Location matters for any business; but for a medical practice, finding the right location is critical to the success of the business and it is one of the most important decisions a healthcare professional can make.
The starting point for thinking about the location of a practice is your business plan. You’ve spent a lot of time and effort to create your business plan, so stick with it. What are your practice objectives? What do you do? For whom? What is your target market? What is your fee structure? What are your growth goals? All these factors feed into the decision about the location of your practice.
Why does location matter?
Your practice must be situated in an area where your target market is strongly represented. Whatever your business goal – general practice, paediatrics, sports medicine etc, understanding demographics such as age, family structure and average household income will help you to ensure that you select an area that increases the likelihood of achieving your business goals. Travel time is critical, and patients will not travel long distances for routine medical care.
Understanding the competitive environment is important. If there are too many practices that look like yours, your growth is likely to be restricted. The presence of practices with alternate specialities and being part of an established medical 'cluster' can help your practice grow through referrals. Once you have identified prospective areas for your practice, you can start looking for premises.
Location premises
The location of the practice should reflect the image you want to project – both in terms of the neighbourhood and the premises themselves. You never get a second chance to create a first impression, so it is critical to ensure that the exterior appearance projects the image you want and will resonate positively with your target market. If the premises are not on the ground floor, elevator access is non-negotiable.
The premises must be easily visible to passers-by. While high visibility sites are generally more expensive than low visibility sites, the trade-off is more foot traffic and lower marketing costs. Whatever the location, ensure you can display appropriate signage so people can see you and know what you do.
Convenience and accessibility
The location should be accessible with multiple commute options and ease of parking is a critical factor for many patients. If parking is a challenge, patients will simply find another practice. The car park is often the first touch-point for many patients and a poorly maintained car park lowers the patient experience bar.
Access to peripheral services such as pharmacies is an important consideration as it adds to the convenience for the patient. Mothers with young children, for example, value the convenience of visiting a GP and a pharmacy with one stop.
The interior of your practice is where 'the rubber hits the road' in terms of patient experience, and a sub-optimal patient experience condemns the practice to mediocrity and, possibly, failure. The interior of the practice is a complex environment and specialist advice is recommended.
Why Perfect Practice?
Since 2003, Perfect Practice have provided a unique, turn-key design and fit-out service for over 1,400 healthcare practices across Australia and having spent thousands of hours consulting with hundreds of dentists, doctors and other professionals from the healthcare sector, have a deep understanding of what patients want, need, and expect, and the factors that create positive patient experiences.
