Success as a dentist requires a mastery of medical and business skills. While medical skills help you deliver dental services, business skills allow you to make decisions that influence service delivery and satisfaction for clients. For example, you have to choose the right equipment, plan your finances, hire staff and make decisions to support the growth and success of the business.

One key consideration you will make at the beginning of your practice, or when you are looking to remodel is the design of your office. You must come up with ideas to help your contractors create a space your clients will enjoy and recommend to their loved ones.

Some tips to help you with your next remodeling project include:

Ask Questions

Ask yourself the hard questions before beginning the remodeling project. For example, what are your objectives, how much money will you commit to the project, what are your time frames and what regulations must you meet. Addressing these questions ahead of time helps you plan accordingly, and avoid any surprises that may come up. You also communicate your expectations with the contractor in advance and create a checklist to help you follow up on the project.

Create a Communication Plan

Remodeling may require you to suspend some of your activities to allow the contractors to complete the project on time. Make sure you have a communication plan for all your patients and staff members. This may include other dentists they can contact in case of an emergency, or planning to have your sessions at a different practice. Think of a regular newsletter with updates on the coolest additions to keep them excited and involved in the process.

Choose What to Save

Your remodeling will include a lot of new additions; however, you will always come across furniture and equipment you can reuse in the new office. Make a list of the items you will lose and the items you will save. You can choose to sell off some items or donate some to charity. Making this decision early also gives your remodeling team time to refurbish the items you want to save so they also look sleek and new.

Specify Client Expectations

Understand your patients and their expectations to ensure you create a space that caters to their needs. For example, if the largest number of patients you receive are kids, you need to design the space to their needs to include a more playful feel. However, if you cater more to adults, you need a functional and relaxing space. Alternatively, try to incorporate different design elements to meet different clients’ needs.

Work Progressively

Avoid working on everything at once; create a multi-step process with different phases for different remodeling elements. A multi-phase process gives you financial flexibility and allows you to spread out the work over a long period of time. For example, you can begin with setting up the physical structure, schedule equipment installation in phase two, followed by a furniture upgrade and then entertainment.

Remodel Sustainably

Turn your dental office into a sustainability haven by taking advantage of natural lighting, green power, recycling and eco-friendly materials. This will help you reduce operational costs in the long-run and can play a role in helping you appeal to a new clientele.

Dental office remodeling is an opportunity for you to get creative and improve the impression you make on clients. While you may have a solid plan and ideas, working with dental office design experts will help you actualize your dream. Contact HJT Design today and start your office remodeling.