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Managing Medical Waste Safety and Efficiency. As a healthcare provider, you are responsible for the safe and effective disposal of medical waste. But do you know what happens to your medical waste and how it is dispose of? In this blog, we’ll look at the different types of medical waste, the regulations for disposal, and the benefits of managing medical waste. We’ll also look at what to look for when choosing a medical waste disposal company and tips for choosing a medical waste management company.
Medical waste is any waste generated by healthcare providers, clinics, hospitals, and laboratories that is considered to be hazardous to human health. This includes anything from discarded body fluids and tissues to sharps, such as needles and syringes. It also includes medical equipment, such as medical devices, that have been contaminated with body fluids. All medical waste must be handled in accordance with state and federal regulations.
Healthcare waste can be divided into four main categories:
General Waste, Infectious Waste, Hazardous Waste, and Radioactive Waste.
General Waste – General waste is just regular waste that goes in the everyday garbage can.
Infectious Waste – Any waste that could cause an infection in humans or animals, blood, human tissue, or anything contaminated with bodily fluids. This is what most people mean when they say medical waste, also known as regulated medical waste, infectious waste, biomedical waste, and biohazardous waste.
Hazardous Waste – Dangerous waste, but not infectious waste, some examples would include, chemical waste, chemotherapy waste, and medications that meet the hazardous definition.
Radioactive Waste – this is waste generated because of radioactive treatments; an example would be cancer therapies.
The proper disposal of medical waste is regulated by state and federal laws. In most states, medical waste must be managed and disposed of in accordance with state, and local regulations. This includes proper storage, transportation, and disposal of medical waste. For example, states require that sharps be placed in an FDA approved containers and disposed of in a manner that is not harmful to the public or environment. It is also important to note that regulations vary from state to state for the disposal of biohazardous medical waste.
Managing Medical Waste Safety and Efficiency. Managing medical waste correctly is an important part of ensuring a safe and healthy environment for patients and healthcare workers. Proper handling and disposal of medical waste helps to reduce the risk of exposure to biohazardous materials and prevents the spread of infectious diseases. It also helps to protect the environment by reducing the amount of biohazardous that end up in landfills and waterways.
When selecting a medical waste disposal company, there are several important factors to consider.
Treatment Plant – A company that owns and operates its own medical waste treatment plant is a full-service medical waste management company. This company will handle your waste from cradle-to-grave all within their own chain of custody. They are heavily regulated by the state operating a medical waste treatment plant, you know compliance is their business literally, have more insurance, streamlined service, etc.
Experience and Expertise – When looking for a medical waste disposal company, it is important to choose one with experience and expertise in the industry. The right company will be knowledgeable about the regulations and best practices for medical waste disposal. It is also important to choose a company that is up to date on the latest technologies and methods for medical waste disposal. Again, this is why it is important to choose a medical waste company that owns their own medical waste processing plant.
Solutions for Your Needs – The Bio-MED difference is that we go above and beyond for each of our partners, paying close attention to identify exactly what each one of our clients’ needs and customizing a waste removal solution for them.
Cost-effective Pricing – A company that owns a medical waste processing plant, isn’t going to have to pay another company to treat most of your medical waste. The entire process is handled by one company vs. two or three companies (in some cases) meaning you aren’t supporting three companies with your one bill.
Quality Customer Care – Quality care starts with owning the touch points of your medical wastes journey, pickup, transportation, treatment, and disposal.
Imagine if your medical waste contract is owned by company A, company B picks up your medical waste and transports it to company C for treatment.
You can see how any issues you have could become cumbersome trying to resolve them.
You call company A; company A must call company B or C, let them investigate the issue and then call company A back, who then in turn must call you back. Hopefully, you don’t have any additional questions or concerns when company A calls you back because that would start the process all over again.
Environmentally Friendly – Our commitment to our customers and the environment doesn’t stop with our cradle-to-grave management of your medical waste. We also use a state-of-the-art reusable container systems for medical waste and sharps waste that keeps unnecessary plastic waste from impacting the environment. Our cradle-to-grave management process, reusable medical waste and sharps disposal containers, fuel efficient trucks including an all-electric medical waste transport vehicle and intelligent routing are all examples of our commitment to our customers and the environment.
Compliance Training – We make achieving your OSHA compliant requirements as easy as possible with virtual training through our online portal accessible on any computer, tablet, or mobile device. Complete the training at a time that is convenient for your employees’ schedule with options for group or individual sessions. We make it easy for you to track your team’s progress with our simple dashboard where you can also easily view and download their certificates of completion. Manage your OSHA compliance in one powerful web portal!
When choosing a medical waste management company, it is important to make sure they have the experience and expertise to meet your needs. You should ask these simple questions.
With Bio-MED we own the process and the plant so we can ensure that the process is safe, cost-effective, and seamless. Contact Bio-MED today for all your medical waste disposal needs!
