It is now a couple of years since you have implemented your EMR. Your needs have evolved as you've become more proficient using the technology in your practice. In addition, your lease is up for renewal and you have important decisions to make. Do you renew your lease or move to a new practice location? Either may involve a refresh of the physical space with or without the financial support of your landlord. There are pros and cons either way, however staying in the same location and simply using the space more effectively reduces the needs for many of the administrative issues you may face. A major concern is disruption. How quickly can your office be refreshed? Is this turnkey or does the process continue piecemeal for days or weeks?
I had an opportunity recently to discuss these questions with a specialist in the office redesign market, Ruth Jankelowitz from the Janks Design Group.
AB: Ruth, as a design specialist, how do you respond to concerns about disruption to practice operations?
RJ: If you have a medical office that is tired or run down or are taking over an existing practice, scheduling and and tight timelines are critical. What we have done is develop a Five Day Makeover (FDM) that is best suited for renovations of existing offices/clinics. This renovation program incorporates weekend days resulting in only a 2 business day loss on the part of the clinic.
How does it work?
- If planned well in advance, we recommend scheduling “On Call” duty for those days or maybe even a weekend away with the family;
- We design and prepare all plans well ahead of implementation. We select all finishes, lighting, colours and ensure all ordering takes place well in advance to ensure every item is ready once we begin. In addition, detailed millwork plans are 100 % complete before raising a hammer;
- Once everything is ready, the transformation begins...
- A highly experienced construction team arrives on a late Thursday afternoon and removes all files and items to be stored/reused. The next step is to rip and strip (flooring, walls, furniture & lighting);
- Friday - clean up, repair, paint and install lighting;
- Saturday - second coat of paint plus install new flooring;
- Sunday - install millwork and hook up plumbing;
- Monday morning - finishing installation, touch ups and reworking of all Tel/Data;
- Monday afternoon - bring back files and items from storage.
- Tuesday morning - back at work... completely rejuvenated!
AB: Any suggestions when designing a new medical office?
RJ: It is important that your design/implementation contractor understands your philosophy, demographics, tastes, target patient base and your budget. Our approach is to develop a conceptual design that best suits your needs and present it to you in 3D model so that you can virtually walk through the space and approve, before spending a penny on construction.
Once a conceptual design is in place, we prepare detailed permit & construction plans, handle permit process, issue detailed millwork and finishes plans for construction and assist through the entire construction process. Occasionally we also conduct tender processes and provide full project management services to some clients. Many of our clients, who are busy providing care to patients, want the project to be completely 'Turn Key' without any hassle or stress, so we manage the constraction as a project project.
AB: How can you be contacted if someone is interested in assistance or a quotation?
RJ: Visit our website or contact us via email for more information.
AB: Thanks Ruth - I have included some of your medical office design images below.
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