Designclinic

Achieve your ultimate private practice
Shirin Seehra (Design Director) of Designclinic explains how to create your ultimate private dental environment.

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In this current climate many dentists are thinking about converting to private practice in order to safeguard their future. This can seem like a risky option. With forward planning and help from experts there is every opportunity for you to succeed. The conversion to private will allow you to provide enhanced services without diluting your expertise or sacrificing focus and quality. The benefits to your occupational health and general sense of well-being can be huge, improving the quality of your life for you and your team.

Positioning yourself well within the marketplace is essential, as you will need to differentiate yourself from the competition and promote the difference in your service from the NHS. This involves looking at what your competition is doing and what you can offer the market and ultimately the customer.

Once you have decided on your position you need to communicate it. Private patients will be expecting a full service package, the basics covering a smiling face on reception, an efficient service and a pleasant practice environment.

Creating the right practice environment

Although there will be a certain amount of ‘good will’ from patients who remain with your dental practice because they value you and your service, you will still need to implement a marketing strategy that reflects your decision to move over to private. The most important factor to remember here is how you, as a practice, present yourself to the customer.

Important steps:

Engage a dental practice designer

Designing a private dental practice is a complex matter that needs a great deal of time and effort and an ability to translate design ideas into workable solutions.
The best way forward is to engage the services of an experienced dental practice designer. Their advice will ensure that you carry out the necessary steps to make a success of your venture. You must meet with them to discuss your vision and to see whether you will be able to build a good rapport. But before you commit to employing their services look carefully at their portfolio to assess their level of experience and design ability.
A good designer will interpret your ideas imaginatively, creating an environment that is a pleasure to work in. They will be able to maximise your investment by delivering a design solution that will be economic to build and run.

Know your budget – communicate this to your designer

Any new business venture is exciting, but without a firm financial foundation the enterprise will quickly fail. It is wise to obtain financial advice to help you allocate funds appropriately. This will enable you to identify how much you have to spend on the practice itself – essential information to be passed onto your designer. Spending too much money on high specification finishes is often unnecessary as a similar look may be achieved on a smaller budget. Your Designer can help you to establish when is the best time to refurbish and whether to remain open is key as disruption to the practice can have a negative impact on the business.

Prepare a ‘wish list’

Your designer will ask you to formulate a ‘wish list’ that sets out your accommodation requirements, working methods and any design ideas you might have.
Once you have communicated your requirements your designer will help you to explore the creative possibilities. As soon as your scheme has been finalised your designer will present you with a design package of detailed drawings and schedules. This will be used to obtain quotes from builders and provide details for them to work from on site. Ultimately the success of your project will rely on a good relationship with your designer, their expertise in translating your vision and the ability of the builder to execute the work.

An overall approach

There are other aspects of visual communication that require attention in order to gain the most benefit from a new fit out. Logo design, stationery, signage and websites, as well as the personal presentation of staff are just as important as the physical design of a practice. If these elements project a consistent image of a practice, combined they are a powerful tool in communicating the attention to detail and standard of services offered.

Attention to detail

It is important to ensure that your patients are left with a lasting impression of your practice so it would be a shame for the look and feel of the interior to be compromised by poorly chosen furniture, artwork and or accessories. It is often these small details that people notice - sculptural elegant displays of exotic flowers, scented candles or a patient being offered refreshments whilst waiting in a relaxed environment with good reading material available, all contribute to a positive experience. Have faith in your designer and let them choose the finishing touches – these can make or break the overall impression of your practice.

Decide upon your Dental equipment supplier

It makes sense to decide upon your dental equipment supplier early on in the project. It will make the designer’s job a lot easier as the placement of dental equipment has a direct impact on the layout and development of the design. This will give your time to establish a good working relationship with your equipment supplier. By actively involving the installer in the setout of services, you can facilitate easy installation and access for maintenance of your equipment.

Final words:

Avoid having too many people in the decision-making process

Once you have decided to take on a renovation, you will get valuable design input from your staff, your family members and your friends. While you might get a lot of useful advice from them, it is essential that one person take the lead to create a single vision. This must be you designer otherwise, you’ll end up with a mishmash of ideas, which will ultimately increase your design costs and create a space that could have been better.

Trust your designer

Finally you must have awareness. It is surprising how many clients are not fully aware of the contribution interior designers can make. An understanding of the designer's work and profession will help foster faith and trust. By understanding your designer's abilities you will be able to utilise them to the full and fulfil your dream of creating your ultimate practice.
Sometimes designers propose ideas that seem radical but with good reason. It takes courage to innovate and create inspirational environments. A good scheme can all too often be compromised by a client ‘playing safe’ or pulling apart a scheme – diluting its true potential.
Allow the designer to take the lead and have faith in their ability to deliver. The end result will be a practice that appeals to your patients and staff and will allow you to focus on delivering great patient care, reinforcing the bond between you and your patients.