Assisted Living Medical Waste
Independent living and assisted living facilities are not necessarily associated with traditional medical needs, but these communities often provide many of the same services that a hospital would, especially for those who need what is known as home health care.
These communities are not medical models for living care, but some medical services are provided and required by residents for those who cannot get to a healthcare practitioner offsite. These types of services include medical checkups, which may involve blood draws, IV medication administration, dressing changes, and other healthcare-related needs. There is also a variety of other services, including disease management, post-surgical care, and wound care, all of which will undoubtedly result in medical waste.
According to the World Health Organization, the total amount of waste generated by healthcare related services that is general waste is about 80 percent, where as 20 percent is considered hazardous material that could be infectious. The largest source of healthcare-related waste is, of course, hospitals, but assisted living and nursing home facilities are a close second.
Medical waste is not limited to sharps and lancets; regulated medical waste, or RMW, is defined as by the CDC as “waste sufficiently capable of causing infection during handling and disposal.” This also includes blood-soaked dressings, surgical gloves, all of which require proper handling and disposal.
Because healthcare waste contains micro-organisms, which can be harmful to other residents and staff at assisted living facilities, it is imperative to have a assisted living medical waste disposal plan in place. Inadequate training of proper waste management, absence of waste management and disposal systems means everyone is at risk, and the truth of the matter is, the responsibility lies with those who produce the waste.
MedXWaste services the assisted living industry with regulated medical waste and we provide all of the equipment necessary to do it carefully. We offer straight-forward pricing with no hidden fees to help you stay compliant while keeping your staff and residents safe.