The number of veterinary specialties in the United States is growing every year. The medical waste management and hazardous waste management needs of these different specialties vary greatly from practice to practice. Veterinary medical waste management requires having a partner in the medical and hazardous waste business. A veterinary medical waste partner that understands all these different waste streams and how each must be handled is a critical part of keeping your practice, safe and compliant, while remaining environmentally conscious and cost effective.
- Consultative approach: Medical Systems will work with your staff to determine which waste streams your practice is generating and the most environmentally friendly yet effective way to address each of them. Medical Systems will tailor your medical waste and hazardous waste service to meet your practices specific needs. Adjusting container sizes, content designation and pick up frequency for each waste stream.
- Regulated Medical Waste or Red Bag waste: The EPA defines regulated medical waste as “healthcare waste that may be contaminated by blood, body fluids or other potentially infectious materials”. Medical Systems’ Regulated Medical Waste disposal program offers a wide variety of container sizes and service schedules to meet your specific practice needs. We will work with your staff to make sure what should and what should not be considered Regulated Medical Waste, to reduce over classification and increased cost.
- Pharmaceutical Waste: Understanding all the EPA, DOT, FDA and DEA regulations surrounding the disposal of unneeded or expired medications can be over whelming. Developing a comprehensive pharmaceutical waste segregation program for your veterinary practice requires a solid partner in the pharmaceutical waste and hazardous waste field. Is your practice set up to avoid controlled substance diversion? Should you commingle non-hazardous, P, U and D listed hazardous waste or should you segregate them? Medical systems will work with your veterinarians to determine the best course for your facility and then help you execute that plan.
- Chemotherapy Waste: If your veterinary practice uses chemotherapy drugs it is imperative that you have a Chemotherapy waste management program in place. With these programs you need to identify chemotherapy drugs, the containers they are in, the tubing used to deliver them and then separate Trace Chemotherapy and Bulk Chemotherapy. Medical Systems handles both Trace and Bulk Chemotherapy waste disposal and will work with your staff to determine the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and regulatory compliant way to manage these waste streams.
- Compliance Training: Making sure your staff members receive the proper OSHA, DOT, and Bloodborne Pathogen training is critical to your practice remaining compliant. Medical Systems’ compliance training is designed to make staying up to date with current regulations as simple as possible. We will work with you to determine what staff members need what training and then set up a system to make sure initial and reoccurring training is completed. All courses are offered on-line making it much easier for staff members to complete the required training.