Rule of thumb for your new practice: maximize comfort and minimize steps

Having a well thought-out strategy when deciding on the space layout of your practice will have a significant impact on how your staff use their workspace. Nurses and most healthcare staff spend most of the day on their feet, moving around the practice from the waiting room to examination rooms all throughout the day. A well-designed office space can drastically reduce the steps both staff and patients take throughout the office. This makes for less stressed employees, but also allows patients to intuitively know how to progress through your clinic after arriving.

Front Desk

Your front desk should be the first element your patients see when walking through the door. This increases their feeling of comfort and safety, as they don’t feel lost walking into the practice. In return, your front desk staff should be able to have a view of all patients from the front desk to gain a sense of control of the workplace.

Waiting Rooms

Having an inviting waiting room enables your office to avoid the coldness many doctors’ offices can project. Chairs can be arranged in patterns, instead of against the wall, to create a feeling of warmth and give a homey feel. When considering this, make sure you still leave enough space for foot traffic, so patients and staff can move with ease throughout the office.

Examination Rooms

Even a small doctor’s office should have a minimum of three examination rooms, even if there is only one doctor. This improves the waiting time for patients and the workflow for doctors and staff. Medical assistants can work on patients in those rooms before doctors arrive, improving the quantity of patients that doctors can tend to each day. Having those rooms in close proximity to each other allows your staff to quickly go back and forth, therefore improving their workload.