EBook: Define your identity through your office design
This content is provided by Pelton & Crane
The decision to build or redesign your dental practice is one of the most important decisions — and biggest investments — of your career. It will affect your efficiency, productivity, patient relations and your enjoyment of a prosperous and healthy dental career. Undertaking this project is a major endeavor.
Regardless of your ability, your success does not depend solely on your dental diagnostic and treatment skills, but rather on your perceived competence as viewed from your patients’ perspective. “It’s difficult to believe you can win the Indianapolis 500 if you show up in a Beetle, even if you have an unbelievable engine under the hood,” says Dr. Tholen*. “Many doctors are well-trained and capable but don’t have an office that reflects that.”
Patients, especially those new to the practice, base their opinions on the level of care they will receive by assessing the quality of the office environment. “Patients need to trust you’re capable of care,” says Dr. Tholen. “If providers’ dress or the physical space looks rundown, patients will question if you can take care of them.” It takes patients about 90 seconds to size up your practice, and that first impression is difficult to change. The appearance of your staff and the facility — including your signage, exterior and waiting room — must be consist and convey quality care.
* Mark Tholen, DDS, MBA, is an expert on dental office design and a respected clinician and educator with more than 30 years of experience.