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Outfitting Your Office
 by Jordan R. Stewart, DPM Timonium Foot and Ankle Center Established July 2006 Timonium, MD Once you have established your office layout, you face the challenge of affordably outfitting the office with equipment and furniture. I first looked on the Internet and contacted doctors that were selling used medical equipment and furniture. After looking at several of these items, I was not so excited about buying used goods. Although some of the products were in decent shape, I did not want to have an office that looked like I shopped at a yard sale. The appearance of your office will impact how your patients feel about their experience with you. How many of you have been in a doctor's office that looked like "This Old House" before it was renovated? As new practitioners with the most up-to-date training, you want to establish an environment that is clean, new, and makes people feel comfortable. I get compliments on a daily basis that my office is so clean. A clean environment makes people feel good. After working in a clinic for 3 years and visiting several doctors' offices, I had a good idea of the instrumentation and equipment I would need to get started in practice. I compiled a list of my big ticket items and I began to shop. I called the vendors that I knew supplied podiatry equipment and instrumentation and asked for price quotes. It was quite interesting to see how prices for the same product varied across the different distributors. When you are shopping around, don't hesitate to ask the salesperson to reduce prices or incorporate additional items into the price. If you are affiliated with or plan to join a hospital staff, ask for the same discount that is given to the hospital. When you are spending several thousand dollars the company should be able to throw in some items. In addition to purchasing equipment and instrumentation, you will need to buy furniture, computer hardware and software, and a phone system. As mentioned in an earlier segment, I purchased a medical billing program. I did not purchase an EMR as it was a major expense I did not want to take on right away. I looked at several systems, but decided to use preformatted templates and dictation software for my notes. When it comes to buying computer software, be sure that the distributor offers technical support. I have unlimited support for both my billing and dictation software and this has been extremely helpful. Despite the claims of the vendors that their products are easy to use and that you will be receiving the most recent versions, I have spent several hours with technical support working out some of the kinks I experienced. When it comes to buying furniture, contact a reputable company that has experience furnishing doctors offices. Make sure your waiting room has comfortable, durable chairs and tables to display brochures and magazines. You will need to have chairs in the exam rooms for patient's guests and I would recommend matching these with your waiting room furniture. Once again, when buying furniture bargain with your salesperson. In addition to the major expenses discussed above, you will need to stock the office with medical and office supplies. The following table illustrates the big expenses I had when outfitting my office. These numbers will vary depending on the size of your office. Although I have 4 exam rooms in my office, I only outfitted 2 of them. Once I am busier, I will outfit the other rooms. Remember, not everything needs to be done at once.
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