Today's Veterinary Practice provides comprehensive information to keep every small animal practitioner up to date on companion animal medicine and surgery as well as practice building and management.
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| PRACTICE BUILDING t $PMPS Add color! A bright and cheery reception area sends the right mes- sage to your clients. Put the color where it is easy to redo, such as on walls, and keep the cabinets a neutral shade. Don’t limit color to the recep- tion area. You, your staff, and your cli- ents will appreciate color in examina- tion rooms, treatment areas, the break room, and offices. t $POWFOJFODFT Provide conveniences for your clients, such as a coffee bar and internet access. Here are some ideas for something a bit more radical: t (SFFUFS T 4UBUJPO A greeter’s station removes the responsibility of answer- ing phones from the frontline staff member. This creates more of a “con- cierge” relationship between staff and the client, making it possible to provide better service and minimize the size of the reception desk. Greeter’s stations work best in paperless practices because it is easier to physically separate the greeter, phone, and cashier functions while maintaining a virtual connection between them. t /P 3FDFQUJPO %FTL By removing the desk, your clients will feel like they are the first priority. Also, with your receptionist liberated he/she can provide other services, such as facilitating curb-side drop off and pick up and sitting with, comforting, or educating clients while they wait. Expanding Finishes Take the new colors and finishes from the reception area into the whole hospital. t 1BJOU Nothing is cheaper than a gallon of paint. A professional paint scheme can turn clinical, outdated, or worn walls into a current, cheerful, and fun space. Paint all the spaces in your hospital to tie your remodel together. You can use a high performance paint to cover old, dinged, dark wood items as well as cabinets and doors to give them new life. A word of caution: never paint a concrete slab. It is impossible to keep paint from chipping and peeling on any horizontal concrete surface. t 'MPPSJOH Replace your flooring with a more durable surface. t -JHIUJOH Add new task lighting in the treatment and office areas. t $BCJOFU 'BDFMJGU For a quick redo of your cabinets, have them refaced instead of replaced. You will save on the cost of the new cabinet boxes. t 5JMF Tile your floors. Nothing hides the sins and repairs of worn-out flooring like nice, nonslip porcelain tile with epoxy grout. Tile is one of the safest materials to use in a renovation, as it is not prone to failure and immediately adds class to a drab space. 70 Today’s Veterinary Practice July/August 2011 David Dietrich Photography A remodeled examination room at Upstate Veterinary Specialists, Asheville Clinic, in Asheville, North Carolina; note the computer monitor that allows clients to view digital radiographs Rearrange the Floor Plan There are numerous ways that tweaking your hospital’s floor plan can make your space more efficient, provide greater transparency, and improve the overall feel of your hospital. These changes can come in all shapes and sizes— from simply switching out a couple of rooms to knocking down walls and/or adding additional rooms. t 3FMBCFMFE 3PPNT It is sometimes easier to improve the layout and efficiency of your existing building by changing the functions of a few rooms. For example, if your surgery is far from your treatment area, but there is a large doctor’s office immediately adjacent to treatment, it may be possible to switch the room functions without a dramatic change to the building structure. If you take this approach, be sure that you will be able to easily update your mechanical and electrical systems for the new room functions. Remember, it is typically very difficult and expensive to move “wet” rooms, such as your dog ward or any other room that is plumbing intensive. t &YBNJOBUJPO; 3PPNT If your budget allows, look at ways to add one or two additional examination rooms. Adding examination rooms helps you justify the expense of remodeling by allowing you to see more