Updated office appearance improves patients’ perception of care
ORLANDO – Optometrists must not only strive to provide the latest in eye care, they need to keep their office space up-to-date as well, Kurt Steele, OD, said here at Vision Expo East.
“Your patients need to feel like they’re getting updated care,” he said. “If your office has not changed in appearance in 10 years, they won’t get that message.”
Steele said he and his partners moved and expanded their practice twice, starting at 1,500 square feet when he joined in 1995, moving to a 3,600-square-foot location in 2002, then constructing a new 9,400-square-foot custom-built practice in 2016.
“We are in one of the poorest counties in Tennessee,” he said. “One of the first foreign bodies I ever removed, I was reimbursed with four jars of moonshine.
Steele said that in its original location, the practice doubled its income between 1995 and 1999, from $350,000 to $700,000.
“We peaked at $367/square foot,” he said. “We moved in 2002, to 3,600 square feet on 0.7 acres, and we went from $700,000 to $1.12 million.”
He said they had six exam rooms for three doctors, a small break area, no business office space and not enough parking.
“If you’re going to build a new office, you might be shocked at how much you grow and will need room for expansion,” Steele said.
“We topped out again at $472 per square foot, $1.7 million in 2016 and then stopped,” he said. “Three doctors are difficult in 3,600 square feet. We had 24 parking spots, three doctors and 12 staff. After staff, we had three parking spaces per doctor.”
He said they were forced to rent parking across the street.
“We made the doctors’ offices too small (6 feet by 8 feet) because they didn’t produce revenue,” Steele said. “But if you want to use it for anything else, you can’t.”
When the partners began looking to build on a new location, they talked to people who knew the local real estate.
You must determine the market value rent and whether or not you can afford it.
“Even if you own your building, you have to pay yourself rent,” Steele said. “We have a practice and a corporation that owns the real estate.”
He also recommended hiring an architect, “and they run the whole show. We paid him $80,000, and we didn’t have to do anything.”
Determine how you will pay for the increased rent, Steele said.
Steele’s practice went from 3,600 square feet to 9,413 square feet with 58 parking spaces.
He recommended 16 parking spaces per doctor, or 10 spaces per doctor after all team members park.
“We have three exam rooms per doctor,” he said. “We each have two automated phoropters and one manual phoropter. I use the manual phoropter room for emergencies. There are four work-up areas per doctor.”
Two of the exam rooms were designed as 12 feet by 12 feet for handicapped patients.
The optical is 2,500 square feet, or 28% of the building, and it makes up 50% of the revenue, which is, “about right,” Steele said.
The business office, at 274 square feet, is too big, he said. The operator’s space is 138 square feet, which is, “about right,” he said.
“We could have put the business office and operator in 274 square feet,” Steele said.
The lab is a good size at 72 square feet, he said.
“Make sure you put your lab on an outside facing wall because it helps with ventilation,” he added.
Steele said he wishes his 336-square-foot break room was larger.
“We have three doctors and 16 or 17 staff, and if we all want to meet in there, it gets crowded,” he said.
They also have a large vision therapy room.
Thirty-eight percent of the practice’s patients are between 60 and 80 years old and considered low income.
“For the décor we went somewhere between modern and traditional,” he said. “Our sales went up $30 per person in the new building.
“I can’t imagine we will ever outgrow 9,400 square feet, but if we do, we have flexibility,” Steele said.
“If I could go back, I would have only had two exam rooms per doctor instead of three,” he said. “You can only be so many places at one time. I would have pretest equipment for every doctor. The workup area is always where the log jam happens.”
Steele said he wishes they would have covered the patio to create an extension of the break room.
From July 21, 2016, to July 31, 2017, the practice grossed $1.6 million. The second year it grossed $1.9 million.
“We have 23.1% growth so far in 2021, and we are headed for $1.9 million with only two doctors now,” he said.
Collapse
Steele K. How I built this: Building a new practice from the ground up. Presented at: Vision Expo East; Orlando, Fla.; June 2-5, 2021.
Read more about