4 Criteria for Selecting Your Ideal Medical Office Space

Searching for medical office space can be overwhelming. Simply put, it’s a really big decision because the space you choose will affect everything from your daily commute to your patient base.
That’s why it’s important to be ultra-meticulous when looking at potential medical office space. Choosing a space based solely on price can cripple your practice in the long run, so take the following factors into consideration when deciding your practice’s location.

Population Characteristics

When looking for a medical office space, size matters – population size that is. Obviously, the more populous a particular area, the more potential patients there are. But you also have to look beyond population size.

Age is one demographic trait that can have a huge financial impact on your practice. For example, if you prefer working with private payers rather than Medicare, a community with a large percentage of seniors isn’t for you.

Another aspect to factor in is income level. An area with a high rate of low-income residents will likely have more Medicaid patients. This could result in lower reimbursements, as Medicaid typically reimburses only 56% of what private insurers pay out.

Competition

A community rife with other physicians may make achieving profitability more difficult, but this isn’t always the case. A small number of well-established practices can be a bigger obstacle to your success than a large number of newer practices. Older practices usually have ingrained ties with patients in the area that are harder to break.

Younger competitors can still be dangerous, though, if they put significant effort into marketing. If you aren’t willing to market your practice, competing against such practices probably won’t turn out well.

However, having other physicians nearby can be a good thing if they focus on a different specialty. This opens the opportunity to create referral networks, which can be a helpful way to gain patients in a new neighborhood.

Visibility

Saving money on rent/mortgage doesn’t do much good if your practice isn’t in a highly visible location, particularly for walk-in clinics. If your new office isn’t located on a main road or thoroughfare, the money you save on rent will have to go toward more intense marketing efforts.
Location on a busy street enables a simple, attractive sign to do some of the marketing for you.

Aesthetics

The external appearance of your practice is the first impression patients get of your office. A dingy or broken down exterior isn’t indicative of a quality medical practice, so it’s important to that the outside of your building as aesthetically pleasing as possible. One way to save money, however, is to buy low on a property with exterior issues and fix it yourself.

The interior of your medical office space is just as important. Not only should it be warm and inviting, but it should follow design principles that lead to a productive, profitable practice as well.
The medical office space you choose is a pivotal factor in your practice’s success. Don’t be hasty with the decision. While it’s exciting to open a new physician practice, success is even more exhilarating.