Whether you’re an extensive hospital system or a small clinic, if you’re generating biomedical waste, you’re also generating paperwork that contains protected health information (PHI). From printed orders and medical records, to medication labels, you must dispose of this information properly to avoid violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). If you’re tossing it into the biohazard bins or disposing of it in your general refuse containers, you could face fines exceeding $2 million per violation. Unfortunately, paper shredding services can add up, affecting your bottom line. For these reasons, we highly recommend that you take advantage of the cost-saving benefits of adding document shredding to your biomedical waste service.
What Healthcare Documents Should Be Shredded?
If you haven’t already developed policies and procedures related to healthcare document shredding within your facility, you must start right away. Examples of documents that your organization must dispose of through HIPAA-compliant shredding include anything bearing a patient’s name, address, birthday, social security numbers, personal identifiers, or medical information, such as:
- Prescription labels
- Clinical notes
- Billing forms
- Diagnostic test results
- Medical orders
- Vaccination records
- Photos
- Medical history forms
This list is by no means exhaustive. You must remain diligent in always checking over paper forms for any trace of patient information, ensuring the proper disposal of all of it.
The Cost-Saving Benefits of Adding Document Shredding to Your Biomedical Waste Service
If your biohazard waste disposal company offers the option to bundle document shredding, pickup, and disposal with your current service, you should definitely take advantage of the benefit. Doing so reduces costs due to bundling discounts, operational efficiency, and simplified billing.
Bundling Discounts
Bundling document shredding services with your biomedical waste disposal service usually costs less than hiring an independent paper waste provider. The average cost for pickup of 1-10 boxes of paper shredding from a standard document disposal company ranges from $130-$175. That’s significant compared to the cost of bundling your paper shredding with MedWaste Management’s biohazard waste disposal services, which charge less than $60 per pickup.
Furthermore, while the paper shredding is a bundle option, it’s not treated as a side note. Customers still receive services such as file box pickup and shredding, locking paper receptacles, and paper waste shredding and disposal services.
Operational Efficiency
Rather than paying two companies to drive to your facility, access your disposal storage area, and then load and transport your waste, bundling allows for a single pickup. This is why the company can charge you less. However, reducing the number of pickups also saves you money internally. Your employees will spend less time interacting with and dealing with the vendors, receive guidance from a single vendor, and only need to make one call to handle all biomedical and paper disposal needs.
Simplified Billing
If you’re in charge of accounts payable for your organization, you know there is a lot to handle. Various vendors sending invoices in different formats with their own payment terms and due dates can make the process quite challenging. Bundling services such as secure document destruction and biomedical waste disposal saves you time and stress by decreasing the number of vendors you’re using and, therefore, the number of invoices you receive.
How to Choose the Right Document Shredding Provider
Choosing the right document shredding provider who also handles your biomedical waste shouldn’t be difficult. In fact, you can follow the same guidelines you would when hiring the best biomedical waste company. Look for a provider who:
- Prioritizes compliance
- Is experienced in the field
- Offers a range of services
- Offers transparent pricing
- Has a good reputation and excellent reviews
Once you’ve chosen a company that can handle your medical waste disposal and bundle document shredding, check out our guide to Transitioning to a New Medical Waste Disposal Service without Disrupting Operations.
Let Us Help!
Are you in the Los Angeles, California area? If so, we’d love to discuss bundling biomedical waste disposal services and document shredding for your facility! Our upfront pricing for both services is available directly on our website. Furthermore, we never lock our customers into a contract; instead, we provide a service agreement that outlines our commitment to you! We also offer specialty waste containers, wall mounting systems, and labeling products.
Check out our Waste Management Service Areas page to see if we are available in your area.
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 contact her directly on LinkedIn!
