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Business First of |
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IN DEPTH: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
From the November 4, 2005 print edition
Designing
New designs give doctors, patients reasons to smile
Dan
Marsh and Michael Vasbinder
Whether you look forward to it or dread a visit to the dentist or
doctor, it's a trip most of us have to make eventually. But new designs in
aesthetics and functionality of these office facilities are creating a more
relaxed atmosphere for patients and a more productive work space for
health-care professionals.
Today's medical and dental offices benefit from a wealth of
knowledge contained in many of today's designs. Gone are the stark,
uncomfortable waiting areas, the foreboding exam rooms. Newly designed dental
offices welcome patients and staff to a pleasant, state-of-the-art facility
that uses both visual and technological enhancements to everyone's benefit.
Form follows
function
Dental and medical offices have become more than just functional
facilities where treatment is delivered. New designs
offer peaceful, relaxing surroundings and loads of high-tech equipment.
Overstuffed leather chairs, soft, indirect lighting, large saltwater aquariums
- even fireplaces are common features in newly designed lobbies.
The familiar dental X-rays with grainy, grayscale images are
replaced with scaleable, full-color digital images, displayed on a liquid
crystal display screen. Together, dentists and patients discuss treatment
plans, while viewing larger-than-life images of the mouth, in real time, from
any angle, via a pencil-sized digital imager held by the dentist. Patients can
even bring in their favorite CD or DVD for entertainment during treatment.
Viewing monitors that mount flat to the ceiling are also available.
Using 3-D mapping techniques and robotic sculpting equipment, the
dentist can evaluate, program, create and install a new crown in one visit. In
the past, this same procedure took more than a week, two appointments and the
aid of an outside laboratory.
Custom-made synthetic teeth are being implanted into the bone as
permanent replacements for their damaged natural counterparts. Digital records
and images are replacing the ever-present wall of manila folders record system
of the past.
In addition, medical and dental offices are becoming more specific
in their design goals, which are often defined by demographics, location and
individual marketing plans. These facilities serve as integral parts of a
practice's plan to attract and retain targeted clientele. Attract more patients
with a broad offering of services or garner a smaller, more specialized client
base with limited, yet specialized services.
In urban or affluent areas, specialization is one emerging trend
in medical office design. Physicians are opening large-scale clinics that offer
specialized services, such as renal dialysis.
Other groups are opening medical imaging centers with modern
imaging equipment. These facilities compete to provide services once only
available at major hospitals and patients today have additional choices.
Designing for more
In rural areas, trends show new clinics provide multiple services,
such as medical, dental, counseling and others, all under one roof. These
facilities offer as many services as possible, to supplement the limited
availability of hospital services.
The bottom line is that many physicians and dentists are finding
reasons to design and build new, aesthetic and functional buildings to house
their practices, and that contain the latest technology and offer more benefits
to patients.
One recently-constructed dental facility in the
The exam rooms and the central office area are equipped with
networked computer stations. In each area used by the public, the displays are
positioned away from view to protect patient confidentiality.
Because patients spend much of their time in a reclined position
looking up, the rooms are equipped with video monitors that can easily be
positioned for the patients use, whether they are watching a video while
getting their teeth cleaned or viewing an on-screen display of their digital
X-rays as the hygienist explains the results.
To accommodate the youngsters, the practice includes a kids play center in the entry area. It also takes the extra
step in helping kids feel at ease by inviting them to make use of a giant
gumball machine that dispenses prizes instead of candy.
Whether it's an overhead lighting detail, an exotic fish, a
comfortable waiting chair or a chance to listen to the Grateful Dead while
getting your teeth cleaned, improved patient experience and productive, modern
work environments are now part of the facility planning process.
Dan Marsh is an architect and president of architectural firm, Dan Marsh Architects. Reach him at 614-764-1996 or dan@marsharchitects.com. Michael W. Vasbinder is a licensed architect and president of commercial contractor ConTrak Corp. Reach him at (614) 766-9990 or mikev@contrakcorp.com.
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