While telehealth continues to revolutionize the medical field, the need for doctor’s offices still exists. The furnishings and aesthetics of your doctor’s office can have an impact on your health, your staff’s health, and the health of your patients.
You’ve sat for your family medicine board practical, graduated with honors, and signed the paperwork to open your very own practice.
Now, you need to set up that same office so that it’s professional yet inviting to your patients. In this article, we’ll give you a few tips for setting up that office and what you’ll need to put inside to make it cozy, welcoming, and a success.
Open a Business Bank Account
The first thing you want to do before you even sign the papers for your new building is to go open a business bank account. The one thing you never do is combine your personal and business accounts together.
Keeping them together will sink your practice before it even gets started. You don’t want to pay personal bills out of your business account, and never pay business bills out of your personal account. It’s just easier and makes more sense to have two different accounts for these purposes.
Create Lockable Storage Space
While you want your space to be inviting to patients, you also want to have a locked storage space to store medicines, needles, or anything else to do with your practice. You can set up lockable shelving systems in those areas as well for the best results.
The Right Furniture
While office furniture is office furniture, you do want the chairs your patients sit in to be comfortable. They are probably already sick, so you don’t want to make them feel any worse. While the furniture should appear clean, it should still be visually appealing and cozy. However, make sure that the surfaces of the furniture are easy to clean and hygienic.
When it comes to your office and the furniture you choose for your staff, ergonomics is the best way to go. Height-adjustable workstations and nice, comfortable chairs are the way to go so your employees can do their best work without being stiff and uncomfortable.
The Waiting Room
While everyone knows that a waiting room is for waiting, and sometimes it can’t be avoided, you can make waiting as pleasant as possible for your patients. Instead of the stark, straight row of chairs of the past, go with something more modern for your waiting room. Nice chairs, flat-screen TVs, plenty of magazines and a water dispenser are a good start. You can also add a section for children to play in, especially if you’re running a family practice.
This will keep the kids occupied, and the parent’s a bit more patient as they wait for their appointment with you to begin.
The Practice Rooms
Once your patients leave the waiting area, they’ll be put into practice rooms. This is where they wait for you to come in and start making them feel better. You want these areas to be as pleasant and comfortable as they can be as well.
An open floor plan is the best way to go, as it doesn’t make your patient feel closed in and closed off from what’s happening. It’s best to go with glass doors or dividers so that there’s a feeling of open space instead of a feeling of being cooped up, even in the smaller rooms. Not only do they make the room feel bigger, but the open floor plan also affects your patient’s well-being, which is a good thing.
The Parking Lot
Last but certainly not least is… well, everything else. Doctor’s offices are often located in medical office parks, so sometimes much of what goes on is outside of your control. But before you sign a lease on an office, take a tour of the facility and grounds. Do the elevators inspire confidence that you won’t get stuck inside? Are the grounds clean, well-manicured, and attractively landscaped? Does the parking lot seem safe to park in and free of litter? Would you want to go to a doctor’s office in this building? Added perks would include electric vehicle chargers like those from EVgo.
When you start to set up your doctor’s office to see patients, these tips will help you to make it as welcoming and comfortable as possible. Your patients feel welcome in the office and learn to trust you as well.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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