that only the most experienced companies will be able to do this for you. This is because you need to strategically target and cut high labor tasks without throwing your maintenance out the window. While this may sound relatively simple, it takes a large base of knowledge, including how to implement no innovative practices and new equipment in your facility, to do more with less. Practices like Smart Cleaning and Team Cleaning can help reduce labor hours without unlivable reductions in the quality of your service.

Use the CIMS Certification to Sort Through the Crowded Market 

Finding the right medical cleaning company in a marketplace jammed with cleaning companies can feel like trying to find the unicorn at the zoo. One way you can find the near mythical effective, experienced and affordable medical office cleaning company is to utilize CIMS certification to inform your search. Companies that take providing the highest quality of service seriously will seek out and demonstrate their competency in core areas in order to secure this prestigious and stringent accreditation. While the CIMS certification does not guarantee a company is right for your facility, it does assure a certain benchmark level of service that offers you a starting point way ahead of most companies.

When to Look for the DNR on Your Medical Cleaning Company

Is your medical cleaning company providing professional, effective medical office cleaning services? Or has the quality of service been in decline or completely flat lined? Or perhaps even worse, there was never the level of service you were hoping for and you’ve been forced to settle for less than optimal service? As a Facility Manager, we know that it is challenging to find a service that consistently provides quality cleaning, but effective medical cleaning is critical to any healthcare provider from the standpoint of both patient health and your overall reputation. A clean facility also helps retain top medical talent and can impact your HCAHPS scores. Now, there are numerous commercial cleaning companies that WILL clean your facility, but the number of commercial cleaners that CAN really do the job the way YOU need it done are in short supply. When looking at your facility, ask yourself some questions about the cleaning that goes on. Are the patient’s rooms thoroughly cleaned? Are the medical offices tidy, clean and well maintained? Are the restrooms in such a state that I would want to use them? If you answered no to any of these questions, it may be time to pay attention to that DNR sign on your medical office cleaning company.  

How Healthcare Cleaning Differs From Other Cleaning

Cleaning a medical facility and cleaning a general office share very few similarities, and rightfully so. Cleaning any location that provides health services requires a detailed and complete understanding of what “cleaning for health” really means. Further, healthcare cleaning comes with a number of complex and very stringent regulations and compliance requirements that have to be carefully observed. Without a janitorial service that is intimately familiar with these needs, the overall quality and your HCAHPS score could take a major hit. Even more than that, any commercial cleaning company that is truly ready to take on healthcare providers should have clearly laid down programs. Good examples include training like OSHA, HIPPA, and other Blood Borne Pathogen training. Any company that does not offer this training is clearly not going to give your medical office the cleaning it needs.

Telltale Signs Your Cleaning Company May be DOA?

Any industry will have cleaning companies that simply cannot meet the needs of their facility. This is especially important when considering the medical industry. It is an absolute necessity that a medical office cleaning company be able to deliver consistent, responsive, and complete medical cleaning to their respective facilities. Companies that are inexperienced or simply aren’t committed to meeting their promises take most if not all of the benefits of outsourcing your medical cleaning service. So, what exactly is it that medical cleaning companies that perform below industry standard do that hurts the health of your facility?

• Missing programs to ensure quality of service is often causing your medical cleaning company to fall below industry standard
• Not having a complete understanding of the necessary and often complex compliance codes that you facility has to follow
• The medical cleaning company does not have a consistent way of attracting high quality laborers
• Medical cleaning companies do not offer the training that is necessary to assure the safety of our employees and the cleanliness of your facility
• They have an unclear pricing scheme that makes it difficult to see what services are actually being provided at what process, both making it difficult to compare companies as well as to help manage a shrinking budget

Many janitorial companies will even gamble on your the health of your customers, your facility and your reputation by not having these systems in place, illegal subcontracting, and using undocumented labor.

What a Medical Cleaning Service Should Look Like

We’ve talked about what a subpar, unprofessional medical office cleaning company looks like. Now let's look at what a successful medical cleaning company, professionalism, communication, clear pricing, and evident training have in common. A successful medical company will always follow these best medical cleaning practices:

• Having a professional well trained staff and consistently attracting high quality laborers to add to it
• A lower than average janitorial turnover rate
• They offer a clear and comprehensive pricing plan that you are given to complete access to
• They walk through your facility and take time to specialize to meet the needs of your specific facility
• Works to meet the compliance needs unique to your facility
• Has a systematic and thorough quality assurance system in place
• They have a rapid and professional system in place to respond to problems
• Are fully aware of specific business practices and regulations at your facility BEFORE they begin working in it

You can tell when you have a best medical office cleaning company when they do all this and go even further to insure that they deliver quality, responsive janitorial services for an affordable price.

How to Find a Healthcare Cleaning Company That Gets It

The medical cleaning services that have figured out how to provide inexpensive quality service seem to be far and few between. So, how do you find one you might wonder? The name of the game is industry certification. Using the ISSA (International Sanitary Supply Association) to guarantee a high level of expertise, value, and reliability is the best way to find companies that follow the industries leading and best practices. This certification is referred to as CIMS, standing for Certified Industry Management Standard, and it is an invaluable tool in finding the perfect match for your medical office. This certification will translate into a company that is more professional, communicates better, and is more familiar and well versed in your healthcare facilities needs, whether it be an ambulatory, surgical, of clinical center, than any of the competition.

ISSA’S CIMS certification may not tell you exactly which company will be the perfect fit for your facility, but it will significantly shorten the list of companies that might. To get the most value out of CIMS, create a list of CIMS certified medical cleaning companies in your are and then do some research about which may be the best match for your medical center. Once you’ve narrowed it down, go and have your respective choices look at your facility and try to get a sense of which janitorial service will provide the most consistent, high level professional cleaning for the best price. To find an ISSA CIMS-GB janitorial services contractor in your area, visit the ISSA here.

What Does Medical Office Cleaning Really Require?

Medical office cleaning requires a great deal more than just keeping your facility looking good. Effective medical janitorial services must provide solid protection against Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs) and other disease and illness. Similarly, medical cleaning companies should do their part to help increase the perception and trust patients and their families have in your facility. While your cleaning budget may be just a small part of your overall budget, those dollars have an impact on almost every aspect of your operations. The cleanliness of your facility impacts patient and family perception, your ability to recruit, hire and retain a great healthcare team and the overall impression of your facility and services. Do not put all of these important components into the hands of a medical cleaning service that is either unable or unwilling to deliver effective, customized service in your healthcare facility. It’s simply too important.

Medical Office Cleaning Services Require a Highly Skilled Janitorial Services Company

Your medical cleaning company can’t be just any cleaning company, they have to be structured for and knowledgeable of the specific requirements of healthcare cleaning. Whether your facility is a clinic, hospital, ambulatory center, surgical center or other medical facility, you deserve healthcare cleaning services that are professional and effective. What do professional, effective hospital environmental services look like? The best medical cleaning services understand that they must put time, money, and effort in critical areas of their business, with the single most important piece being the people who clean and maintain your facility. That means areas like recruitment, screening, onboarding, training, certifications and daily management must be approached in a systematic way that assures reliability through accountability. It means that a prospective healthcare cleaning service must acquaint themselves with the particular needs of medical office cleaning and then design and implement training for their teams so that you receive the highest quality care possible. Much like you wouldn’t want a generalist performing precision surgery, you don’t want just any commercial cleaning company cleaning your medical facility.

Why Outsource Your Maintenance To A Medical Office Cleaning Company?

Finding the right medical office cleaning companies can be a challenge and it may make some Facility Managers consider in-house medical cleaning as a solution.While the cleaning and maintenance of your medical facility is a key part of an overall smooth operation, operating a medical office cleaning service department in-house can be a nightmare. It is literally operating a completely separate business with separate requirements and responsibilities within your existing business. Not sure about you, but most of the Facility Managers we talk to already have MORE than enough on their plate. Not to mention that one of the most significant advantages of outsourcing medical office cleaning is reduced costs and fewer headaches, not more. Outsourcing your medical cleaning can make it easier to forecast and budget and even reduce costs because of the scale and specialty of stand alone commercial cleaning operations. Cost saving is one great reason to consider outsourcing your medical office cleaning but there are even more benefits. Beyond cutting costs and streamlining your cleaning budget, outsourcing your medical office cleaning can also support improved patient safety, customer care, enhance patient and staff satisfaction, advance infection control, HCAHPS scores, regulatory compliance and more. 

Outsourcing Medical Office Cleaning Is About More Than Cost

Cost-savings are an important part of the medical office cleaning equation but they cannot be the only part. Cost-savings made at the detriment of a clean, well-maintained facility are not the solution. Ultimately, the overarching goal must be that of patient safety and a healthy environment. When cost is considered at the exclusion of those goals, all too often you find yourself with a medical office cleaning company that just isn’t prepared for the level of work needed in a health care environment. If a janitorial services company lacks the professional experience needed to shine in your facility, it’s time to part ways. The best commercial cleaning companies are not likely to be the cheapest but they will understand how to keep your costs inline and create value, all while delivering the level of service you need.

Not All Medial Office Cleaning Companies Get It

Just like not all health care providers are the same just because they offer the same services, not all janitorial services companies are the same either. Some commercial cleaning companies do more to deliver value and results to their medical and health care customers. What should you be on the look out for when considering medical facility cleaning services?

• Documented experience with medical and healthcare cleaning accounts
• Thorough screening & oversight of employees in your facilities
• Quality employee training & lower than average turnover
• Hospital approved chemicals and disinfectants
• Adherence to industry best-practices

• Regular inspection process to insure quality & consistency
• CIMS certified with knowledge & adherence to blood borne pathogen guidelines

• Familiarity with HIPPA & related regulations and compliance issues

When you are shopping medical cleaning companies, inquire about the following:

• Does the medical office cleaning company maintain safety compliance training for OSHA, HIPPA, & Blood borne Pathogens?
• Does the hospital cleaning company use of EPA approved, spore-killing disinfectant cleaning agents?
• Is a potential hospital cleaning service aware of the disinfecting strategies required for proper infection control?
• Does a janitorial services company have real experience working in hospitals and other medical environments?
• Are they in compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations?
• Is their staff efficient and well trained?
• What specifically do they do to prepare employees for medical cleaning?

Making Outsourcing Medical Office Cleaning Work to Your Advantage

Are you considering outsourcing your medical office cleaning to a reputable, seasoned and affordable professional? The most effective medical office cleaning companies will offer you a detailed plan to cover current service gaps and outline how you can meet both budget and quality assurance goals.  They will help you uncover opportunities for more efficient cleaning that saves you money without throwing effective maintenance out the window. Outsourcing your medical office cleaning to the right commercial cleaning company with a proven track record of successful medical cleaning is the first step. Take time to find the right partner in a medical cleaning company will pay for itself in the long run. Know that a medical facility that looks clean and is clean, is likely to better marks from patients and other health care providers adding up to better HCAHPS scores, repeat business and referrals over time and even better physician and employee engagement and retention.

Ready to Make Your Life Easier & Your Facility Cleaner?

Not only is maintaining a healthy, clean and welcoming facility possible, with the right janitorial contractor, it can be affordable and easy. Even if like so many Facility Managers right now medical care costs and reduced health care budgets have you searching for cost-savings measures, you don’t have to live with health care facilities that are less
than clean. Protect the health and safety of every individual that enters your building and maintain your facilities and your reputation with a preferred partner in your facility maintenance. Stathakis works with the businesses of South Eastern Michigan delivering effective, professional medical cleaning services. One could say our “treatment plan” on medical office cleaning vastly outperforms that of our competition. You, your facility and facility’s occupants deserve effective health care cleaning that combines value and responsiveness, professionalism and personal attention.

Medical Office Cleaning requires a Specialist Not a Generalist

Medical office cleaning is completely different from general office cleaning. While everyone wants an office to look clean, an office tending to the medical needs of the public must go beyond the surface. It cannot just LOOK clean, it must BE clean. Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs) and other communicable diseases present a potentially serious issue in medical facilities. As people come in, even for minor issues, the risk of them picking up another illness is significant. When medical offices are not adequately cleaned, people get sick and even die. Now, lest this sound too dire, know that adequate cleaning measures are VERY effective against the spread of disease-causing germs. But is your current healthcare cleaning company doing what they need to in order to protect your patients, practitioners and your facility’s valuable reputation? Unfortunately, far too many janitorial companies WANT your business but are NOT PREPARED to deliver the consistent, effective service you need. Medical office cleaning needs more than a generalist, it needs a specialist—a commercial cleaning company that has worked hard to acquaint itself with the specific requirements and needs of the complex healthcare industry.

Why Medical Office Cleaning Is So Vital to the Health of Your Facility

Every facility manager wants a clean, professional and welcoming office. But in a healthcare setting, there is just so much more on the line. There is the perception of care by the patient and his or her family. There is the heightened risk and worry over HAIs and other communicable illnesses. There is the risk of sick people getting sicker at YOUR facility. Finally, there is the perception and well being of your staff. While your medical office cleaning may amount to a fraction of your facility’s complete budget, it influences nearly every aspect of your operations. Think about how many places poor cleaning can compromise your facility. From your standing with physicians, staff, patients and families, you ability to attract top talent, the potential impact on employee productivity and turnover, to infection control, patient health and surgical outcomes-- a clean, hygienic healthcare facility is critical.

Do Your Commercial Cleaners Understand YOUR Business?

If a medical office cleaning company wants your business, they must make it their business to understand your requirements and their part in keeping you compliant. You are, of course, an expert on your business and industry. Your commercial cleaning company doesn’t have at be an expert in your business but if they do not have at the very least, a basic understanding of medical cleaning and the compliance issues you must attend to, they just aren’t set up to succeed. Hospital cleaning and medical office cleaning require a level of expertise that not enough commercial cleaning companies demonstrate. Is your medical office cleaning company familiar with the requirements of HIPPA, OSHA, blood-borne pathogens and other regulatory issues? Do they train their employees for safety around blood-borne pathogens? You, your patients and employees deserve medical cleaning that won’t put health and safety at risk. Commercial cleaning companies worthy of your business should understand HIPAA and require training in blood borne pathogens, train on cleaning for health and medical cleaning best practices. The better the training provided, the better chance you have of effective, responsive service.

Cost Matters But Cannot Be the Only Factor In Choosing Healthcare Cleaning Services

As a Facility Manager, cost-savings are important but must be balanced with patient safety, the reputation of your facility, the satisfaction of your staff and more. If your hospital cleaning company is offering prices you want but services that fall short of what you really need, you are not getting value. Price is what you pay, value is what you get. The danger of selecting medical office cleaning with only cost in mind is you can end up with services that fall short of what you need and a cleaning company unprepared for the rigors and requirements of medical cleaning. You can't choose just anyone to do your medical cleaning. Really, would you want a general physician performing your heart surgery? The most capable and proficient healthcare cleaning companies are not likely to be the least expensive but they can work with you to keep you costs in line with your budget and create real value for your facility.

Is Your Medical Office Cleaning Company Failing to Plan & Planning to Fail?

The old adage is “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” and it still holds water. Listen, cleaning in a healthcare facility isn’t something you can execute well without a plan and formal processes and systems that assure reliability through accountability. Does your medical office cleaning company have a plan?

• Documented experience with medical and healthcare cleaning accounts
• Good people screened, trained and managed to succeed.
• Transparent pricing to help you understand and compare cleaning quotes.
• Hospital approved chemicals.
• Periodic janitorial inspections to keep services in line with your expectations.
• A willingness to customize cleaning services around your needs.
• A clear understanding of disinfecting strategies required for proper infection control.
• An understanding of compliance issues that impact any industry they wish to work within.
• Effective quality assurance measures to assure reliability through accountability.
• Effective communication with a clear, easy to reach point person.
• CIMS Certification to assure consistent, responsive, high level janitorial service delivery.
• Compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations.

The Right Medical Cleaning Company Can Make a World of Difference

Managing a medical facility and medical offices requires a great deal of knowledge and skill. The current regulations and compliance requirements add to the complexity and make it ever more critical that you partner with those companies who understand how to support and serve your overall operational goals. Do not make your already difficult and demanding job harder by contracting with janitorial companies either too inexperienced or too lazy to make your business their business.

Stathakis operates right here in South Eastern Michigan delivering effective, professional medical cleaning services. You might say our “treatment plan” on medical cleaning vastly outperforms that of our competition. If you want the most effective health care cleaning services for your facility delivered with value and responsiveness, please contact us and we can work with you to put together a clear, straightforward, workable plan for your individual facility.

As a facility manager, it isn’t unusual to overestimate the effectiveness of our office cleaning services. Maybe our medical office cleaning service started strong but we have noticed that service has slipped below an acceptable level of clean. Or perhaps we just get so used to the state of our building that we stop ‘seeing’ some of the things other people may. Maybe we have simply become so inundated with other issues that we don’t feel like we even have the time to consider new medical cleaning services. The reality is that less than adequate medical cleaning will have a host of negative consequences for your facility. If your medical cleaning is slipping, it might be time to consider your options.

Medical cleaning From Your Patient’s Perspective

Remember secret shoppers, those people used by market research companies, watchdog organizations, or even by companies themselves to measure the overall customer experience, quality of service, compliance with regulations and more? The secret shopper would experience the shopping environment in much the same ways a customer would and then offer detailed feedback about their experiences. What would a secret shopper, or ‘secret patient’ have to say about your facility?

On a recent visit to a doctor’s office, I made an effort to really take note of my surroundings and what I can say is a number of health care facilities out there should be glad people are glued to their phones because when I looked around, much of what I saw wasn’t so great. Making my way into the facility, a mid sized clinic of mostly specialists, I noticed there was some debris and trash stuck in and around the bushes on the parking lot. It was a windy day but it looked as if the rubbish had been there some time.

As I made my way in to the facility I noted that the heavy glass entryway doors were greasy with prints and smudges. It was afternoon so I’m sure there had been many people in and out of the building by this point but it being cold and flu season and a medical facility, it did make me feel a bit hesitant about what germs likely covered the door handles. How many people with colds, flus and worse had come in touching those same handles? I know they can’t be cleaned between each individual but seeing the dirty glass doors definitely made me more conscious of the risk.

The walk to get to my physician’s suite was acceptable, carpets looked pretty clean and the overall condition of the walls, baseboards, pictures and lights looked good. I stopped at the office restrooms before my appointment. In a medical facility, I certainly have the expectation of clean restrooms but these were not as well cared for as I would have hoped. I wouldn’t compare them to a port-o-potty or stadium restroom but for a healthcare facility and high-end office building, they needed to be better maintained. There was water pooling up around the sink, the mirrors were wet and spotted. Trash and used paper towels had started collecting around a trash can. The baseboards were dusty and the drain had some mop string stuck in it. The stalls appeared clean and it could be because they were a dark color but it was still noticeable that this space needed more in the way of restroom cleaning.

Once in my doctor’s office I noticed that most of the reception area looked good with the exception of the decorative plants being very dusty. After being checked in I was escorted to an exam room. As I waited I took in my surroundings. There was a dark splotch on a cabinet though it was hard to tell how long it had been there. The vinyl baseboards were dusty, scuffed and in need of some attention. The sink had a good deal of mineral build up around the fixtures that probably could have been removed with a good cleaning. The reality is that patients are often kept waiting and they sit and look around and see things we might not notice and we move quickly through our facilities getting work done.

Medical Cleaning Services Matter More Than You Might Think

Medical office cleaning is a vital piece of managing your healthcare facilities. A medical facility is looked at far differently than a retail facility or even a basic office building. People are receiving care and their expectations of cleanliness and order are simply different. Medical cleaning companies must be cognizant of how important their contribution is to your patient’s overall sense of care and your reputation. If you have a medical cleaning company cleaning your facility below an acceptable level, not only can it chip away at your bottom line, it can actually make people sick. Not to mention that patient satisfaction and even employee satisfaction and retention will suffer. 

Don’t Risk Low HCAHPS Scores or Your Valuable Reputation

Problematically, negative experiences are far from unique. A look at HCAHPS surveys demonstrates how many patients are finding the cleanliness of their healthcare facility lacking at best, negligent at worst. Janitorial services that don’t measure up lead to patients and their families wondering about the overall quality of the care they receive at your facility. With something as important as their lives and their health, you cannot give patients or their families extra reasons to worry.

A Professional Health Care Facility Requires A Professional Commercial Cleaning Company  

Do you have a truly professional commercial cleaning company? Do they understand the unique requirements of medical cleaning? Do they have an understanding of the compliance issues you are bound by? Do they have the systems and processes to get you the most value for your cleaning budget? If not, it could be that your professional cleaning company isn’t so professional after all. Maybe it is inexperience or maybe inattention but either way, your patients and practitioners all deserve to work in a medical facility that is clean and well maintained.

Find the Right Prescription For Your Facility 

Just because a company wants your business doesn’t mean they are worthy of it. Certainly a cleaning company can tell you they are great but the best janitorial companies must be willing to back up their claims with visible systems and processes, verifiable references, documented training and more. When you mention HIPPA and blood-borne pathogens do you get an blank stare? This can be a pretty significant indication that they are not making your business their business. Much like doctors have board certification to indicate specialized knowledge and added training, medical office cleaning services have similar. Within the janitorial, maintenance and cleaning industry, there is CIMS certification. CIMS certification can be a valuable tool for any Facility Manager looking for quality medical cleaning services in Michigan. CIMS certification is an extremely challenging process that requires medical office cleaning companies to demonstrate proficiencies in a variety of areas that directly impact your facility. CIMS certification is a great indicator that you are dealing with a committed professional commercial cleaning dedicated to delivering the level of service and value you would expect from any true professional.

Health Care Facilities Should Be Places Of Health & Healing, Not Getting Sicker

The future of healthcare changes by the minute with technology informing nearly everything from the top down. Medical and hospital cleaning has become more critical as concerns about cleanliness, infection and patient satisfaction come to the forefront. Your commercial cleaning company has a direct role in patient safety, satisfaction and even HCAHPS scores. Healthcare Associated Infections have long been a concern in medical facilities but with practitioners seeing increasingly higher volumes of patients, managing rates of infection transmission are even more important. Whether you manage a hospital, clinic, surgical center, or any other healthcare facility, you want to be seen as a place to receive care and get well and not a place to get sicker.

Medical Cleaning Requires A Specialist

In order to effectively tackle the newest strains of disease that find their way into medical facilities, your commercial cleaning company must be up to the job. Just because a janitorial company wants your business does not mean they are worthy of it. Just like many medical specialties, healthcare cleaning requires a higher level of training, knowledge and experience. Just because a company has been moderately successful in general office cleaning does not mean they are prepared for the responsibility and requirements of medical office cleaning. when searching for your next healthcare cleaning company, don’t consider any company that has not done their due diligence and pursued training and systems to serve the medical cleaning requirements of area hospitals, clinics, ambulatory centers and even medical facility offices.

Medical Cleaning Requires More Than a Bucket & Mop

Healthcare cleaning services comes with its own unique requirements, risks, compliance issues and safety concerns. If your prospective commercial cleaning company isn’t fully in tune and up to speed with the requirements of health care cleaning, they are putting you, your patients, staff and even their employees at risk. Medicine has evolved tremendously over the last decade and with it, a number of services connected to medical care have continued to be professionalized. Healthcare-associated infections impact nearly 2 million people each year, with as many as a third of the reported cases being preventable with recommended infection control procedures in place. Add to that a virulent and raging flu season with heightened, severe complications and you can see how important the health and cleanliness of your medical facility is. When you contract with a generalist instead of a medical cleaning specialist, you run the risk of getting little more than a cursory cleaning that not only looks less than inviting, can actually make people sick. Certainly common illnesses like colds, flus and respiratory illnesses can spread in any facility where cleaning for health is not taken seriously, but in a medical setting, the risks and complications are profoundly more serious, even catastrophic.

Compliance Is Critical In in Healthcare & Hospital Cleaning

Healthcare and hospital cleaning are an integral part of a healthy environment but perception and reputation are no less important. The Hospital Consumer Assessments of "Healthcare Providers and Systems” survey, or, HCAHPS has become an important tool for measuring patient satisfaction as well as reducing reimbursements for those health care facilities not meeting consumer expectations. On the HCAHPS survey, the cleanliness of the medical setting gets serious 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 healthcare cleaning requirements, your medical cleaning company must understand what you are up against and how to help support you with their own efforts and contributions toward a clean, healthy and well maintained facility.

Medical Cleaning Requires More Knowledge & Higher Standards

Do prospective medical office cleaning companies understand the difference between clean, aseptic and sterile? Do they understand the differences, differing applications and required procedures with the various products used to clean your facility like disinfectants, sanitizers, detergents, virucides and more? Aseptic cleaning is used in various clinical settings to prevent the spread of pathogens that can spread dangerous infections. In a hospital, clinic, medical offices or other healthcare setting, cleaning teams require specific training in medical cleaning in order to effectually clean your facility. Healthcare cleaning personnel must understand 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. Similarly, your commercial cleaning company must use appropriate EPA-approved, hospital-grade cleaning and disinfectant products wherever required including surfaces and touch points that are likely to be become contaminated. Furthermore, terminal cleaning is an important part of the infection control process minimizing the spread of infection-causing pathogens that can heighten the risk of health care-associated infections (HAIs). Terminal cleaning is employed to immediately lower the microorganism load on high-touch areas like remote controls, light switches, telephones, door handles, tables, computer terminals, rails and other frequently handled items and surfaces. There is concrete science behind effective medical cleaning. Is your prospective healthcare cleaning company aware of it?

Do Your Medical Janitorial Services Have Their Eye On the Future?

In order to serve you and your facility most effectively, your medical cleaning company must have their eye on the future. Professional industry certifications like the CIMS, or Cleaning Industry Management Standard, can be a good way for you as a Facility Manager to create your short list of prospective commercial cleaning companies, secure in the knowledge that CIMS Certified cleaning companies are significantly more likely to be prepared to meet the unique needs of your individual facility. Much like healthcare professionals have certification to designate special training in specific clinical areas, commercial cleaning companies can achieve CIMS certification certifying their mastery in specific, critical areas of their business. CIMS certification shows a sincere commitment to going above and beyond the basics with an adherence to industry best practices, innovation, training and responsiveness to the customers. CIMS certification provides valuable, free feedback to help Facility Managers just like you weed out the many cleaning companies in the crowded janitorial marketplace that are simply not resourced and set up to effectively clean and maintain your facility. With certifications like CIMS and evidence-based analysis of a cleaning companies commitment to industry best practices and understanding the specific issues inherent in medical cleaning, you can find a company ready and willing to deliver the services your healthcare facility deserves.

The Flu Is Raging This Season, And That’s Not All

This year is proving to be an especially virulent influenza season. Fortune magazine reported that according to the Centers for Disease Control, the flu is killing up to 4,000 people each week. “We have a lot to learn still about influenza. It’s a wake-up call about how severe influenza can be, and why we can never let down our guard,” said Anne Schuchat, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s acting director. But even beyond this year’s super flu, there are so many disease causing bacteria and viruses that lurk around just waiting to make people sick. Of course, medical facilities have a higher risk because of a recurrent influx of sick people. The risk of the flu and superbugs seems to be growing and growing with a host of frightening acronyms like MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae), C. difficile, Ebola and more.

For instance, the frequency of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has been on the rise in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other health care facilities. Cases of C. difficile have been increasingly severe with further complications, deaths, and increased cost. The arrival of a hyper virulent strain of C. difficile and the rise in community-acquired C. difficile among healthy patients in the absence of traditional risk factors shows there is a new epidemiology that requires a change in how we do things. When patients require medical care, they understand there are real risks involved, there are also imagined fears that can further scare them and even distort their perception of the quality of care being provided. Cleanliness in your medical facility can both present a real risk to patients as well as set the stage for escalated concern about treatments and procedures. Think about it, if you are scheduled for an outpatient surgery and you come into the facility only to see old coffee stains on waiting area tables, full trashes and dirty bathrooms, how confident are you going to be feeling about the overall cleanliness of the rest of the facility?

Superbugs & Medical Cleaning, What Matters Most?

Current research tells us that we have cleaning products and methods that are effective in reducing the bacteria, fungi, viruses and more, all of which reduce the likelihood of disease transmission. But in order for these products and methods to be effective, they must be used correctly. We know what products work and how to use them most effectively, but if your medical cleaning companies front line cleaners are not sufficiently trained on how to use their products and methods, the result will vary and often leave much more room for disease-producing germs to spread throughout your facility fast.

Products that recommend dwell times and orders of steps have instructions that have been created to make these products most effective. Similarly, touch points and hot spots are a critical component of cleaning for health. You need a hospital cleaning service that trains medical cleaners to get you and your facility the best results for a clean and safe environment. So what matters most when it comes to medical cleaning services and health care cleaning? Essentially, it is the training of the people carrying out the cleaning. Unfortunately, not every medical cleaning company does what is needed to assure their teams are adequately trained in both the specifics of medical office cleaning services and the multitude of cleaning products they use to keep your health care facilities clean and safe. Even the best disinfectants, surfactants, fungicides, virucides and bactericides are significantly reduced in efficacy if used improperly. Hospital cleaning companies and medical office cleaning companies that do not sufficiently train their people are frankly not giving them the tools and knowledge to do their best in your facility, safeguarding patient health and the your facility’s reputation.

Don’t Let Your Medical Cleaning Company Put You At Risk

We understand that physicians and clinicians vary in terms of aptitude, effectiveness and overall care. Similarly, medical janitorial services vary with their ability to properly clean and maintain your facility. Many, many janitorial companies WANT your business but really, only a select few commercial cleaning companies are truly prepared to deliver a high level of cleaning in a healthcare setting. If you are evaluating your current medical cleaning company or considering alternatives, consider the following:

• Does the cleaning company actually understand the requirements of medical cleaning?
• Do they understand regulations and compliance issues connected to medical cleaning?
• Are they aware of how their work cleaning and maintaining your facility contributes to HCAHPS scores?
• Do they understand the science behind cleaning, the concept of dwell times and touch points?
• Is their employee training program detailed, observable and offered for both general cleaning, medical cleaning and products and equipment?
• Do they provide employees with safety compliance training for OSHA, HIPPA, & Blood borne Pathogens?
• Do they have a green cleaning program to employ biodegradable, low allergenic, and non-toxic products where possible?
• Do they hold current industry certifications like the ISSA’s CIMS?

Find the Right Medical Cleaning Company & Get the Protection You Need

The right medical cleaning company will not eliminate every risk related to HAIs, superbugs, influenza, C. difficile and more, but they can help you mitigate risk, reduce the likelihood of disease transmission and give your patients and providers an overall sense that your facility is clean, well maintained and healthy. The healthcare cleaning companies that have devoted time and resources into understanding your specific business and structuring their employee training and processes around the unique needs of the medical community will be excited to offer their partnership, knowledge and expertise in the service of your facility. Much like in medicine, there are specialists and generalists and really, when it comes to medical cleaning you need a specialist. Medical cleaning companies that want your business must be able to backup their assertions of great healthcare cleaning services with solid references, documented training and verifiable systems and processes that lead to measurable improvements in service delivery. Find the right medical cleaning company to partner with and so many facets of your operations and success become easier.

Is Your Facility Up To The Scrutiny Of Patients & Their Families?

Medical office cleaning requires a great deal more from a commercial cleaning company than general business office cleaning. When a consumer goes into a retail establishment, they want to buy something. When a consumer visits a restaurant, they want to eat something. When a consumer visits an office building, they typically want to do something. But when a consumer visits a medical office or other healthcare setting, they are putting their health and safety in your hands. The expectation of cleanliness and care is entirely different. And the trust inherent in the relationship between a patient and your staff and facility is easily broken if your medical office isn’t clean and welcoming. When patients and their families walk through the doors of your medical facility, they want to see and be reassured by a clean, professional setting. Without even being aware that they are doing it, they will judge the quality and safety of the services they receive, in part, by the appearance of your facility. They will look over your offices, waiting areas and examination rooms. They will notice mystery stains, wear, trash and worse as they wait to be seen. Is your medical facility up to the scrutiny? Is your medical cleaning company doing all they need to be in order to protect patient health, attract and retain quality medical staff and safeguard the reputation of your facility? Quality medical office cleaning services in Detroit should clean and maintain your medical facility at a level that will assure patient comfort and reduce the spread of disease-causing germs. If you are looking to outsource medical cleaning or replace an existing medical cleaning service that has flat lined, what do you need to know to make the most sound decision for your facility?

What You Need From Medical Cleaning Services

As you go through the process of identifying and vetting healthcare cleaning services, it can be helpful to consider the endpoint of what you want from them. While individual medical janitorial services may take slightly different approaches in your facility, there are some service basics you should always be getting without fail. What do patients and their families scrutinize when they visit your facility? What specific areas do you and your healthcare cleaning team need to be acutely aware of?

First - Your healthcare facility must have a clean, welcoming entrance. This space creates a first impression and nothing can destroy that faster than greasy germ laden fingerprints on glass doors, dark, unknown stains on carpeting, dog eared, ripped magazines and worse. Your medical cleaning services should help you send the right message and make a positive first impression with a clean and inviting entrance that sets the tone for professional, trusted medical care.

Second - Grubby, grimy carpets and dusty, dirty hard flooring are easy to notice. Dirty carpets look and smell bad and hard flooring that isn’t regularly maintained can lend to an overall sense of insufficient maintenance in your medical facility. Floors in your healthcare facility should always be clean and safe even if that means more regular cleaning than you might have to do in for general office cleaning. Regular dry carpet cleaning and hot water extraction carpet cleaning can not only keep carpeting looking its best, it can even extend the lifespan of this expensive building asset. Likewise, regular, professional hard floor cleaning keeps flooring looking good and keeps slipping hazards to a minimum. In addition to carpet cleaning and hard floor cleaning, your medical office cleaning services should also help you with a matting program. More and more companies are enhancing their medical janitorial programs with floor and entrance mats. A recent study from the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA), demonstrated that up to 90% of the dirt that enters a facility comes in on people’s shoes. A quality matting program, regular hard flooring maintenance and periodic carpet cleaning can keep the floor in your medical facility looking good and sending the right message to patients, staff and visitors. 

Third – Clean, sanitized restrooms are a critical part of the overall impression of cleanliness in your facility. While medical visit and procedures do not happen in the restroom, the state of your restrooms can make or break the perception of overall care and professionalism of the actual health services offered. Think about how you feel when you visit a restaurant and see the restrooms dirty and in disarray. You immediately become suspicious about the state of the kitchen. The same is true in healthcare facilities. A dirty restroom lends an unfavorable impression that everything might be dirty. Furthermore, restrooms are a chief source of disease causing environmental pathogens that pose health risk to patients, staff and visitors. Prospective medical cleaning companies must understand the science of cleaning in order to deliver the level of you deserve.

Fourth – The condition of your furnishings is a noticeable element when patients and their families are sizing up your facility. The reality is that the heavy traffic in a busy healthcare facility can quickly take a toll on furniture like waiting rooms chairs, sofas, table and treatment room chairs. Periodic cleaning on the part of your medical cleaning service is key as well as replacement of office furniture that has reached the end of its lifespan.

Fifth – Treatment rooms must be clean and inviting. Think about it, most patients are checked in and spend several minutes waiting in a treatment room. With little more to do than look around waiting for their physician or health care provider, patients are quick to notice dirt, grime and worse, especially in a medical setting where stains and gunk take on an entirely different level of threat. No one wants to see a dark smear across a cabinet door or splattered vinyl baseboards. Prospective medical janitorial services must be prepared to detail clean these patient rooms in order to provide a clean, healthy, inviting space.

Sixth – No one likes to see filled or overflowing trash in any building but it is infinitely more suspect in a medical office or healthcare facility. This is because the waste generated in a healthcare setting is in many people’s opinions, just grosser. Any medical office cleaning worth their salt will keep trashes empties, clean and even be diligent about refilling important hand washing supplies like soap and hand towels to assure your facility is clean and welcoming.

Seventh –Cleaning for health is a critical component of all commercial cleaning but nowhere is it more important than in a healthcare facility. Disease causing germ spread like rapid fire in a healthcare facility that sees more sick people than other general offices. Nowhere are germs more likely to congregate and spread than touch points and hot spots. Touch points and hot spots are those areas frequently touched by many hands, think door knobs, switches, faucet handles and even shared computer and office equipment like phones and computer mouses. If your medical cleaning isn’t up to speed on the principles behind cleaning for health, they are not capable of delivering the healthy, safe clean you need to create a welcoming patient environment and a healthy workplace. 

How to Find Medical Cleaning Companies That Have the Right Prescription

Whether you manage an urgent care center, medical clinic or specialist offices, keeping your facility clean and welcoming is a big task. If this list of must haves and must dos sounds tough to find in a commercial cleaning company, it is. There is a great deal that goes into offering professional, effective medical office cleaning. While many janitorial companies would love to have your business, only a small few are really up to the level required for healthcare cleaning. SO how do you discern the pros from the quacks? First, partner with a Detroit commercial cleaning company that specializes in cleaning medical facilities. This should include verifiable experience working with other medical facilities. Similarly, a prospective medical cleaning company should be able to provide you with documented training in areas specific to medical facilities. Furthermore, the most professional and experienced medical cleaning companies should be able to provide you with references from other area medical facility managers. Finally, the best commercial cleaning companies will also offer other building maintenance services that can help you with one time projects or special needs that may arise in your facility.

Certified Industry Management Standard or CIMS, is the Medicine You Need

Finding the right medical cleaning company to cure what ails your facility can be overwhelming. The amount of information you must verify and checklists to check off can simply take more time than you have. Professional certifications like the ISSA’s CIMS, Cleaning Industry Management Standard, offer you as a Facility Manager a free and useful tool in finding your next medical office cleaning services. Like board certification can distinguish added training and specialization with physicians, CIMS offers additional training and benchmarks for commercial cleaning professionals committed to best practices and excellence within their industry. The process is demanding and the requirements are steep. And unlike a sales pitch in which a janitorial company can SAY anything they want about the professionalism of their services, with CIMS certification, all of the information is independently verified. This means CIMS isn’t just a participation trophy handed out to whomever paid for it. It is a hard won, rigorous management standard that measures business areas that directly impact you as the Facility Manager of a healthcare facility. CIMS offers a great way to put together a preliminary list of medical cleaning companies from which you can then use walk throughs, meetings and request for proposals (RFP) to make your final decision picking a medical cleaning partner that will help you and your facility operate at the highest level.