Proper disposal of your facility’s medical waste is required to maintain compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. Furthermore, proper handling of hazardous and bio-hazardous waste is necessary for your facility’s maintenance and ongoing operations. If you’re unsure where to start when selecting a vendor, you’ve come to the right place as we guide you through how to choose the right medical waste disposal service for your healthcare facility.
What is Medical Waste?
If your facility generates hazardous or biohazardous waste, you’ll need specialized disposal services. These types of waste, including human tissue and fluids, contaminated needles and syringes, medications, and other contaminated materials, are heavily regulated by federal, state, and local governments. Your organization must maintain strict medical waste compliance to avoid penalties or public exposure to dangerous materials.
If you’re unsure if your waste is Hazardous or Bio-Hazardous, check out our guide to determining waste types.
How to Choose the Right Medical Waste Disposal Service for Your Healthcare Facility
Choosing a medical waste company requires diligence. You’ll need to be certain that your organization is providing the necessary services to maintain proper compliance with federal, state, and local ordinances while also offering adequate frequency of pickup, excellent customer service, and transparency in pricing.
Compliance
Federal rules regarding healthcare waste management are limited, with EPA guidelines providing oversight for hazardous waste only. However, state regulations in this area are extensive. When selecting your medical waste disposal service, you must ensure that they stay up-to-date on all relevant rules and regulations so you can rest assured that you’re working within the necessary guidelines at all times.
Here at MedWaste Management, we monitor and stay up-to-date on all medical waste disposal regulations. We’ll be happy to consult with you concerning your type and volume of waste and how to properly store it until removal day. We’ll then assist you in determining the correct frequency for scheduling your pickup. If you’d like to review the regulations yourself, check out our Medical Waste Disposal page, where we publish California’s Medical Waste Management Act.
Experience
Real-world experience lends itself to efficiency and efficacy. When you’re looking for a medical waste company, consider their time in operation. A company that has been working for less than 5 years may need more time to hone their skills and fully understand the broad scope of work within the field. Seasoned organizations, established for 10 years or more, have the experience necessary to call themselves experts. This expertise means a higher level of excellence that you won’t find with newer organizations.
MedWaste Management has been in business since 2008, providing medical waste services to facilities, clinics, and labs all across California. That’s 16 years of honing our services to provide the absolute best for our clients.
Range of Services
A dependable hazardous and biohazardous waste removal service is essential for all hospitals, doctor’s offices, labs, and other healthcare organizations. However, medical waste isn’t the only byproduct of providing health-related services. When shopping for medical waste disposal services, look for an organization that offers add-ons, reducing the number of vendors you’ll need to hire for various services.
For instance, MedWaste Management provides a paper waste add-on. This service is available only to customers who utilize the medical waste disposal service. In addition to paper collection, shredding, and disposal, you have access to paper storage units.
Cost Transparency
There are few things more frustrating as you shop for healthcare facility waste solutions than having to jump through hoops to find pricing. While not always the most important piece of information, cost is key in understanding if a business’s services fall within your budget. Avoid companies that hold pricing information hostage, opting instead for those with cost transparency.
Are you wondering about the cost of medical waste disposal? We know your time is valuable, so we’ve clearly published our cost breakdown on our pricing page. There’s no need to call or fill out a request form. Furthermore, there are no hidden fees. We are upfront with all costs associated with our services.
Contract-Free Services
If you’re in the market for a medical waste disposal company, you’ll find many that provide services but require you to sign lengthy medical waste service contracts. These agreements often require you to continue the services for a certain period and assess penalties if you cancel before the agreed-upon date. This practice does not benefit you and creates tension in the vendor/buyer relationship. Instead, opt for an organization that builds relationships rather than contractual obligations. The best medical waste disposal providers will never lock you into a contract.
If you’d like to know more about our no-contract policy, check out this summary of what we do instead.
Reputation and Reviews
There’s nothing better than a thoughtfully penned review to help you gauge a company’s quality of service. When researching medical waste services, take some time to read through the reviews of other customers. You’ll get a chance to hear about where the company’s services shine and where any possible pitfalls may be. Furthermore, most reputable review services don’t allow the removal of poor feedback, so you can know that what you find is accurate.
Google is a great place to find company reviews. Most organizations have a public page where customers can easily leave reviews. MedWaste Management is no exception. Check out our Google review page, which has an average of 4.9/5 stars from our customers.
Questions You Should Ask Potential Medical Waste Disposal Servicers
When interviewing possible medical waste disposal servicers for your organization, there are a few key questions you should always ask. These include:
1. What area do you service?
2. How do you stay abreast of regulations related to medical waste?
3. How much does your service cost?
4. Are there any hidden or additional fees that I need to be aware of?
5. How often will you pick up our waste?
6. Will you require that I sign a contract? What does it entail?
7. Will you provide a service agreement? What does it entail?
8. Who do I call with questions?
9. How accessible is your team? If I need help, how quickly can I get it?
10. Is your organization licensed and insured?
Selecting the right medical waste disposal servicer will leave you free to take care of other things that matter. Contact us today, and let us take this task off your plate!
We are MedWaste Management – California’s medical waste disposal experts!
Established in 2008, MedWaste Management fills a need for compliant and safe medical waste disposal in the healthcare industry and the general public alike. We publish this blog to share valuable and practical information to help you stay safe, informed, and healthy!
Call us with any questions or to start service at (866) 254-5105. We are always happy to help!
Check out our services and other great resources in the links below.
Medical Waste Disposal Services
Learn How To Properly Manage & Dispose of Household Medical Waste
Tammy McKinney, RN, is a healthcare writer and seasoned registered nurse. With experience in acute care, long-term care, rehabilitation, drug & alcohol, and hospice & palliative care, she combines her medical understanding with her love for writing to educate and inform the public on various health-related topics. You can view a snippet of her portfolio here or contact her directly on LinkedIn!
