Designing your office

Planning your office interior can either be a fun exercise or a frustrating experience.

The more planning you do before you begin work, the more fun and less frustration you will have. 

ROOMS

How many square feet you need is determined by the types of activities in the office. You may need areas for:

• Reception and waiting;
• Clerical functions (front-office operations and billing);
• Exams;
• Adjustments;
• Report-of-findings, evaluations, and consultations;
• X-rays;
• Therapy, rehabilitation, and special procedures;
• Massage;
• Conferences;
• Nutritional-supplement sales;
• Staff breaks;
• Conference and patient-education meetings; and
• Storage.

You will also need a restroom(s) and possibly a private office.

Prepare a list of essential rooms and the square footage needed for each. Think about what usages can be combined. For example: Can you store supplies in the break room? Can the doctor’s office also function as an evaluation/consultation room? Can the adjustment room be used for examinations?

DESIGN AND DECORATION

Before designing your office’s interior decoration, go back to your USP (unique selling proposition). You will want the furnishings, wall decorations, furniture, and general décor to align with your USP. And, decide on a general color scheme before decorating.

If you are redesigning a space or have the opportunity to make changes to a physical layout, here are some considerations:

• Traffic flow. Plan traffic patterns carefully. Think about the progress of a patient from the reception area to an examining room to x-ray to adjusting and back to the front desk. Is the flow logical?

• Walls. Keep walls in subtle colors to blend with the decorations, pictures, and posters you will be using. Use easy-to-clean paint, particularly if you will be treating children.

• Floors. Select industrial-strength carpeting or tile that will withstand a lot of traffic and still look nice.

• Reception area furniture. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to find attractive furniture for this area. Just make sure it is sturdy and easy to clean.

• Paintings, posters, and artwork. Some chiropractors believe you should only use chiropractic posters in the office. Others believe patients are more relaxed looking at nice artwork. It is your choice here.

• Children’s area. You can find a sturdy table and chairs and safe children’s toys and books at garage sales. Replace books and toys often. (Donate old ones to a local church or charity.) Paint the furniture in bright colors with child-safe paint.

• Communication and security. Consider adding a security system, depending on what your building already has.

Pay for at least three phone lines: one for the office phone, a second for Internet (unless you get broadband access, which is preferred), and a third for a backup line/fax line/credit-machine line.

• Electrical. Be sure you have adequate outlets. Don’t forget a 220-volt line if you will have x-ray or other special high-voltage equipment.

Remember to plan for adequate overhead lighting in all patient rooms.

• Accessibility. Discuss accessibility with your contractor to make construction for restrooms, door handles, and accesses comply with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) regulations and guidelines.

• Safety. Prepare lead-lined walls, windows, and other safety requirements for x-ray usage.

• Front desk and billing. Make sure you can maintain privacy of patient information at the front desk. You don’t want people looking down on the front-desk person while he or she is working on patient files; the computer screen should not be visible from the reception area.

Keep your billing area separate from front-desk operations for privacy and security reasons.

• Safety and fire codes. Ask the local fire marshal to evaluate egress (exit) patterns and other fire safety issues, before you finalize construction plans.

Planning carefully and logically, and using your USP as a guideline, will give you a pleasant, safe office environment you can live with for a long time.