Signs you need this
- Your protocol lives in somebody's head instead of on paper
- Exam room turnover and terminal cleaning are being confused
- Waiting room chairs and toy areas are visibly missed
- Nobody logs which disinfectant is in use or what its contact time is
- Your last survey or accreditation visit raised environmental cleaning
- The cleaning crew changes so often nobody learns the room order
Why medical suites need a written protocol
A general office checklist says wipe surfaces. A clinical protocol says which surface, with which product, for how long, and in what order. Central Indiana has a very large healthcare employer base, and a lot of that footprint sits in leased suites rather than hospital buildings: primary care off County Line Road, specialty practices around the 86th Street interchange, dental offices in strip retail across Hamilton County. Those suites are cleaned by a janitorial vendor, and the vendor’s paperwork is what your practice has to show when somebody asks.
Your protocol lists every room, the tasks in that room, the disinfectant assigned to each surface type and the frequency. It also lists what clinical staff keep. Most practices keep counter and chair disinfection between patients, everything inside the sterilization area, and all regulated waste. We take terminal cleaning of floors, restrooms, waiting areas, staff space and the scheduled detail work.
Room order and cross contamination
Crews work clean to soiled, front of house first and the sterilization or soiled utility area last. Microfiber is color coded by zone and never crosses back. Mop heads are changed between clinical and non clinical areas. Restroom tools stay in restrooms. None of this is complicated, and all of it fails quietly when a different crew shows up every week, which is why the same people are assigned to your site.
Contact time is the part that gets skipped
An EPA registered disinfectant carries a label contact time, often between one and ten minutes depending on the product and the organism. The surface has to stay visibly wet for that period. A wipe that flashes dry in fifteen seconds has cleaned the surface and disinfected nothing. Crews are trained to apply enough product, to leave it, and to come back rather than chase a dry surface. Where a finish cannot tolerate a long dwell, we pick a product with a shorter listed time instead of cutting the time short.
Floors, waiting rooms and winter
Waiting room carpet in an Indianapolis practice takes more soil than any office floor. From December into March it also takes ice melt, which is abrasive, alkaline and leaves a white bloom on both carpet and VCT. Entry matting, daily entry vacuuming and a scheduled extraction keep the waiting area presentable through the season. Clinical corridor VCT usually needs a scrub and recoat twice a year in that climate, with full strip and wax on a longer cycle.
One point of contact
Your practice manager gets one name, one cell number and one email address. Issues raised by end of day are corrected on the next service. Protocol changes, added rooms, changed hours and new equipment finishes go through the same person, and the written protocol is reissued so your copy is always current.
How the work runs
- 1
Walkthrough with your practice manager
We walk the suite room by room and record what clinical staff clean themselves and what passes to us. That line is written down, because an unwritten split is where medical accounts go wrong.
- 2
Written protocol and product list
You get a room by room task list, the disinfectant chosen for each surface type, its label contact time and the frequency. Your practice manager approves it before the start date.
- 3
Crew training and access
The assigned crew is trained on the protocol, on the OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard and on your access rules. HIPAA awareness and screening policy are confirmed to you in writing by the operator.
- 4
Inspection and protocol review
A supervisor inspects in week two and again on a fixed schedule. The protocol is reviewed with you whenever your room use, hours or procedure mix changes.
What it typically costs
| Job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Medical suite, per square foot Five nights a week, exam rooms plus front of house | $0.12 to $0.24 per sq ft per month |
| Small practice, per visit Two to four exam rooms or operatories with one restroom | $120 to $240 per visit |
| Dental practice, per visit Operatories, sterilization corridor, lab and waiting area | $140 to $280 per visit |
| Waiting room carpet extraction Higher soil load than general office carpet | $0.16 to $0.34 per sq ft |
| Hard floor scrub and recoat Corridors and exam rooms, usually quarterly or twice a year | $0.22 to $0.45 per sq ft |
Typical ranges for Indianapolis and the surrounding area , reviewed September 2026. Every quote is written and fixed before work starts.