A simple change to improve your supply room organization can save you up to five minutes per patient. Depending on the number of patients you serve per day, simple changes to improve efficiency can save you time, and improve the patient’s experience. As you work towards growing your business and improving the quality of service, you need to invest in a system that makes it easy for you and your staff to deliver services fast, while avoiding mistakes that could create problems.
Identify your Needs
Make a list of your inventory, the number of times you restock in a month, your busiest days and the biggest challenges you face when trying to access the supply room. The list will help you identify problematic areas, so you can work on getting a solution that is custom to your dental practice. The exercise requires the investment of every member of your team who has access to the supply room, including the cleaning team. Each team member who uses the supply room has faced a challenge and will give valuable insight to help you ensure the remodeling improves your efficiency.
Make a Plan
Once you have your priorities in order, speak to your contractor and come up with a design that helps you resolve current organizational problems. For example, assess the available space and identify opportunities for you to increase storage space. Additionally, think of your plan for the clinic for the next five or ten years, and come up with a futuristic design. You need to think about how the changes you make while remodeling will adapt to growth within your clinic. This way, your investment can serve you in the long-term.
Space
One way to improve your supply room organization is to take advantage of the space you have. Look for creative ways to add more space and make the supplies you use regularly more accessible. For example, you can get smaller containers with labels to store in the treatment room so you do not have to fetch large containers and bottles all the time. Alternatively, create storage space in unique places such as on the end of a hallway hidden by a large mirror, which doubles up as a décor item that creates an illusion of space.
Colors
Color coordination improves organization in the supply room by making it easy for you to classify and identify supplies, especially on a busy day when you are in a hurry. Start with a base color for all the walls, and then add in the different colors to separate your supplies. Compliment the color coordination with color-coded labels on all the stickers you use for your supplies. After a while, everyone will learn the color codes, making it easier to retrieve supplies fast when needed.
Upskilling
Your supply room organization remodeling will only work if everyone on the team understands and follows the new system. Use a consultative and collaborative effort throughout the remodeling process to ensure everyone knows and understands the changes you make at every step. At the end of the remodeling, you will all be on the same page and you can start enjoying the benefits of the new system immediately.
Efficiency and organization must be at the heart of your dental office mobility; they affect the customer experience and profitability for your dental office. Give yourself the best design experience by working with leading dental office designers such as HJT Design. They have the skills, creativity, and experience needed to bring order into your dental office.