Most hospitals and medical facilities have strict cleanliness and maintenance requirements. Here’s why air quality should be included among those priorities.
When you’re running a business that takes care of sick people, how you maintain your facility is incredibly important. Air quality, paint colors, floor and surface cleaners, and traffic flow are just some of the building maintenance issues that can dramatically affect operations. With that in mind, consider why air quality matters in healthcare facilities.
Prevent Disease Spread
The most important reason to maintain the air quality in your building is to help prevent the spread of diseases between patients, staff, and visitors. Poor ventilation, improper purification, and high humidity can make it easy for infectious diseases to spread among people in your facility; therefore, it’s a good idea to know the signs of poor air quality.
Improve Patient Symptoms
Whenever patients are suffering from respiratory conditions, they need access to clean, fresh air to mitigate their symptoms. Poor air quality can actually make patient symptoms worse, which in turn makes them harder to treat and possibly even misleading for medical professionals. To make sure patients get an accurate diagnosis and recover quickly, keep your building’s air quality monitored at all times.
Some of the respiratory conditions that are most affected by poor air quality include:
- Asthma
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Lung cancer
- Bronchitis
- Laryngitis
- Pneumonia
- Influenza
Protect Expensive Equipment
Another reason why air quality matters in healthcare facilities is because these facilities contain very expensive equipment. Many of these machines are extremely sensitive and are quite costly to replace. Humidity and dust particles can ruin medical equipment, or at least make them less accurate.
Even if you don’t suspect a humidity problem in your building, you can still have a moisture problem if there’s too much dust in the air. Dust actually absorbs moisture, which is then carried to whatever surface it lands on. This makes it much easier for bacteria to grow on your machines.
Prevent Mold
Hospitals have many sinks, toilets, showers, and other damp surfaces where mold loves to grow. With so many rooms, it can be difficult to stay on top of things like mold, which tends to grow in places most people don’t look. Mold itself can be dangerous for healthy people, and even more so when it comes in contact with the infirm.
When people with weakened immune systems encounter mold in their environment, they can develop a mold infection. Sometimes, these infections come from breathing in normal amounts of mold that wouldn’t affect a healthy person, but occasionally it can mean there is a mold problem in the hospital. Always monitor mold infections in patients and investigate if a pattern seems to emerge.
Take Air Quality Seriously
In order to protect your patients, staff, and visitors, you should invest in humidity and air quality control systems and schedule regular HVAC inspections. Doing so will also protect your investment in crucial equipment and sensitive instruments that you wouldn’t want to replace prematurely.
Read Also
- Clinical Supplies: What Equipment to Have in a Medical Clinic
Have you earned your medical degree from a reputable university? Are you thinking about the supplies that you need to start your own medical practice? Starting a new medical clinic is no easy task. Not only do you need certification from a clinical institution. You also need to invest in clinical supplies for running your … Read more - Improving Patient Comfort Using Interactive Digital Signage
For any healthcare provider, patient or client satisfaction is increasingly important. Far more vital than many who own these types of businesses realize. Recently, the RepuGen Patient Review Survey 2021, found that 3 in 4 patients prefer healthcare providers with a minimum star rating of 4 or more. So, clinics, hospitals, spas, dentists, and other … Read more - PCOS: An In-Depth Clinical Guide for Healthcare Providers
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder that affects women of reproductive age. It is characterized by a combination of symptoms, including irregular menstrual cycles, hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovaries. PCOS is associated with a range of health complications, including infertility, metabolic dysfunction, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Given the complexity of … Read more - How Factors Like Medical Degrees, Experience and More Impact Doctor Loan Eligibility
Setting up or expanding your medical practice, buying new equipment, or renovating your clinic requires access to funds. To finance these expenses, you can opt for a doctor loan specifically designed for the needs of healthcare professionals. However, it is essential to note that your qualifications and experience are a vital requirement if you wish … Read more - Tips to Donate to Charity as a Healthcare Business
As a healthcare business owner, you might be conscious about doing good and helping others, especially those who are ill or in need. However, amid the daily running of your company and all the pressures that this can put on you, it can be difficult to find ways to donate to and support charities near … Read more - Exploring the Benefits of the Best Medical Billing Companies: Reporting and Analytics Services for Informed Decisions
In the fast-evolving landscape of healthcare administration, outsourcing medical billing has become a strategic choice for many healthcare providers, including mental health practices. Beyond the core function of revenue cycle management, the best medical billing companies offer an array of services that extend to reporting and analytics. In this article, we will delve into how … Read more - How to Improve Patient Experience at Your Healthcare Facility
You work hard to keep your staff happy and your patients healthy. But is there anything you’re doing to make their experiences better? Patients have greater choices than ever before. They expect to have their care needs met. Patient experience has a huge impact on a hospital’s reputation, as well as a patient’s willingness to … Read more - The Future of Medical Billing and Coding: AI and Automation Impacts to Consider
In the ever-evolving healthcare sector, staying ahead of the curve is essential for healthcare practice owners and managers. One of the most significant advancements poised to reshape the medical billing and coding field is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. In this article, we’ll delve into how AI and automation are transforming medical … Read more
