No matter the scale of your medical practice, you naturally want your physical environment to look clean, smell fresh, and be welcoming to patients. However, when it comes to medical office cleaning, it’s also crucial to ensure every inch is free of germs and disease-causing microorganisms.
Since healthcare facilities regularly receive people with compromised health, an organized and germ-free environment helps you protect your patients and staff from healthcare-associated infections.
Your medical practice deserves more than surface-level cleaning. Follow these best practices for cleaning medical offices to create a safer and more welcoming environment for everyone.
1. Focus on High-Touch and High-Traffic Areas
Patients mostly spend their time in the waiting area and the exam room, and the foot traffic can cause dirt and germs to build up quickly. As such, you want to pay close attention to these high-traffic spaces in your medical office cleaning routine. Use a hospital-grade disinfectant to wipe down chair armrests, tables, doorknobs, light switches, and other high-touch surfaces in these areas.
Your restrooms may also harbor disease-causing germs, so they should be cleaned and disinfected thoroughly. Leave the cleaning solution on the surfaces of toilets, sinks, faucet handles, and trash cans for the recommended time to ensure its effectiveness.
2. Start From the Cleanest Down to the Dirtiest
The best approach to cleaning medical offices is to always begin at the cleanest or healthiest areas and work your way down to the dirtiest. With this, the reception area ideally comes before your examination rooms, and restrooms are always the last. This method minimizes the chances of dirt and germs being spread to the healthier rooms in your facility.
As you do this, ensure your cloth, mops, rags, and other supplies are color-coded and used only in one area to prevent cross-contamination. For example, a mop used on your restroom’s floor must never be used when wet-mopping your reception area.
3. Always Use Gloves Correctly
Wearing personal protective equipment like gloves helps ensure worker safety. However, improper use can be counterproductive; it not only exposes the cleaner to dirt and hazardous waste but also facilitates the spread of disease-causing germs inside the facility.
Keep everyone safe by sharing and following these pointers on glove use:
- Always use gloves when cleaning inside a medical office.
- Change them between every room, and assign different gloves for different tasks.
- Never wear them in the hallways.
- Wash your hands right after removing your gloves and dispose of them properly.
4. Do Away With the Feather Dusters
Dust building up on the surfaces inside your medical office can make patients feel ill and aggravate respiratory conditions, making regular dusting crucial.
However, when doing this task, it’s best to do away with your traditional feather dusters, as they only move the dust around. Instead, use a microfiber duster, a dampened cloth, or a handheld vacuum to pick up dirt and debris.
Most importantly, never wait until the dust buildup becomes visible on your surfaces. It’s best to dust at least three times a week to keep your office spotless – and your patients safe and comfortable.
5. Clean Examination Rooms Regularly
Examination rooms must be thoroughly cleaned after each use, or the chances of cross-contamination between patients, doctors, and nurses can increase.
Wipe all beds, exam tables, lounge chairs, doorknobs, cabinets, light switches, and other high-touch zones after a patient leaves. Use proper cleaning solutions and disinfectants in your examination rooms to protect your staff from avoidable infections and give your patients peace of mind.
6. Don’t Do It All on Your Own
As a healthcare professional, the work you do directly impacts the lives and well-being of your patients. This means that each task you take on requires you to be focused, careful, and precise. This also means you may have less time and energy to mind your office’s cleanliness.
When you entrust your medical office cleaning to certified professionals, you regain the time to concentrate on your patients. Medical cleaning companies specialize in taking care of healthcare facilities, like how you specialize in caring for sick people. With their expertise and experience, you won’t have to worry about learning how to clean your office yourself.
Finally, remember that cleaning medical offices also entail using proper products and equipment – all of which established cleaning companies already have. They understand that keeping your healthcare facility free from dirt and germs goes beyond wiping and vacuuming, and they’re well-equipped to handle everything you may need.
Ready for Consistent Medical Office Cleaning?
The easiest and most time-efficient way to keep your medical facility clean and healthy is to hire a professional for the job. A healthcare facility’s cleanliness and hygienic requirements differ from most commercial environments, so you need professionals who understand and use industry best practices.
Let a JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting certified franchisee take on this task for you. On top of adhering to industry-approved techniques, they use proprietary cleaning and disinfection technologies that are safe for people and the environment. Most importantly, they implement a rigorous quality assurance system to ensure you always receive top-notch cleaning.
If you know it’s time for high-quality and consistent medical facility cleaning, get in touch today to schedule your free estimate or find a certified cleaning franchisee near you. The cleaning professionals look forward to serving you and your practice.
Cleaning and disinfecting services provided by independently owned and operated JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting franchisees.