How to Get Medical Office Cleaning Contracts: Requirements and Bids

You get medical office cleaning contracts by showing a practice manager you already meet the rules before they ask. That means a written bloodborne pathogens plan and trained staff under OSHA, EPA-registered disinfectants used at their label contact time, and a crew that keeps patient information private. Then target outpatient practices such as dental and physical therapy offices, walk the space with the practice manager, and bid a scope that separates your work from the clinical staff's.

Why medical offices are worth the extra work

Medical offices pay more per visit, stay with a vendor that does the job right, and refer each other. Jobber's guide to cleaning contracts lists medical and dental office contracts at about $1,000 to $5,000 a month, compared with about $500 to $3,000 for general offices. The trade-off is more paperwork, more training and less room for a missed visit.

What you need before you bid: the requirements

OSHA bloodborne pathogens rules for cleaning staff

OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard applies to any employer whose staff can reasonably expect contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials, and that includes cleaning staff in medical offices. Part-time and temporary workers are covered too. Under the standard, you need:

• A written exposure control plan that names the tasks with exposure risk and how you reduce it, reviewed at least once a year.
• Training when a worker is first assigned and at least once a year after, at no cost and during working hours. Keep training records for three years.
• The hepatitis B vaccine made available at no cost after training and within 10 working days of assignment.
• Gloves and other protective equipment provided at no cost, and a written cleaning schedule and method for contaminated surfaces.

Commercial Cleaning Magazine (CMM) advises having the exposure control plan ready before you bid, not after you win. Practice managers ask for it.

HIPAA: what applies to a cleaning crew

HHS says a janitorial service whose staff only might see patient information by chance, while doing cleaning, is generally not a business associate under HIPAA, so a business associate agreement is usually not required. The practice still has to limit what your crew can see, and many will ask you to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Train your crew on three rules: do not read, move or throw away papers on desks; do not look at screens; and report anything left out to the practice manager. Put those rules in your proposal. It answers the question before it is asked.

Disinfection: contact times, products and what not to do

Medical offices expect cleaning that follows CDC guidance. The CDC says plain detergent and water is enough for non-patient areas such as administrative offices. Patient-care surfaces need an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant, used by the label directions, which federal law requires.

• Contact time. EPA says the surface must stay visibly wet for the full contact time on the label. The CDC notes many EPA-registered hospital disinfectants list a 10-minute contact time. Wiping a surface dry after 30 seconds does not disinfect it.
• Blood spills. The CDC calls for an EPA-registered tuberculocidal disinfectant or a product registered against HIV and hepatitis B (EPA List D or E). Write the spill procedure into your plan.
• Mops. The CDC recommends changing mop solution often and laundering mop heads daily. Use color-coded cloths so restroom cloths never touch exam rooms.
• Fogging. The CDC does not recommend routine disinfectant fogging in patient-care areas. Do not sell it as an upgrade.

What practices check before they hire you

Practices are responsible for their own infection control, so they check their vendors. The CDC's infection prevention checklist for outpatient settings says that when contract staff do the cleaning, the facility should confirm the contractor trains its staff, and should audit whether cleaning is done correctly. Expect the practice manager to ask for your training records and your product list, and to inspect your work. Make it easy: offer a monthly walkthrough and a written cleaning log for each visit.

Which medical offices to target first

Start with outpatient practices that clean like an office with a few clinical rooms. Hospitals, surgery centers and dialysis clinics have stricter requirements and longer buying processes. Go after them once you have medical references.

How to win a medical office contract, step by step

1. Put your compliance packet together. Exposure control plan, training records, hepatitis B offer and declinations, product list with EPA numbers, confidentiality agreement and insurance certificate, in one PDF.
2. List practices in a tight area. Search Google Maps for the practice types above, and note medical office buildings, where one property manager may control the common areas.
3. Ask for the practice manager or office manager. In a single practice they choose the vendor. In a larger group, it may be an operations or facilities manager. The cold calling scripts include a medical office opener.
4. Walk the space. Count exam rooms, restrooms, waiting areas, labs and break rooms, and ask what clinical staff clean between patients.
5. Send a proposal within 24 hours with the compliance packet attached.
6. Start with a joint walkthrough after the first week, and every month after that.

How to scope and price a medical office bid

Write a scope that shows exactly where your work stops and the clinical staff's starts. A practice wants to know who wipes the exam table between patients (their staff) and who disinfects it at night (you).

• Your scope: restrooms, waiting areas, floors, trash, break rooms, high-touch surfaces in exam rooms at the end of the day, and disinfection of non-clinical surfaces.
• Usually excluded: sharps containers, regulated medical waste, lab spills involving specimens, clinical equipment and anything the practice's own infection control policy assigns to staff. Regulated waste goes to a licensed medical waste hauler.

Price from labor hours as in how to bid on commercial cleaning jobs, then add what medical work costs: longer dwell times, more gloves and PPE, training hours and cleaning logs. CMM notes that tight access windows, when a practice closes late and opens early, raise labor cost, so ask the hours before you price. Use Jobber's $1,000 to $5,000 monthly range only as a check.

Practice managers search a vendor's name before they sign. A website that lists your compliance steps and medical experience answers that search. Fairhaven Design builds websites for commercial cleaning companies and texts back every caller you miss, which matters when a practice manager calls between patients.

This page is general guidance, not legal or compliance advice. Confirm OSHA requirements for your company with OSHA or a safety consultant.