Squish and heat your trash away!

Squeeze, squeeze, SQUEEZE your way to eco-concscious, safe bricks of trash. (Photo courtesy Medical Innovations)Why did Jocelynn Jacobs, DVM, buy her own medical waste machine when companies out there can be paid to cart it away for you? Money-and the driver who picked it up was rude.

"They were super-expensive," says Jacobs, owner of Countryside Animal Health Center in Freeland, Michigan. "And they make you sign a contract that's one to two years, and they kept increasing their prices."

Jacobs' alternative, ultimately, was the Medical Waste Machine, manufactured by Medical Innovations. The device promised an easy way to superheat medical waste to make it inert, environmentally friendly and ready to be tossed out with the regular trash.

Now, not every practice owner or money-minded practice manager finds their medical waste disposal company an expensive proposition. Multi-practice owner Jeff Rothstein, DVM, MBA, says he saw the Medical Waste Machine when it came out years ago, and he liked the sound of its efficiency and environmental friendly results, so he crunched the numbers.

"I realized that medical waste removal is, at least for me, inexpensive-hopefully I'm not jinxing myself!" Rothstein says. "We pay roughly $50 per quarter for each of our hospitals."

Rothstein does admit the "big dog" in medical waste removal in his area likes to try to sell him and his practice managers on such extra services as OSHA training and liability coverage: "I once found out they'd duped a manager into signing an extended contract for their premium service, which wasn't cost effective and was more appropriate for a human healthcare facility."

Sick of your medical waste disposal provider, and want to cook your own medical waste into environmentally friendly bricks? This could be the device for you. Run the numbers. See how you feel about your medical waste company. You know your practice-and your trash-best.