County Health Regs/Office Safety Policies, Thx

[Guest guest]

useful info, greg, and a warning to heed and be aware of. thx for pointing

this out.

 

On 1/19/07, sperb1 <greg wrote:

>

> Hi All

>

> I would just like to point out that laundering your own sheets and

> gowns may be illegal. This is a municipality issue that is covered

> by the city/county's health department. If you read health

> department regulations from San Diego, where I practice, not using a

> professional cleaning service is clearly illegal. I am not saying

> there aren't practitioners that do do their own laundry, and I have

> never heard of anyone getting caught, but they are technically

> performing an illegal act.

>

> But this does bring up another broader point. Like Christopher, I

> teach part of the Practice Management class locally, and most of my

> students are shocked to find out that they need to have a safety

> plan on file (within their office) and a safety permit that is

> compliant with the local department of health regulations. This

> includes such issues as having a written needle and other medical

> waste disposal plan, an escape plan in case of fire, required fire

> extinguishers, in addition to issues of communicable diseases

> including mandatory reporting and laundering of durables. Everyone

> should use this as a reminder to check with their county's health

> department for any issues related to their practice and make sure

> they are compliant. Technically, being out of compliance could

> result in anything from a get in compliance ticket to heavy fines to

> temporary to permanent shut down of your practice. In reality, I

> have never heard of these happening to an acupuncturist, but they

> frequently occur in regard to other medical professionals…

>

> Hope this helps a little…

>

> *********************************************************************

> *****

> Dr. Greg Sperber, BMBS, DAOM, MBA, L.Ac.

> California Licensed Acupuncturist

> Diplomate in Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM)

> Greg <Greg%40SperbsHerbs.com>

> *********************************************************************

> ******

>

> --- In

Chinese Medicine <Chinese Medicine%40yaho\

ogroups.com>,

> " Christopher

> Vedeler L.Ac. " <ckvedeler wrote:

> >

> > I used to use paper sheets until they became more expensive than

> cloth. I

> > have been using the same 30 $3 Ikea sheets for close to a year now

> and they

> > are still doing fine. My policy is that if they get blood on them

> get

> > retired into rags. So far I have only had this happen once. I

> launder the

> > sheets about once a week at home. With a good sized washer it is

> only a

> > single load and so isn't such a big deal. I fold them myself

> which is the

> > most time consuming part of the process.

> >

> > I use paper protectors for the head and leg pillows which are

> changed for

> > each patient, but these are very cheap and MUCH easier than

> changing the

> > pillow cases after each patient.

> >

> > I don't use gowns but use large white towels instead that the

> patient can

> > drape over themselves. Much cheaper, easier and more versatile.

> >

> > Nightly cleaning and trash removal is included in my rent.

> >

> > If we look at your situation Turiya, say you see 40 patients a

> week who pay

> > on average $55. That is about $9000 a month gross. Spending $200

> for

> > laundry and $50 for cleaning is less than 3% of your gross. This

> isn't too

> > bad. I pay about that much to process credit cards. If you are

> busy

> > enough, your time is probably better spent seeing patients than

> doing

> > laundry so paying for laundry service and cleaning makes sense.

> >

> > If you aren't that busy it shifts the equation. For every

> practitioner

> > these more mundane tasks can eat up a lot of time and Qi. The

> question is

> > when are you busy enough that you are eating into time you could

> be seeing

> > patients?

> >

> > Christopher Vedeler L.Ac., C.Ht.

> > Oasis Acupuncture

> > http://www.oasisacupuncture.com

> > 9832 N. Hayden Rd.

> > Suite 215

> > Scottsdale, AZ 85258

> > Phone: (480) 991-3650

> >

>

>

>

 

 

 

--

Kath Bartlett, LAc, MS, BA UCLA

Oriental Medicine

Experienced, Dedicated, Effective

 

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