While many physicians' offices have instituted distancing measures and increased the frequency of disinfecting heavily used surfaces, few have communicated new policies to address air quality. As healthcare providers continue to seek effective tools to prevent further spread of a highly contagious respiratory virus, practices are learning how air quality affects infection control, and ways air-quality technology can strengthen their disinfecting processes and procedures.

While there is no single authority on best practices to establish a safe environment within the physician's office in the age of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has periodically updated its interim recommendations to healthcare providers for routine infection prevention and control practices during the pandemic. This guidance includes a section titled "Optimize the Use of Engineering Controls and Indoor Air Quality," which refers to physical barriers, proximity considerations, and a building's heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

In the past, physicians may have given little thought to air quality in their offices or dismissed the use of advanced mechanical systems, filtration, and related technologies as prohibitively expensive. But COVID-19 is forcing a change in the way healthcare professionals think about infection prevention in buildings, and innovative practices are introducing air-quality improvements into their cleaning and sanitation strategies.

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