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| The following is a reprint of an article
entitled, "One Dozen Essential Elements
of a Great Dental Office Design" by Dr.
David J. Ahearn. The contents of this article
are Copyright © 2000, Dr. David J. Ahearn.
All rights reserved. |
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ONE
DOZEN ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF
A GREAT DENTAL OFFICE DESIGN- Part1
One of the most valuable and lasting improvements that
any dentist can contribute to a successful practice is
an investment in great office design. Whether remodeling
an existing office or creating a brand new facility from
scratch, there are several essential elements to focus
on in designing an office that will help create a more
productive, comfortable, quiet and user-friendly practice.
There are many distinct styles of practice. Clearly, dental
office design is an individual matter based on one's needs
and budget. Nevertheless, the following key issues are
common to any office: esthetics; the empowerment of key
personnel; controlling noise; and creating rapid access
to key equipment and materials. The next two articles
contain the 12 elements essential to your success. They
will provide you with what you need to know- from creating
a sense of excitement to the effortless integration of
high tech equipment into your practice.
1.
RIGHT SIZE YOUR PRACTICE
The new office should be large enough to comfortably accommodate
the needs of your personnel and patients. This statement
seems quite obvious, however, we are continuously asked
to consult on new (sometimes completed) office designs
that, upon evaluation of the practice and its future,
reveal plans that are significantly under or oversized.
A careful assessment of the practice numbers including
a procedure analysis will provide a good indicator of
the appropriate targets. The goal is to create a patient
flow that allows high efficiency while preventing systems
bottlenecks.
2. YOUR OFFICE AND YOUR LIFE
We all know that providing dental care can be stressful.
You and your staff need a place to unwind and socialize.
Leave room for a little fun. Ideally, this area should
be as far removed from the clinical space as possible.
Conversely, to stay abreast of those essential activities
that pay the bills, consider locating your private office
close to the clinical area. A conveniently located private
office can help you keep your pulse on the comings and
goings of your practice and allow clinical staff ready
access to your services. Don't hide the real office manager-
you- from the practice. (see Fig 1.)
Example of a compact office with high productivity, ADA
compliance and ease of construction.
3. HUB AND SPOKE
Sterilization and resupply are the clinical hub of your
production terminal. Think Federal Express! Make sure
this area is central and fully equipped to both sterilize
and restock the entire facility. If you are creating a
facility with fewer than ten treatment areas, don't even
consider multiple sterilization locations- centralize.
Also, don't waste money on a pre-made so-called "sterilization
center." They are too compact for most offices and do
not provide a good cost-to-benefit ratio. The design details
of your sterilization area are crucial. Frequently doctors
are sold sterilizing equipment that is faster and therefore
supposedly more efficient. The concept of rate limiting
steps has rarely been studied in dentistry. Simply stated,
an entire process will flow no more quickly than its slowest
step will allow. In the busy office, properly staffed
for efficiency, the rate-limiting step in sterilization
is how often a clinical staff member is able to move the
sterilization technology cycle along, not how fast each
individual piece of equipment is. Therefore, the fastest
equipment is rarely quicker in achieving its actual objective
of returning instruments back to treatment than is a well-organized
high flow stericenter. While we are certainly not advocates
of slow equipment, proper layout, ease of use and durability
should be the key to purchasing decisions here. (Fig 2.)
A simple plan for breakdown and redeployment.
4. INVENTORY IS EASY
Centralize all of your storage not just your bulk purchases.
Consolidate your active storage for rapid room resupply
as well. Far too many offices that we visit are burdened
with tens of thousands of dollars of supplies scattered
throughout the office-making control of purchasing and
rotation of stock impossible, thus inhibiting the adoption
of new generations of products and allowing product outdates
to occur. Your resupply system should be hidden from patient
view yet immediately accessible to clinical staff for
both rapid access and ease of just-in-time inventory control.
Products should not be hidden to the staff. Products should
not be allowed to remain in their bulky promotional containers
and should not, when possible, be stacked vertically.
(Fig 3.)
Download supplies from an efficient central
restocking site.
5. LAB LINKS
Although every practitioner knows that the dental lab
feeds resupply directly, too many designs completely isolate
these closely integrated areas. The office design should
facilitate a quick and convenient transfer between these
locations, yet they must be physically separate if even
a minor amount of model work (trimming etc.) is performed
in office. Labs need doors. Sterilization and resupply
must be open to the clinical space. Make sure that the
steady stream of items flowing between these areas is
unobstructed. Separate, yet united. (Fig 4.)
6. SILENCE IS GOLDEN
The importance of creating effective sound barriers and
sound cushions within the dental office cannot be overstated.
In the past, it was acceptable to isolate a waiting room
from the rest of the office. This is no longer appropriate
as patients expect to be treated as guests and not as
inventory or as part of the furniture! Accordingly, superlative
sound isolation is imperative in order to provide a quiet
atmosphere in what has become the combined front office/guest
seating area. Patients hate the sound of dental drills
(even more than we can imagine!). Fortunately, many acoustical
techniques are available to assist with this problem.
However, these soundproofing details need to be carefully
evaluated given the reflectivity of high-pitched, air-rotor
turbine sounds. Remember, acoustical planning involves
not only physical barriers, it also includes the wall
compositions, strategic door and window angulations, and,
occasionally, state-of-the-art ceiling and wall coverings.
Much needed sound attenuation coefficients can be obtained
through a variety of different wall and floor design modifications.
(Fig 5.)
These principles serve as the design foundation for your
practice. In the following article we will complete your
list with a discussion of integration, consolidation and
mobilization as well as cost and the "wow" factor.
Continue to Part 2...
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