The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 1.7 million infections occur every year in hospitals.¹ This statistic stresses the importance of medical office cleaning.  There is a priority for them to be as germ free as possible, keeping in mind such issues as cross contamination, room functionality, and office type.  As a medical care office one of the most important areas to keep clean is the lobby and reception area.  When patients walk into your office the lobby provides them with a first impression as does the reception area, so maintaining cleanliness here is of upmost importance.  It is unlikely that a patient would feel comfortable receiving healthcare in a facility that was less than clean, with dust bunnies lurking in the corner and a musty smell filling the waiting room.

Different medical offices require different cleaning needs.  For example, a pediatric office would require specific and detailed floor care because children play on the floors throughout the office, whether it be in the play area or exam room.  Kids run around all day long, and the amount of bacteria they carry on the bottom of their shoes is a frightening thought.  Thorough sanitizing needs to be done on office floors where this could be an issue because of cross contamination.

Cross contamination is the physical movement or transfer of harmful bacteria from one person, object or place to another.  There are four common sources: food, people, equipment and work surfaces.  Bacteria can live and thrive in any crack or crevice on any surface or equipment, so proper cleaning practices must be followed.²   A study of 200 patient and healthcare workers cell phones showed that 39.6% of patient and 20.6% of healthcare workers tested positive for pathogens and that 7 patient phones tested positive for multidrug resistant pathogens such as MRSA.³  MRSA can survive for up to 8 weeks on a mop head, and up to 9 weeks on a cotton towel.⁵  These facts prove the crucial need to disinfect and clean using techniques that won’t cross contaminate.  When cleaning a medical office it is extremely important to use different cleaning cloths for different surfaces and to disinfect using proper methods.

Keeping in mind the importance of disinfecting surfaces in the medical office, it is also important to keep in mind that the chemicals that are used should be safe and non toxic so as not to harm patients or affect them in a negative way.  Envision Commercial Cleaning uses green clean methods and no harmful conventional cleaners.  The green clean team uses color coded microfiber cloths in order to not cross contaminate between surfaces.  We stress the importance of a clean office for a successful business and offer odor control techniques that can make any area smell fresh and clean!  Call Envision Commercial Cleaning for your free quote today!

Sources:

1. http://www.docfroc.com/news/article.asp?articlesource=257&p=534&s=533&s2=534&t=Mary-Vargas:-Dress-for-success,-not-for-disease
2.  http://www.ccc.govt.nz/business/healthsafety/crosscontamination.aspx
3.  http://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553%2811%2900044-7/abstract  *Mehmet Sait Tekerekoglu et al., “Do Mobile Phones of Patients, Companions and Visitors Carry Multidrug-Resistant Hospital Pathogens?”
4. http://blog.coverall.com/hospital-study-cell-phones-carry-dangerous-bacteria/
5.  http://www.hibiclens.com/mrsa_information.html#mrsalifespan