If you could help your patients feel at ease, welcomed, and confident in your skills as a doctor the moment that they walk into your waiting room, would you?
Of course you would. As a doctor, everything about your practice, even your doctor's office design, makes an impression on your patients. Your medical office is your patients' first impression of you, and with great office decor, you can start building their confidence in you the moment you walk in.
Research shows that waiting room design has a significant impact on patient experience. If you want to learn how to create a contemporary office design and decor on a budget, keep reading.
What Are Your Priorities?
When you're working on your medical practice office with a shoestring budget, you have to decide where to focus your money.
Thankfully, research tells us what design elements impact the patient experience. According to a study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, patients prefer brightly-lit waiting rooms, contemporary furnishings, artwork, and a "warm" environment. Subjects reported believing that they would get better care from these clinics.
On the other hand, patients disliked waiting rooms with outdated furnishings, cheap-looking art or no art at all, and a "cold" institutional appearance. Patients were more likely to doubt the quality of care that they would receive in these clinics.
The good news? You can make lots of these changes without breaking the bank. Here's how to focus your money to get the best results from your redecoration.
Paint
As medical professionals, we get used to the glaring white walls and depressing taupe carpets that make up most of our work environment. Ironically, pure white walls are gaining popularity in the minimalist movement, but they're still not a good look for a medical office. They create a cold atmosphere that turns patients off.
Paint is the solution. It's inexpensive, but instantly transforms your medical clinic.
If your clinic is sterile white from the reception desk to the examining room, you can use the same color throughout. Warm off-whites can work as long as you add contrast with beautiful artwork. but don't be afraid to go bold with soothing sage green, or even a dramatic accent wall.
Artwork
There's no excuse for garage-sale artwork in your medical clinic. The whole world of online retail is open to you, so let go of the faded pastel reproductions and buy some art that shows your patients that you're a contemporary doctor.
Artwork comes in a whole range of prices. From handcrafted pieces that cost you thousands to prepackaged Ikea prints, you can choose what you want to spend.
The truth? Your patients probably aren't art critics. You don't need a Picasso in your waiting room to impress them.
All you need is an affordable, modern-looking print to make your waiting room feel more personal. Choose a friendly-yet-modern abstract piece in a calming color such as blue.
Light it Up
Light is one of the most important aspects of interior design. No one feels welcomed or at ease in a windowless room, with harsh industrial lights buzzing overhead. But unfortunately, that's exactly how many medical offices are still lit.
Buying new lighting is significantly more expensive than purchasing paint or an art print. That's why you should invest carefully and make your lighting purchases count.
If you want to add warmer light to your waiting room, opt for inexpensive wall sconces to offset your overhead lights. They will dilute the harsh glare of industrial lighting and make your office feel chic and expensive.
For your examining room, you'll still need a clear overhead light to examine your patients. But adding a trendy lamp will make your patient feel more like they're being invited into a welcoming office, and less like they're under a microscope from the moment they enter the room.
Put Away the Paper Charts
It's the digital age. A messy stack of paper records on your receptionist's desk tells your patients, "I'm from the dark ages and I don't care about medical record security!"
But a sleek computer system that handles all your medical records? That says "I stay up to date."
You may not think of your charting system as an aspect of medical office design, but it does impact the way your office looks. Plus, if you replace a whole wall full of records shelves with one computer system, you'll free up room in your office — and that can help make your office feel light, airy, and uncluttered.
Yes, switching over to computer-based charting can be a pain, and it can seem like a big financial investment upfront. But it can save you money in the long term, as one study in the American Journal of Medicine found. Plus, it can help your staff work more efficiently, reduce errors, and ultimately get better results for your patients.
Say Goodbye to the Skeleton in the Corner
Traditional doctor's office decor puts the spotlight on medical practice. Doctors filled their examination rooms with their degree, full-color infographics about infectious diseases, and of course, the traditional imposing-looking skeleton.
If that sounds unwelcoming to you, you're not alone. Current medical office trends are leaning away from these clinical design choices in favor of a friendlier atmosphere.
Patients want to walk into an office that's warm and approachable, feeling more like a stylish office space than a sterile medical practice waiting room. And that extends right into the examining room as well.
What does this mean? It means you should downplay the graphic decor in favor of more generic pieces, like replacing your digestive system poster with a welcoming art print.
Don't worry, you'll still keep your framed medical degree to give the room a professional touch. But replace or downplay as much of the graphic models and posters as possible. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how relaxed your patients become at their next visit.
Doctor's Office Design? On a Budget?
Yes, it is possible. With this guide, you'll be on your way to updating your medical clinic to give your patients a welcoming atmosphere to walk into, and to increase their confidence in your practice.
Were these tips on doctor's office design helpful for your medical practice? Then check out the rest of our blog for more insights on entrepreneurship, healthcare, and office design.
