The consulting room is a crucial element of any clinic, serving as the space where doctors discuss patients' healthcare concerns and treatment history. These conversations can involve delivering difficult news or engaging in conversations that may upset or anger patients. Therefore, it is essential to design the consultation room with the patient's experience in mind. A welcoming and inclusive environment can reduce anxiety and encourage patients to return to your clinic. On the other hand, a design solely focused on efficiency may have the opposite effect.
Why is Patient Satisfaction Important in Doctor Consulting Room Design?
Healthcare clinics, like any other retail business, face competition in the market. Patients have the freedom to choose from various medical providers and will remain loyal to those within their budget, offering the right primary care services, and providing a good customer experience. Research from the Brookings Institution reveals that patients increasingly rely on online customer reviews when selecting a medical provider. Therefore, specialist clinics must prioritize facility design that enhances patient satisfaction.
But what exactly makes up a satisfying patient experience? One crucial factor is how patients feel during consultations. Patients want to feel comfortable and relaxed when discussing medical issues with a specialist, so patient-centric design should meet these expectations. Privacy is also a crucial element of specialist practice design.
Furthermore, patients today desire to be more engaged in their treatment process than ever before. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare states that partnering with patients in their own care is the gold standard for medical treatment. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate design elements that fulfill this demand when fitting out a consulting room.
Patient satisfaction is key to a clinic’s success - a lot of that positive or negative experience is built in the consulting room.
Three Ways to Make Your Consulting Room More Patient-Centric
There are several design tips you can implement to make your specialist consultation area more patient-centric.
The first tip is to create a more open and inviting atmosphere in your consulting room. Color, light levels, and room layout all play a role in raising or lowering anxiety levels. While consulting rooms typically require minimal space to accommodate a single patient and doctor, it is crucial to ensure that the room is not too small, as this could make patients feel claustrophobic. Dark colors and minimal natural light will further contribute to a sense of intimidation. Consider using a lighter color palette and allowing ample natural light into the space through large windows.
Once you have established a welcoming environment in your consultation room, the second factor to consider is patient privacy. Although open-plan clinic designs and dividable multi-function rooms may be popular trends in modern healthcare design, it is important for your consulting rooms to stand apart from this trend to increase patient seclusion.
To achieve this, consider arranging consulting rooms around the edges of your clinic, while central rooms can flow together. Clearly delineate private spaces to ensure patients and doctors are not interrupted during consultations.
A patient consultation room should balance open, well-lit space with privacy.
The final factor to consider in creating a more patient-centric consulting room is providing patients with access to their medical files. Modern patients want to be in control of their medical information and actively involved in determining an appropriate course of treatment. This does not mean patients want to take on the role of a doctor, as they still rely on the expertise of specialist practitioners. However, patients feel more at ease when their private medical information is readily accessible during a consultation.
To address this, consulting rooms should be designed to provide patients with better access to their medical information. Integrated technology, such as digital tablets or television devices, can enable doctors to share medical information and diagrams, allowing patients to visualize their treatment or recovery strategy. This engagement will help put patients at ease and ensure their satisfaction with the care they receive.
Space for Health's Specialist Clinic Design Services
Space for Health offers innovative fit-out services for specialist clinics. With 25 years of experience serving the NSW medical sector, we have worked with physiotherapists, dermatologists, specialized surgeons, and more. Our adaptable approach ensures that every project is tailored to meet the practice's technical, ergonomic, and aesthetic specifications.
Contact the Space for Health team today to learn more about how we can revamp your specialist clinic and create more patient-friendly consulting rooms and other spaces.
