Ask exactly where their responsibility ends
A clinic’s waste stream isn’t one thing. General waste is a cleaning company’s job; biohazard waste is a separate, regulated stream that should stay with the clinic’s own contractor. Ask a prospective vendor to state this boundary plainly — a company that’s vague about where general cleaning stops and clinical waste handling begins is a company that hasn’t thought it through.
Confirm insurance before the first visit, not after
A clinic has more to protect than a typical office — patient files, equipment, controlled areas. A certificate of insurance should be something a vendor can produce before they’re ever in the building, not something you request after noticing a gap.
Ask who is on site for the first few visits
A new clinic account should have staff present for the first visits, not just a crew let in with a key. That’s when the actual layout, the do-not-touch areas and the equipment that needs special handling get established — ask whether a vendor treats onboarding this way or just shows up with a generic checklist.
Ask what happens around sensitive equipment
A clinic with optometry, diagnostic or specialty equipment needs a cleaner who knows to work around it, not through it. Ask directly: what’s the policy on equipment a crew isn’t trained to touch? The right answer is that it stays undisturbed unless a staff member has walked them through it.
Ask whether consumables are included or optional
Paper products, soap, hand sanitizer — some vendors bundle this in, some treat it as a separate add-on. Neither is wrong, but you want to know which one you’re getting before the invoice, not after.