Before anything, we’d like to thank Dr. Laurence Rifkin (@drlaurencerifkindds) for the amazing exchange we did the other day on IG Live where we discussed his practice, how he deals with the current situation we have right now and how patient experience goes well beyond the medical space.
It was just the burst of positivity we needed to hear in these uncertain times. Dr. Rifkin had so much insight to share on how we can keep ourselves on top of our health, our profession, and our mental health. Follow us on Instagram, @simourdesign to get updated for more of these online conversations with people who matter, some inspiration, and other content on how to create that perfect Medical space for you.
We are in a health crisis and most of us are holed up in our homes for the time being doing our part to slow down the spread of the virus. Not letting this time go to waste, we need to maintain some semblance of normalcy and think of making productive use of this time to make it work for us and to make it count for something. Making the most of the crisis, we give you the 5 S’s to keep you active – (in all ways that you can be active) to keep you on top of your game even while on lockdown.
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Stay healthy
The first priority is to keep yourself healthy. We have all heard the enhanced hygiene protocols being set to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It is important to maintain these standards so you do not get yourself or anyone else sick. While on lockdown, the same principles for good nutrition still apply and even though it is difficult – design your food plan with better and healthy options.
Do not let the limited mobility prevent you from staying active. Walk, stretch, do your workouts in the comforts of your home. Being sedentary days on end is not going to do you any good before and it will not benefit you now. When staying home, rearranging and changing the decor will add new life to the space and provide a reason to get up and move.
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Self-reflect your space and your values.
Whether it’s clearing rooms of clutter or investing time to self-reflect, now is the perfect opportunity to look within yourself and find how you or your space can improve. For instance, if you have the floor plans to your office or space, print it out and really analyze it. Do the values and services you emphasize truly reflect the space you have allotted to it? Feel free to review our guide on Space Allotment. If there is any room for improvement, Simour Design is available for a free consultation for your medical space. Envision yourself coming back to your space and knowing what changes need to occur. This is how you come back stronger than ever.
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Study more
Work might be on hold but the mind never stops working. Use this time to learn something new. It could be additional classes, online courses to help you in your work, or it could be some other knowledge you wanted to master for your hobbies. Knowledge now flows freely with technology. It is constantly being made more available as we speak with professional webinars popping up every day to keep everybody abreast with the industry even while on lockdown, because staying at home doesn’t mean you can’t stay smart.
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Shift your perspective
Having more time doesn’t mean use it in a productive way. Your focus on allocation on time has shifted. Some moms at home may even have no time because before it was a different schedule in timing. Now, shift your gears and rise above the uncertainty to see what is in your control. This lockdown has brought families physically closer in a good long while. With sudden free time at your disposal, you don’t have to worry about your daily commute to the office. In changing the ways you choose to see the situation you are given hope that things will get better and find the strength to be better yourself when all this is over.
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Strategize for the future
In weaknesses, you can identify strengths; in threats, you can find opportunities. The world will be a different place after this pandemic is over and you should be planning for that world now. Assess your practice and try to figure out how it can be at a higher-level than it was before. High performance means that you and the system behind you are working as one cohesive whole to deliver the desired results for your patients. You need to use this time to think of the opportunities that you can address to create more value for your clients. For example, social distancing has forced us to rethink the value of online consults to be the first line of patient care – it is widespread and readily accessible in multiple platforms so utilizing it as a channel to access you is a value you can offer to clients.
Are you delivering the optimum patient experience? Put yourself in the shoes of your patient, what does your practice do for them that alleviate the anxiety of a usual patient visit? Does your office look safe, secure, and hygienic? Trust us that in the post-COVID world, patients will be much more attuned to the concept of infection and contamination and your interior spaces need to reflect those expectations.
Being high-performance is a combination of a lot of factors like staffing and technology but having the right environment to reinforce that messaging is a big leap to show you care for your patients and take pride in the quality of your work. Contact us for a free consult right now and be on that journey to a high-performing Medical Space that truly heals.
