Healthcare clinics and waiting rooms are undergoing a major transformation. No longer cold, impersonal places patients hate to be in, great medical office design trends reveal warm, comfortable and inviting spaces with up-to-date digital technology and collaborative working spaces.
If you’re looking to renovate your medical office, bear these latest design trends in mind to ensure you’re creating a smart and effective space for the comfort and convenience of your patients.
Warm colours, soft furnishings and comfortable furniture are rapidly replacing the cold, uninviting decor of traditional medical practices. The focus has very much shifted to facilitating patients’ comfort, making them feel at ease and at home while they wait, and during their consultation / treatment.
Medical equipment takes a lot of energy to run, and temperature control is often vital, so modern medical offices are becoming much more energy efficient in an effort to offset and reduce the cost of the energy used. 
Energy efficient designs could include:
More and more healthcare clinics are recognising the importance of digital technology to improve the efficiency of their healthcare systems, and provide a smoother, more effective service for patients. Touch screen check in / out systems are now commonplace, allowing patients to check in and make appointments without causing delays in the busy reception area. USB ports and electronic noticeboards in the waiting area make use of digital technology to improve the client experience and share healthcare information.
Larger exam roomsGroup therapy is a rapidly growing trend across many healthcare practices, allowing practitioners to save time and maximise on income by consulting with more than one patient at a time. Modern medical offices are incorporating larger and more flexible exam rooms to allow the space for group therapy, as well as smaller exam rooms for individual care. Where space is limited, partitions / folding doors can help to create the space you need when you want it.
New trends in medical care are seeing a greater emphasis on collaborative working, moving away from the traditional role of doctors working separately to nurses and other healthcare professionals. Care team members are working more closely together to offer patients a more streamlined and efficient service, so medical office design is seeing a move away from dedicated practitioners’ offices, and instead creating more collaborative working spaces.
Following the emerging trend for making the waiting room a pleasant and inviting place to be, modern waiting areas feature a dedicated children’s play area, free Wi-Fi and a TV screen, to provide an all-round better experience for patients. A pleasant waiting room experience means patients are less likely to complain about delays or long waiting times, which then supports a more positive interaction with reception staff and physicians.
Make sure when refurbishing or creating your medical office, that you choose contractors with experience working in the medical field, that can best advise on the growing medical office design trends that would best suit your practice.
