JAN-PRO Philadelphia outlines how clinical cleaning differs from office cleaning

JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting in Philadelphia has released guidance for outpatient practices on how clinical cleaning differs from general office cleaning. The guidance highlights CDC- and OSHA-related standards, disinfection steps, and the infection-control risks tied to contaminated surfaces in healthcare settings.

Why it matters: - Healthcare-associated infections remain a major patient safety issue, with the CDC estimating that about 1 in 31 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection on any given day. - Contaminated environmental surfaces are an established route of transmission in clinical settings. - The same pathogens found in hospitals, including C. diff, MRSA, and norovirus, also appear in outpatient offices, clinics, and specialty practices where most patients receive care. - General office cleaning scopes do not cover the standards clinical environments require, which raises infection-control risk for outpatient practices.

What happened: - JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting in Philadelphia released guidance on how clinical cleaning differs from general office cleaning. - The guidance focuses on surface disinfection in outpatient care. - The company framed the guidance around medical offices, clinics, and specialty practices across Philadelphia and surrounding counties.

The details: - Clinical settings must follow standards that include CDC environmental cleaning guidance and OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard. - Cleaning must happen before disinfecting. - Disinfectant applied over visible soil does not reach pathogens beneath the soil. - Surfaces must be cleaned first and then disinfected as two separate steps. - Hospital-grade disinfectants must be used at their labeled contact times. - Each disinfectant label lists a dwell time, which is the number of minutes the surface must stay wet to kill the organisms listed on the label. - If a surface is wiped dry too early, the surface has not been fully disinfected. - Color-coded microfiber systems help prevent cross-contamination. - The systems physically separate restroom materials from exam-surface materials. - Written protocols mapped to CDC guidance and OSHA requirements provide documentation that can be reviewed during an audit. - Training for clinical environments must address different requirements for waiting rooms, exam rooms, and procedure rooms. - Regulated areas require specific handling under clinical protocols.

Between the lines: - The guidance suggests many practices may underestimate how different a medical office is from a standard workplace. - For outpatient operators, the issue is not just appearance or routine housekeeping. It is documented infection-control procedure. - The emphasis on written protocols and training points to a more compliance-driven model for cleaning vendors serving healthcare clients.

What they said: - “A medical office is not just an office, but a lot of them get cleaned like one,” said Chad Janak, president at JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting in Philadelphia. - “Do you clean before you disinfect? Can you show me your protocol? If the answers aren’t immediate, that tells you something,” Janak said.

What's next: - JAN-PRO Philadelphia said protocol reviews and facility walkthroughs are available by request at (610) 209-7589. - The company offers medical office cleaning in Philadelphia, commercial cleaning in Philadelphia, and medical facility cleaning in Montgomery County. - The guidance is aimed at practices across Philadelphia and Montgomery, Delaware, Chester, and Bucks counties, where medical offices operate under infection-control responsibilities regardless of size. - More information is available on the company’s LinkedIn page, Instagram account, Facebook page, and Yelp listing.