Finding the right medical waste management company can seem overwhelming. Many factors contribute to this decision, and choosing an inexperienced, unprofessional, or unethical company can lead so some dire consequences—financial or otherwise. Whether you're in or around Atlanta or any other Georgia city, the following are some tips to help make this process of choosing a Georgia waste management company less stressful and more successful.
Important Tips in Selecting a Medical Waste Company in Georgia
1. Permitting, Licensing, and Insurance
When selecting a waste management company, remember you are legally liable for that medical waste from its generation to its disposal. Even if you use a third party to transport and dispose of it, you (as the generator) are still responsible.
With that in mind, it becomes extremely important to pick a reputable, knowledgeable, and professional waste management company. This will safeguard you against any negligence you could ultimately be held accountable for. Any company you work with should be fully permitted, licensed, and insured to handle your regulated medical waste.
In Georgia, the minimum insurance requirement is one million dollars. However, some medical waste management companies carry well over this—upwards of five million dollars. If something catastrophic were to happen with your generated waste, this extra insurance would offer peace of mind.
2. Drivers
In general, during a medical waste pickup, you will primarily be dealing with the driver of the waste management services company. Therefore, the professionalism of those drivers becomes important.
Especially if the drivers go through your waiting room or past patients, they need to conduct themselves properly—including everything from conduct to uniform. If you're not comfortable with a company's driver, it likely speaks to the overall quality of that business, so pay attention to those cues.
Don't forget to also ask if all their employees (drivers included) are up to date on all trainings. The company should be able to tell you what trainings their employees have completed and which of these are legally required.
3. Customer Service
How your medical waste disposal company treats you is important. Their level of customer service and commitment to it can have a huge impact on your overall satisfaction with that company.
Before agreeing to work with anybody, ask about their:
- Flexibility with scheduling and medical waste pickups. (Can they accommodate whatever you need—weekly, monthly, yearly, etc.?)
- Flexibility of pricing. Do they offer a waste management service agreement where you pay for services used, or do they use medical waste contracts where you're locked in to a monthly fee?
- Ease of contacting them and average time it takes to return a customer's phone call.
4. Experience
Medical waste management is a dynamic, complicated industry that's undergone a lot of recent change. A company with more years in the business will simply be more familiar with all these rules, regulations, and changes. They'll be better informed and have encountered more medical waste-related situations.
Maybe you want a certificate of destruction for all destroyed red bag waste. Maybe you want to know more about the medical waste autoclave process. Whatever you need, more experienced companies will be better prepared to provide it.
5. Advantages of Working Locally with a Medical Waste Company in Georgia
If your medical waste services provider is local to Georgia, this can offer you some concrete benefits.
- Knowledge of the area and your business
When drivers have their own routes, they become familiar with those particular areas. They know things such as what roads to avoid at what times as well as any parking restrictions.
They'll also know your doctor's office or hospital and what door you prefer them to enter, where you keep the boxes for pickup, etc. All this contributes to an easy, quick, pain-free pickup for you.
- State-specific medical waste regulations
A local company will know any regulations specific to Georgia and likely the surrounding states as well. Compliance with state regulations will help ensure you aren't hit with fines.
Advantages of Working with Full-Service Medical Waste Management Companies
Full-service waste management companies offer a variety of services rather than specializing in one area. Should you ever need these services, you'll already know and trust a company that provides:
- OSHA trainings—including but not limited to HIPAA OSHA training and bloodborne pathogen training (BBP training).
- Sensitive document destruction.
- Pharmaceutical waste disposal.
For more waste management tips or information about selecting a medical waste management company in Georgia, please feel free to contact a representative of MCF Environmental Services, an Atlanta medical waste management company with over twenty-five years of experience.
