“Your intention rules your life and determines the outcome.” – Oprah Winfrey

Intentionality will take you far. Being mindful and deliberate about what you truly want to achieve is the key to realizing what your mind has set out to do. Intention directs where you want to go and without it, you wander through any endeavor. Being intentional will also take your medical office to the next level. It will not only bring you a space that is beautiful but successful as well because success is planned and never left to chance. To be optimized is to be intentional and focused to derive maximum results. Today, we share with you these 3 secrets on how to optimize your medical space profitability through Medical Interior Design.

1. Think Different.

   To think differently is to reframe situations with fresh perspectives. What was once acceptable needs to be challenged if it can be done better. One of the biggest concerns that patients usually have when visiting a medical facility is that they waited for so long. No one wants to wait, it is never a pleasant feeling, and couple that with the innate anxiety that medical visits have, and you have an opportunity to build a remarkable experience. Let’s start with labels, never use the word Waiting Room anymore and instead call it a Lounge. Terminology is an important part of this equation and the rest is living up to that change in outlook. Lounges in contrast to waiting rooms are places for relaxation. A place where people can spend the time, be seated in an inviting and comfy chair, and not be constantly reminded of time passing by. Think of comfortable seating, an attractive retail display, an interactive video monitor, and a well-appointed beverage station. The lounge is already a long way away from having just a bench against a wall. Your lounges need to be appealing, relaxing, and engaging.

   Another way to challenge the status quo is to rethink art beyond static pieces that can only be viewed from some distance. Functional art that provides beauty and does actual work within a space is a great conversation starter and a practical way to beautify a space. One cool example will be to use a beautiful image blown up into large glass panels that can be mounted on tracks to become sliding doors. Art shouldn’t be confined to frames hung on walls, rethink art and you open up possibilities for beauty in your interior design that is more than the usual.

2. Maximize your space

   A successful interior design is all about intentionality. You cannot leave success up to chance, it is planned and deliberate as your space needs to be. Every inch must bring in revenue and that it should always support the best possible outcome for the patients and productivity.

   Planning for growth is not an exercise to be done in the future. Expanding can be taken into consideration as early as now. Thinking long term expands your horizon beyond the short term and places your practice in a better position to grow with as little disruption as possible. Plan for 30% – 50% growth in 5-7 years, this is a statement of your confidence in your practice but a practical way to make the most of typical lease timeframes. Think of how rooms like social spaces like a break room or a conference room are converted easily into more specific spaces in the future. Why not have doctor’s offices do double duty as examination rooms too. Think of multi-purpose spaces as ways where you earmark spaces for more defined purposes in the future.

   Making the most of your real estate also entails flexibility. Consider storage solutions that are modular and movable so that they can be moved wherever and expanded as needed. Hallways also don’t just have to be transition spaces, they can be places for some work to be done. Why not carve out mini-workstations along the corridors. Think of spaces that don’t need to be inside the rooms that can benefit from being in a much public location outside.

   Pocket spaces like the end of the hallways can be made into spaces that are functional and delightful based on what the situation demands. Trash bins that when left in the open eat up floor space can be placed inside a built-in counter so more room can be made for more important things like seating and a mobile workstation.

   Thinking about the entire real estate – both horizontal and vertical is expanding the possibilities to maximize your potential. It is also about making more room for the essentials and making them visible.

3. Success formula for growth

   What is SIMOUR Design’s formula for success? We use the profit Generating Formula that allocates 60-70% of the total space for revenue generation and the rest dedicated to the support areas. Space allocation here becomes a tool that audits the entire space and makes sure that it is being utilized to the best of its potential to bring in income. Using this formula, in tandem with Architectural programming where we consider the number of expected users, and equipment defines a layout that is reasonable and comfortable for all users. Overlaying a zoning plan and what you have is a diagram of spaces that form the core of the space planning exercise for Interior Design. It brings into the equation, how each space works, the interrelationships, and how the workflow is improved by the proximity of the spaces with each other.

   The formula for success relies heavily on getting the patient experience on point or even exceeding their expectations. Making a great first impression and sustaining that comfortable and welcoming atmosphere guarantees that your practice is top of mind for patients when seeking out and recommending a medical professional.

Building a Medical space with intentionality is to create world-class, medical practices that patients would have nothing but glowing reviews of. We hope you have great success in making your medical spaces better and realize every opportunity it brings. Give us a call at (310) 359-1200 or drop a consultation request here and let’s get started. Have a great journey ahead!