How Often Should a Medical Office Be Cleaned?
The nature of the medical industry exposes medical offices and healthcare facilities to various risks in the form of pathogens, infectious diseases, and other biohazards. These risks make regular medical office cleaning and sanitation even more necessary to ensure the health and safety of patients and staff members.
Cleaning and sanitation guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Cleveland commercial cleaning authorities recommend regular cleaning activities to be performed daily as a form of general maintenance. However, more specialized cleaning activities are necessary for infection control, air quality control, and other requirements.
Regular Medical Office Cleaning Requirements
The frequency of doctor’s office cleaning and other offices inside a medical facility depends on several factors, including the nature of the office and the type of surface and equipment used.
Generally, the following are the regular cleaning requirements inside medical offices:
General Housekeeping
All general surfaces, like tables and desks, should be wiped and cleaned regularly. The floors must also be swept and mopped daily to maintain the cleanliness of the facility’s premises. Additionally, all spills and visible soiling should be cleaned immediately.
Non-Critical Surfaces
Equipment and surfaces used for non-critical patient care, including beds, bed rails, over-the-bed tables, and other surfaces with frequent skin contact, will need regular attention, which can be determined by factors such as frequency of usage and office policies. Depending on such factors, these surfaces can be cleaned after each use, once daily or once weekly, and will also need low-level disinfection.
Environmental Surfaces
These are surfaces, objects, or areas that people may frequently come in contact with on a daily basis. Due to the potential for cross-contamination, greater attention must be placed on their regular disinfection.
Walls, tables, and chairs should be cleaned at least once daily, while high-touch surfaces like doorknobs and light switches can be disinfected more frequently. Cleaning for other surfaces like blinds and curtains can be done once weekly.
Specialized Medical Office Cleaning Requirements
Due to the nature of the industry, healthcare facilities and medical offices may also require special office cleaning in Toledo to account for their specialized needs. These include the following:
- Infection Control: Healthcare-associated infections are always a significant concern and must be given extra attention to protect patients and medical staff. All high-touch surfaces, equipment, and patient-care areas must be disinfected frequently using appropriate disinfectants.
- Sterilization: All medical instruments, such as surgical tools, patient-care equipment, examination equipment, and other medical devices, should be sterilized and disinfected after every use.
- Isolation Areas: These areas are often used to isolate patients with a significant risk of infection when exposed to the general population. Specific cleaning protocols must be created to decontaminate these areas and minimize the risk of cross-contamination.
- Air Quality Maintenance: The air inside medical offices and facilities has a high risk of carrying airborne pathogens and diseases. This is why it is important to install HEPA filters and ensure these are cleaned and replaced regularly to maintain air quality inside the facility.
- Hazardous Waste Management: Medical activities inside the facility produce large amounts of hazardous waste, which must be handled and disposed of regularly to prevent any risk of exposure to everyone inside the facility.
Customizing a Plan For Medical Office Cleaning in Toledo
Every medical facility has different cleaning requirements, which vary depending on such factors as size, number of employees and patients handled, and the types of services offered. The frequency with which each area needs to be handled will also be different, which is why Cleveland commercial cleaning services recommend creating a customized cleaning plan that accounts for all specialized needs, including general areas, patient-care areas, and doctor’s office cleaning.
You can use these tips below to create a customized cleaning plan for your medical office:
- Evaluate your entire facility, taking special note of special zones like high-traffic areas, patient care areas, and administrative offices.
- Identify all high-touch surfaces, such as doorknobs, handles, tabletops, and even waiting room reading materials.
- Take note of guidelines created by OSHA, CDC, and Cleveland commercial cleaning and medical cleaning authorities.
- Establish the frequency with which these areas and surfaces need to be cleaned.
- Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs), including step-by-step instructions, the type of personal protective equipment (PPE) required, and the cleaning equipment and products used.
- Disseminate information and make sure all staff members are trained to handle your facility’s needs in terms of medical office cleaning in Toledo.
Entrust Your Facility’s Cleaning Requirements to a Medical Cleaning Service in Cleveland
There are numerous considerations involved in ensuring a medical office is properly cleaned and sanitized. By thoroughly assessing your facility’s needs and developing a proper cleaning plan, you can effectively address all of your cleaning requirements and prioritize the safety and well-being of your patients and staff members.
Alternatively, you can entrust all doctor’s office cleaning and maintenance and other areas in your facility to a professional medical cleaning service in Cleveland, like JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting.
As a professional cleaning service in Cleveland, we make sure that all your facility’s cleaning and disinfection needs are properly addressed, freeing up more of your time and human resources to handle the needs of your patients. We help you develop a customized cleaning plan to help you comply with all regulatory requirements and create an environment that promotes healing and recovery.