Small medical, dental, chiropractic and therapy practices have a lot of people coming through every day. Patients sit in the waiting room, sign in at the desk, use the restroom and touch door handles on the way in and out. After the muddy-entry advice in Red Clay, Rain and Your Office Entryway, this article looks at the front of the house in a small practice.
One thing to be clear about: this is general cleaning advice for the non-clinical areas. Clinical areas, instruments and anything your practice handles under its own procedures stay with your team. We clean the spaces around them.
We see these offices all over Waxahachie, Midlothian and the south DFW area, and the same priorities come up every time.
The waiting room
The waiting room is where patients spend most of their time, and they notice everything while they wait.
- Chairs wiped down, including arms, seats and the backs where hands grab.
- Side tables and magazine racks dusted and wiped.
- Children's play areas cleaned, including toys if you keep them.
- Floors vacuumed and mopped, with attention to corners and under chairs.
- Door glass and handles cleaned.
- Water dispensers or coffee stations wiped and tidied.
The check-in and front desk
The front desk is touched constantly by both staff and patients.
- The patient side of the counter wiped thoroughly, every visit.
- Pens, clipboards and sign-in tablets wiped.
- Card readers and keypads cleaned according to the manufacturer's guidance.
- Staff desk areas dusted and wiped where cleared.
- Phones and headsets cleaned.
Keep a container of clean pens and a separate one for used pens. It's a small thing that patients notice.
The front desk also tends to collect clutter: sticky notes, appointment cards, a stapler, a phone charger and somebody's water bottle. Clutter makes wiping slower and less thorough. A quick tidy at the end of the day, before the cleaning visit, means the whole counter gets cleaned instead of just the open spots.
Patient restrooms
Restrooms in a busy practice get a lot of use. Every visit should include a full clean of toilets, sinks, mirrors, counters, fixtures and floors, plus a wipe of all touch points like handles, flush levers, faucets and paper towel dispensers. Paper, soap and trash liners should be stocked every visit.
Busy practices often benefit from more than one cleaning a week, especially during cold and flu season.
The staff break room
Medical and dental staff often work long days with short lunches. The break room should be a place they actually want to be. Counters, sink, microwave, fridge exterior, table and floor all get cleaned on a regular visit. A fridge cleanout rule helps keep things fresh.
Hallways and offices
Hallways get a lot of foot traffic and need regular vacuuming or mopping. Doctors' and administrative offices get the same treatment as any office: cleared surfaces dusted and wiped, trash emptied, floors done. Door handles and light switches throughout the practice should be wiped every visit.
If your practice has a lab, sterilization room or supply room, talk with us about it before the first visit. Some practices want those rooms skipped entirely. Others want the floor and trash handled while their own team takes care of the counters and equipment. Either way is fine, as long as it's written down.
What to sort out up front
Before your first cleaning, it helps to talk through a few things:
- Which rooms are included and which are handled by your own team.
- Where sharps containers, biohazard bins and clinical waste are, so they're clearly separate from regular trash. Those are handled by your practice and its waste service, not your cleaner.
- Which products you prefer, if your practice has a preference.
- Which areas are off limits or locked.
- Where confidential paperwork is kept, so it stays secured and out of the way.
All of this goes into the entry notes we keep on file, so every visit follows the same plan.
After-hours cleaning works best
Most practices want cleaning done after the last patient leaves. That way waiting rooms are empty, the restrooms aren't in use and nobody has to work around a vacuum. You'll get a text when your cleaner is on the way, and the cleaning follows a room-by-room checklist every time.
Some practices close early on Fridays or are closed one weekday, which can make a daytime clean possible. Whatever works for your schedule, the important thing is that it stays consistent, so your staff always walks into a clean office and your patients always walk into a clean waiting room.
Need the front of your practice cleaned after hours?
Tell us about your waiting room, restrooms and break room, and we'll reply with a price, usually the same day.
Get a free quoteA clean front office matters
Patients form an impression of your practice before they ever see a provider. A clean waiting room, front desk and restroom make that impression a good one. For after-hours cleaning of your non-clinical areas, see our office cleaning services.