Toys:

No group toys will be provided. Especially because it would be impossible to clean every group toy after every child, we have created a system where each child has his or her own bucket of toys for the duration of their visit. These toys are given to the child upon their arrival in the waiting room and kept throughout the visit. After the bucket has been used and prior to the next use, all of the toys are disinfected.

Waiting Room:

We always strive to minimize your time in the waiting room.

Examining Rooms:

Although table paper prevents some contamination, the use of it is an ineffective substitute for true examining room infection control. If in fact the only surface that the doctor, patient, and parent touched throughout the entire visit were the table paper, simply changing it would suffice. However, changing the paper does not disinfect the rest of the potentially contaminated examine room surfaces. After every patient visit, we will use a hospital-grade antimicrobial wipe to disinfect the entire examining room, including the part of the examining table not covered by the paper as well as the doorknobs, drawer handles, computer keyboards, and exam room chairs. The room is only ready for the next patient after all of these surfaces have been disinfected.

Hand Disinfection:

Throughout the office, you will notice what look like small, upside down canisters of whipped cream attached to the walls. These are not for spontaneous ice cream socials; rather it is the most effective way of keeping my hands disinfected in between patient appointments. The canisters contain an alcohol based disinfectant foam that has been shown to be substantially more effective at disinfecting hands then the conventional soap and water system (Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care, MMWR. 2002; 51:1-44). Additionally, proper hand washing techniques are very time consuming and are rarely used in traditional doctors’ offices.