The shift to telemedicine, and how it may impact your medical office design

Practice and office configurations have been some of the first things to change in the current- and post-COVID world. How can you adjust your space to help your patients feel safe? And what needs to be done to accommodate the increasing demand for Telemedicine and Teledentistry? Ease of conversion, functionality, patient privacy, visual appeal, and cost are all factors to consider. Normally, having these discussions with a construction/renovation group wouldn’t be your first decision, but here’s why it should be in your top 3.

Right now, you’re having to reconfigure your office to accommodate social distancing and governmental guidelines, and you should incorporate changes to include this new marketing vertical of Telemedicine or Teledentistry. These changes will require use of a firm that has engineers and designers with experience in the design of new medical/dental space layouts that will help prepare you for current and future COVID-19 precautions and regulations.

Every office owner has a “wish list” of things they want to do and now is the time to include those in what you need to do, to create the right environment for your clients. This will include creating small spaces designed solely for you to conduct video calls with your patients, using a room outfitted with proper A/V equipment without taking up more space than necessary. The right design using proper ergonomics will help you set this up without creating clutter or a feeling of being cramped within the office layout, and within a reasonable budget.

This crisis has reinforced that change is constant and it’s how we adapt and use innovation to our advantage to survive and thrive moving forward. Incorporating Telemedicine and Teledentistry into your practice is a differentiator and one that will need to be cultivated now so that your patients continue to believe that you’re working to keep them safe and healthy and comfortable. While it can be difficult to innovate in such a dynamic and pressured environment, there are several construction firms in the industry that continue to innovate, developing new strategies that will maximize the utilization of any budget to ensure a safe space for their clients and their patients, while still turning over final spaces that makes any occupancy go “wow”.