Your in-depth guide to the pros and cons of medical office cleaning certification courses
No one can argue that it looks impressive to decorate your bids and proposals with that “Medical Office Cleaning Certification” logo. But is that the one thing that’s going to make your company stand out in a competitive market?
We certainly can’t speak directly as to how your potential customers will think. It’s impossible to say how much they know about the commercial cleaning industry. Most medical offices will have specific standards and regulations they need to follow, but they may have little idea as to your process.
Beyond marketing, however, will a medical office cleaning certification course be worth your time and money? Will you and your team learn new techniques, skills, or ideas to help you in the field?
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The truth about medical office cleaning certification courses
Certification in many industries, the cleaning industry included, is challenging to define. Nothing is stopping your biggest competitor from designing a “certification” course that they run their employees through, then slapping a “certified cleaning professionals” sticker on their website. Rename your onboarding and training program a “certification course,” and there you are.
It’s never quite that simple, though. It becomes evident to your clients whether or not your work is up to par. A certification may get you in the door, but it won’t keep you there if you don’t offer high-quality work.
That means you have to do a little investigative work. Before you sign up for a medical office cleaning certification, look closely at the company offering the course.
- Are they reputable?
- Do they have a verifiable history in teaching this type of course?
- Can you find information about them on the web?
- How is their customer service? Do they respond to your questions promptly?
- Do they have a physical address? Some legitimate companies may be entirely virtual, so don’t disqualify them if they don’t have an address, but use that information in conjunction with other information.
- Does the course “seem” realistic? We’re talking medical offices here, so the course should have information about infection control, disinfection procedures, bloodborne pathogen training, or other similar topics.
If the pieces don’t add up, it might be best to save your time and money. That said, some certifications can benefit your business both from a marketing perspective and in the actual work you do. Let’s look at what makes a medical office cleaning certification course one that will help your business, as well as a few tips on how to find them.
Don’t shop by price. As a business owner yourself, you know there are a lot of factors that go into the price of something. You may pay association fees that help defray the cost of courses; you may pay extra for a highly-respected instructor to come to your business in person. Or you could go for that discount certification course from some unknown vendor with fake reviews. Ultimately it’s your choice, but shop carefully and don’t let price (high or low) determine your direction.
Go with what you know. Have you taken courses before with a provider you respect and enjoy working with? You can always see if they offer medical office cleaning certification courses.
Look to your professional association. That’s almost always a good source for educational programs. For example, ISSA is well-known for its high standards in training materials, and they do offer certification in healthcare facilities and hospital cleaning. We’ll get into that below.
Look to your customers’ professional associations. For example, the American Hospital Association, with a network of close to 5,000 hospitals, offers a Certified Healthcare Environmental Services Professional (CHESP) course. They have several specific requirements, including previous experience working in a healthcare setting, so we won’t dig into that too much. But that does give you a potential certification option.
Ask your colleagues. This is a time-tested way to find high-quality courses, and all of us do it all the time. We ask for movie recommendations, restaurant recommendations, and even advice on finding a decent mechanic. It only makes sense to ask those we trust for ideas on our careers and business.
Here’s an example of one medical office cleaning certification program: ISSA, mentioned above, offers certification in cleaning healthcare facilities and hospitals through their Cleaning Management Institute (CMI). The courses include the subjects of acute and long-term care facilities, infection control, and training in bloodborne pathogens, just to name a few.
Another certification course, from the Association for the Health Care Environment (AHE), covers microbiology, epidemiology, patient and healthcare worker safety, risk assessment, and evidence-based cleaning practices.
Alternatively, though it won’t give you a medical office cleaning certification, ISSA also offers several DVD courses covering practical items like “Cleaning the Patient Restroom,” “Hospital/Healthcare Office Cleaning,” and “Theory of Infectious Cleaning.”
So to break it all down into a nice list of pros and cons, let’s start with the pros of medical office cleaning certification:
- It looks good to potential customers
- Courses can give you and your team valuable information about what you might encounter in a medical office
- Learn to keep your team and your clients safe
- Depending on the certification, it could open things up to possible work in other healthcare facilities
- Training can help your team perform better and more safely in non-medical settings
As for the cons of this, or any, certification:
- It can get quite expensive, especially if you need each person on your team certified separately
- Not all certifications offer the training and information you need to do the job properly and safely
- It could be time-consuming, especially if you don’t end up using the certification
Ultimately, learning more about the work you do is always beneficial. Our advice would be just that you explore your options and make sure what you choose will help further your business.
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