If you currently work in a doctor's office that generates medical waste and requires you use medical waste services to identify, handle, transport, and/or dispose of that waste, there are some extra costs, financial penalties, and surcharges to be aware of. While some of these fees are industry standard, others are actually avoidable—if you know what type of medical waste management companies to use.
Be Aware of Extra Medical Waste Management Fees for Doctor Offices
Waste Management Contracts
The first financial pitfall to avoid is getting locked into a waste management contract. In a contract, the pricing structure is based on a monthly charge, and that system can easily lend itself to overcharging.
Potential problems with medical waste contracts include:
- Ironclad wording that locks you into multiyear contracts.
- A significant termination fee to get out of your contract.
- Being liable to pay over and above your monthly charge if you ship more than your allotted number of boxes per month.
- Having to pay one large monthly fee every month of the year—even if your waste production or biohazardous waste disposal needs fluctuate from month to month.
Contract Alternatives
If you want to avoid the financial penalties and extra charges associated with a medical waste contract, opt instead for a waste management service agreement. In this system, you only pay for the services you use. If you ship one box of medical waste, you only get charged for one box of medical waste. Depending on your medical waste management company, some will even offer a per-box discount for shipping multiple boxes of red bag waste.
You can much better manage your cost of waste management in a system such as this because you're only paying for what you use, and you can avoid any financial penalties associated with shipping more boxes of biohazardous material than expected.
A Shift in the Industry
Some doctors' offices might have been stuck in contracts so long that they aren't even aware there's been a change in the waste management industry. They might not know there are now companies that offer alternatives to lengthy, penalty-filled contracts.
After all, not that long ago, the perception used to be that if you had biohazardous materials that you needed to dispose of, you had to enter into a medical waste contract. As the industry practices changed, though, so too did that perception. While contracts used to be the norm, more and more medical waste management companies are now using the service agreement model.
Other Fees and Surcharges
Many of the other fees and surcharges associated with your medical waste pick up are dependent on the company you're working with. Some companies, for example, will charge you for packing and shipping supplies such as red bags, tape, DOT medical waste boxes, and more.
Other common charges include fuel surcharges and energy fees. These are fairly common across the industry, so don't be too surprised if these show up on your invoice. Not every company is going to charge them (and the individual rates should vary), but know that these are common across the industry.
For more information about factors that affect waste management cost or any number of other waste management tips, please feel free to contact a representative of MCF Environmental Services, a waste management Atlanta GA business.
