3 Strategies for Healthier Medical Office Cleaning

Posted on April 17, 2018

If you operate a medical facility, you place a great deal of trust in your medical cleaning service provider. Your office needs a clean bill of health to ensure the well-being, health, and safety of your staff and your patients. That’s only possible through high-quality medical office cleaning.

Medical cleaning service companies are expected to follow strict standards in their cleaning and disinfection protocols. However, the best cleaning companies don’t simply meet standards from OSHA, the CDC, AORN, and the Joint Commission — they find ways to exceed them, delivering the healthiest possible clean to their clients.

Take JAN-PRO® as an example. Our MedMetrix® medical office cleaning program was designed to bring a deeper clean to medical facilities. This program includes a range of strategies to improve air quality, reduce pathogens, and ensure a higher level of medical office hygiene.

Wondering how you can improve health and hygiene in your medical facility? Below are three of the strategies used by JAN-PRO cleaners to deliver a healthier medical cleaning service.

Reduced VOCs in Medical Office Cleaning

Cleaning products that produce VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are a common source of indoor air pollution in medical facilities. Harsher products — including many of the most popular disinfectants — generate toxic fumes, potentially endangering patients and personnel alike. Even fumes from milder products can irritate the airways of people with respiratory conditions.

There are two ways that your medical cleaning service can reduce VOCs in your facility. The first is to switch from using VOC-generating products to non-toxic alternatives where it is possible to do so. The second is to train staff in cleaning methods that reduce the volume of cleaning product used while maximizing coverage. Both of these strategies are part of JAN-PRO’s MedMetrix® system.

Proper Use of Microfiber Cleaning Materials

Microfiber cleaning materials have transformed best practices for medical office cleaning. When used on hard surfaces, a damp microfiber cloth or mop pad will trap roughly 99% of bacteria. Cotton materials — the traditional material used by cleaners — will trap less than 40% under the same conditions. This has made microfiber an indispensable tool for medical cleaning service providers.

But like any other cleaning textile, microfiber needs to be disinfected and laundered between uses. If your medical cleaning service uses the wrong disinfectant, detergent, or laundering procedures, they could damage the microscopically thin fibers that make microfiber materials so effective.

Advanced Medical Office Disinfection Systems

Medical facilities rely on strict disinfection protocols to protect staff and patients from dangerous pathogens. Effective disinfection depends on a number of factors, including the training of cleaning personnel, the disinfectant product used in your facility, and the system used to apply disinfectant.

This third area can be a weak spot for medical cleaning services. Most medical office cleaning companies depend on traditional application systems, like spray bottles and dampened cleaning cloths. These systems often miss hard-to-reach areas, including the damp, dark crevices where bacteria thrive.

One disinfection system that’s solved this dilemma is EnviroShield®, used exclusively by JAN-PRO cleaners. EnviroShield® employs an ionizing mist applicator, which gives disinfectant particles a negative charge. This charge causes the disinfectant to wrap itself around treated surfaces, getting into all of the areas that cleaners typically can’t reach.

Learn more about MedMetrix®, EnviroShield®, and medical cleaning services available through your local JAN-PRO today! Call 866-355-1064 today to connect with your local JAN-PRO office and request a FREE medical office cleaning estimate.