Pharmacy Clinics Posing New Hazardous Waste Management Challenges

JULY 16, 2014

Care clinics within retails locations have been around for 10 years or so, but the model continues to expand in an effort to serve more on-site employees and consumers. According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, there are more than 1,600 retail clinics nationwide receiving roughly 6 million visits per year and posing new hazardous waste management challenges.

Major retailers are offering health care clinics alongside their pharmacy services making care more affordable and convenient for workers and shoppers. Many are partnering with hospitals to take advantage of the growing numbers of insured Americans.

Complexities of Care

Many retail care clinics started with the administration of some basic health services but are now offering far more comprehensive services. Most are staffed with board-certified nurse practitioners authorized to diagnose, treat and write prescriptions for common illnesses, such as bronchitis, sinus infections, seasonal allergies and influenza. Some clinics also provide vaccines and support for the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma.

There’s no doubt that retailers are serving a need by providing on-site healthcare, but this “business within a business” can create complexities when it comes to managing hazardous waste streams in a compliant manner.

While many of these retailers are used to managing hazardous waste items such as hairspray and cleaning agents that can’t be put in the dumpster, they may not have a system in place that can handle drug and medical waste produced by these on-site clinics. Compliance for such items differs from household items, and waste products like sharps and pharmaceuticals must be segregated, contained and classified differently.

Getting (and Staying) Compliant

In today’s business environment, manufacturers and retailers face the harshest enforcement actions that the industry has ever seen. Working with a hazardous waste management expert with a specific pharmaceutical waste program is one way to ensure compliance and contain costs.

Retailers expanding to provide health care services can’t afford not to look at the new streams of hazardous waste these businesses produce. By working with a partner with a turnkey pharmaceutical waste program that can be easily incorporated into an existing retail hazardous waste management program, efficiencies of scale and convenience are achieved. But more importantly, the business can grow safely.