It is widely believed that the leading cause of death in hospitals is infection, but this is not entirely true. The actual leading cause of death in hospitals is sepsis. Sepsis is a condition in which an infection spreads to an organism’s bloodstream, causing widespread inflammation throughout the body.

Although studies show that the cause of this condition is usually unrelated to the quality of care that patients receive in hospitals, it is still of the utmost importance that medical facilities maintain the cleanest possible environments to stave off infection among their patients.

This is why JBM Janitorial provides specialized medical facility cleaning services to help keep people within these essential establishments safe. Whether they know it or not, doctors, nurses, patients, and visitors rely on professional cleaning services like JBM to ensure that patients receive the highest quality of care while preventing the spread of diseases.

In today’s article, we will be talking about the process that JBM uses to set the gold standard for medical office cleaning services.

When cleaning a medical office or hospital, it is important to follow a strict set of guidelines to ensure that the facilities are always ready to receive new patients. Following a set of standard procedures for medical office cleaning services will reduce the chances of essential steps being missed or completed poorly.

Here are some tips on how to keep your medical office or hospital clean and keep your patients out of harm’s way.

Understanding Different Types of “Clean”

Usually, when we say something is “clean,” we mean that it doesn’t look dirty. But when talking about medical office cleaning services, we need to understand the essential differences among different levels of cleanliness and how these apply to individual surfaces within a healthcare environment.

Cleaning – Cleaning refers to the act of removing dust, dirt, oils, and other contaminants from a surface or environment. In a hospital or medical office setting, cleaning services will perform basic house cleaning in areas such as waiting rooms and hallways. This can involve dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and window washing, but medical office cleaning services will apply another level of cleaning when it comes to “high-handle” surfaces.

Disinfecting – Disinfecting is the next level of cleanliness that should be used for treating areas that people frequently touch. As it is defined by the CDC, disinfecting is performed with the use of a chemical cleaning agent that is able to kill all or most pathogenic microorganisms.

Disinfection is appropriate for treating all surfaces where pathogens are likely to be present, such as armrests, door handles, and desktops. Disinfection should also be used when cleaning bathrooms, patient rooms, and surgical venues since these are all areas where surfaces are likely to come into contact with harmful microorganisms at some point throughout their everyday use.

Sterilizing – Sterilization is a specialized cleaning process that kills and removes all viable pathogenic microorganisms from a surface, and this is typically reserved for medical instruments that come into contact with non-intact skin and/or mucous membranes.

Because sterilization requires professional equipment for removing pathogens and packaging sterilized devices, most medical office cleaning services cannot provide sterilization services.

Instead, sterilization services are typically performed by other third-party companies or within the hospitals themselves.

Spaulding Classification – is a method for identifying the level of risk presented by individual surfaces and objects depending on their use, then cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilizing them accordingly.

This classification system was first presented by a microbiologist named Earle Spaulding in 1939, and it has since become the standard form of classification for medical devices and facilities.

JBM Janitorial uses the Spaulding Classification system to train employees on cleaning procedures since it is considered the standard for the entire medical industry.

Not all medical offices will have the same needs, and medical office cleaning services will take the nature of each office into account when developing a cleaning strategy. For example, a chiropractic clinic and a dentist’s office will have different requirements for how their workspaces are cleaned.

Cleaning a chiropractic clinic will focus on maintaining a clean and organized environment, with a particular emphasis on disinfecting treatment tables and equipment. On the other hand, a dentist’s office will require strict adherence to infection control protocols, including thorough disinfection of dental chairs and areas where sterilized tools are prepared for use.

Understanding the specific needs and regulations of different medical specialties allows medical office cleaning services to adapt their approach and ensure that each medical setting maintains the highest standards of cleanliness appropriate for the area of its practice.

To ensure that medical facilities meet the highest standards of cleanliness, medical office cleaning services like JBM have a strict set of guidelines to keep their cleaning practices consistent with their commitment to safety and quality.

In order to equip employees with the knowledge and experience they need to carry out their duties effectively, medical office cleaning services provide extensive training both on and off-site.

Most of JBM’s training staff has been with us for over 20 years, and they are well-versed in HIPAA and OSHA guidelines for medical office cleaning services. As such, JBM has developed a strategy for medical office cleaning services that is in line with industry standards, as well as our own commitment to excellence, and this is exemplified in how we prepare our employees for their jobs.

When entering a new facility, medical office cleaning surfaces will perform a walk-through to identify which areas present a higher level and risk and require specialized cleaning. This allows them to create a daily checklist for what needs to be cleaned, how each area needs to be cleaned, and what should be avoided.

For example, medical office cleaning services do not handle biohazard waste bins since these can present an immediate risk to the janitorial staff’s health and well-being. OSHA stipulates that biohazardous waste must be handled and disposed of while following a specific set of guidelines, which is why hospitals and medical offices contract with specialized companies for this type of waste removal.

Knowing the layout and specific needs of a medical facility allows medical office cleaning services to complete their cleaning duties more quickly, efficiently, and consistently.