With the wonderful summer weather we’ve been having I’ve been trying (since getting a new bicycle after mine got stolen last month – another story for another time), to ride my bicycle more for running errands and getting to appointments around town. Perhaps since I’ve recently had a bike stolen I’m more sensitive to the need to lock my bike, now, but what I’ve been finding is just how few places have bicycle racks, or any form of reasonable accommodation to lock a bike anywhere near their facility. So, this got me thinking what about the dental offices around town? How many of them have installed bicycle racks for their employees or patients that would want to bike to the dental office?

Well, I got in my car (not enough dentists within a reasonable bike ride from the office) and cruised past a couple of dozen dental offices to check them out. Guess what I found. Not a single one had a bicycle rack anywhere near their office. Was I surprised? Not really, but I was disappointed. This is such a small thing to do to encourage people to get out of their cars, get some exercise, and to start lowering their carbon footprint, yet not a single dentist I found had made this effort.

So, even if you’re not currently considering an office relocation or a remodel of your dental office, consider tipping a nod toward your more “green” patients and staff and adding bicycle racks at your dental office. If you are working on or considering a new dental office design definitely find a way to incorporate them into your dental office design plan, even if you’re not working toward LEED certification. Your children’s children will thank you.

I have a question, though. Do you prefer attending live sessions or would you rather have the option of viewing a recorded presentation on-line, in the convenience of your home or office on your schedule? I’ve been asked and am considering whether posting my various talks on my website would be preferable to attending one of my live sessions. I’d appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!

“So, what’s the problem,” you ask? The bench is not comfortable at all! I’m not sure who designed the bench, but I don’t think they’ve ever sat on it. It isn’t even comfortable for a little while, let alone for an hour or more while drinking an iced mocha and trying to get some work done.

This leads me to my question for every dentist out there. When was the last time you sat in your Reception Area furniture? Is it comfortable? Did you and your dental office designer work together to pick out comfortable, commercial seating that will provide value and a good return on your investment along with a great sitting experience? Now, I understand the automatic response is that you don’t keep your patients waiting long enough for the comfort of the seating to be an issue. That’s all well and good, but what about those that are coming along to help drive the person home after an extensive procedure? So, the friend or family member is sitting there, in your Reception Area in uncomfortable seating, waiting impatiently for the procedure to finish. Is this the impression you want them to walk out of your dental office with?

There are so many tiny little factors that all work together to create a positive dental experience and consequently, a positive brand. How comfortable the Reception Area furnishings are in your dental office is just one of these. Just like Starbucks® pays close attention to the design of their coffee house experience, knowing that the experience is the real reason people pay $4 for a cup of coffee, every dental practice needs to be paying close attention to the design of the dental office experience. They need to be working closely with their dental office designer to find the best commercial seating for their branding message. People may need their dentist more than they need a $4 cup of coffee, but the experience they have while in your dental office will dictate whether they keep their next appointment and how frequently they tell their family and friends about you.

Think to yourself, “When do I want to be open and seeing patients in my newly remodeled or built-out space?” Then, back up from that date at least six months. So, for example, if you want to start seeing patients January 1st of 2011, then your project needs to get under way no later than 1 July of this year. Since the number of working days drops around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, adding some more time in doesn’t hurt, so realistically you’d best be hiring your designer and getting your remodel or build-out in design by 1 June! That’s just around the corner!

Why does it take so long? Well, here is a rough breakdown of the 26 week timeline:
6 weeks for design
2 weeks for construction bids and contractor selection
9 weeks for ordering materials, state plan approval, and permits
8 weeks for construction
1 week for move in

The above timeline assumes that everything goes smoothly, all questions are answered promptly, and there are no major revisions or redesigns necessary. Think about it, how often do you think that happens?

If you are leasing a new space I recommend that you get your designer involved with the project while you are still looking at space options. As soon as you think you’ve narrowed your selection to a couple of spaces, take your dental office designer with you to look at them and get some feedback on what challenges and opportunities exist in the various choices to effectively communicate your interior branding message in the spaces. Your designer should also be able to discuss space planning issues and traffic flow issues for your various choices to help you make a final leasing decision. In a new lease situation time is of the essence, so the more involved your dental office designer is with the selection process before the clock starts ticking on when you have to start paying rent on the new space, the quicker a design can be created and the farther down the timeline you can be before this happens.

So, I’ve outlined an ideal situation above and that is just for a dental office remodel or build-out, if you are building a new building then you obviously need some more time. Also, since we don’t live in an ideal world, additional time is nice to have so decisions don’t have to feel rushed to keep the project on track.

So, if you’ve been thinking it would be nice to start 2011 in a new location or in a freshly remodeled dental office, “Have you hired your dental office designer yet?”

Anyway, here are some quick shots of the table and chairs that I designed. My theme for the space is reclaim and reuse. I’ve made heavy use of found objects; an old door, old dining chairs, 150 year old crocks, an antique ironing board. You get the idea. I rebuilt the chair seats using outdoor foam and outdoor fabric. The chairs and the ironing board have been coated to protect them from the weather.

I don’t have a shot yet of the antique butter churn that I will be using as a centerpiece on the table. My florist is working on the flower arrangement.

The show opens on 24 April and runs through 9 May. If you’re going to be in Indy, be sure to check it out. The money supports a very worthy cause.

Long view of the table and chairs.

End detail of chairs and table legs.

Another view of the table with fountain in background.

BBQ Prep Table

Close up of prep table

Another prep table close up

Pickle crocks as flower planters

In addition to the obvious regulatory requirements to adopt new technologies, this morning’s conversation reminded me, too, that there are a large number of options available to dental offices to enhance the client experience. As part of the dental office design, any time we can incorporate something into the design that improves the patient experience we are helping to reduce cancellation rates and increase the referral rate. By working on this combination of expense item and revenue driver in tandem, we can make a positive impact on the practice’s bottom line.

The technology vendor and/or consultant are key members of any dental office design team and the value of their participation should not be overlooked. As you begin laying the plans for a new office or a remodel of your existing dental office, be sure not to forget to invite them to the party.

A current trend in interior design is the use of graffiti art and graffiti artists to pull more bold and lively color into spaces. Kelly Porter writes about this trend in her recent article for STIR. In her article she quotes the well-known spray paint artist Chor Boogie whose work has been commissioned for the Beijing 2008 Olympics in China and other public work in Australia; Dubai; Mexico; and Washington, D.C. Chor calls his work “color therapy.” “Consciously or unconsciously, color has an effect on you,” he says.

While I’ve created color palates for projects that have had upward of 22 different colors in them, I’ve yet to involve a graffiti artist or spray paint artist on any of my projects. With the goal of making a strong Interior Brand for each of my dental office design clients, I’m thinking this touch will certainly bring a differentiating element to a client’s dental office.

Have you ever said any of these things to yourself or to your staff or colleagues about your dental office? Do you feel that your dental office design is “good enough” to attract and retain patients? Well how good is good enough? Most people would say that if a business had 99.9% success or approval rating they’d be doing pretty darn good. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples and see if you agree.

If 99.9% of the time the doctor delivering a baby in the U.S. did not drop the baby, that would mean we’d have 4,247 dropped babies every year. If you are the parent of one of the ones that is dropped would you agree that 99.9% is good enough?

If 99.9% of all flights into and out of O’Hare Airport in Chicago landed and took off without crashing, that would mean we’d have 881 plane crashes per year in Chicago alone. Do you want to be on one of the flights that weren’t quite good enough?

It’s hard to measure the impact of your dental office design in terms of percentages, but if your office design is better than 90% of the dental offices in your market is it good enough to attract and retain the patient level that you want? How many patients are saying to themselves, “Well, if he/she doesn’t take care of the furniture in the Reception Area then how well are my teeth being taken care of?” They are probably asking themselves the same thing about the condition of your walls, cabinets, exam chairs, lights, artwork, restrooms (that’s always a biggie!), too. Again, I ask, how does your dental office design stack up? Is it in the 80th, 90th, or 95th percentile? Shouldn’t it be?

So, you’re a small practice, maybe only you and a technician. Maybe you only have one or two chairs, even. How can you possibly compete against the much larger practices with ten or twelve operatories and scads of technicians? By knowing who you are and what you’re about.

“But,” you say, “I can’t afford to spend money on my branding and dental office design like the bigger practices do!” I say you can’t afford not to. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to spend as much, but every practice, no matter how small, needs to have a mission and value statement. From this springs the brand which is then reflected and demonstrated through the dental office design and the human interaction in the office.

The same dedication to defining and executing one’s brand needs to happen in a small practice as well as a large one. Perhaps even more so. The charm and personality of the sole practitioner will only go so far if the office is cluttered, cramped, dark, or drab. Or, if the personality of the office manager/receptionist/dental tech is biting and caustic. (I keep going back to this because I see this a lot, unfortunately.)

So, as you’re looking around your dental office today, the source of your family’s income and your pride and joy that you’ve worked hard to build, does the office reflect your mission, vision, and values? Do the office and the staff effectively communicate the message you want to greet each patient with and send them back out the door with to share with their family and friends? Believe me, your dental office design is communicating these messages every day.