What does Changing the Public Perception of Dentistry mean to OPTIMA?
In short, it means finding ways to remove all barriers and stigmas that stand in the way of making oral health a top priority for all Australians. To achieve this, we must help Dentists understand the need for these changes to inspire patients to become proactive with their dental health.
To motivate such changes patient experience needs to be elevated and placed at the core of practice philosophy. Historically, dental trips could have created negative associations – drab and dated interiors, long waits in uncomfortable waiting rooms, painful dental drills, and feelings of fear and uncertainty.
These associations need not be the end of the equation, re-tuning a patient’s unconscious response requires providing an experience communicating that they are understood, cared for and nurtured. Together, we can change the public perception of dentistry.
What problems does OPTIMA seek to solve?
OPTIMA understands that dentists by nature are time-poor, so while you concentrate all your efforts on delivering your best treatments and generating business, we take the stress out of creating your ideal practice by delivering an end-to-end, true turn-key design and development offering.
What does patient experience mean to OPTIMA? Why should this be a major consideration when designing a practice?
Patients are the entire reason for your practice existence, therefore, their experience in your dental practice is a crucial aspect to the success and longevity of your practice. An experience that leaves a patient feel valued and understood is the key to fostering a loyal and lasting patient relationship, not to mention that patient referrals are the best source of new patients for any Dental practice.
One-in-three Australians are not actively caring for their oral health, this means that nearly two-thirds of Australians require a change in perception. The pinnacle of patient experience lies in the union of how a space looks in equal measure to how it feels, leading to the need for an empathically designed practice.
What does practice efficiency mean to OPTIMA? Why should this be a major consideration when designing a practice?
Practice efficiency is the number one driving factor that differentiates a mediocre practice from a highly successful one. Having a direct effect on patient experience and staff satisfaction, OPTIMA aims to help your dental practice work not only harder, but smarter.
When creating your practice, OPTIMA place high importance on good ergonomics – the science of making workspaces and workflows meet the needs of those that work in these spaces. OPTIMA’s design and construction team draws inspiration from architecture and interior design when it comes to designing a dental practice that is functionally ergonomic as well as aesthetically pleasing.
What does staff engagement mean to OPTIMA? Why should this be a major consideration when designing a practice?
When your staff are happy and engaged it’s felt in the service they provide – making this a major link in the success of your practice. When staff themselves feel supported and valued they, in turn, will pass on value and support to your patients. Providing your staff with a space that is ergonomically designed to support the workflows of your practice, streamlines staff operations, and is minimalist in design and function – will create a basis for great culture and inspire a belief in the vision of your practice.
So what do we do from here?
OPTIMA will make your journey to practice owner a seamless experience by working through all the phases and adhering to our Consult, Concept and Construct process.
Consult
As practice philosophy and values are highly individual to a dentist, OPTIMA believes in creating an optimised and tailored approach to put your vision at the heart of the project. By distinguishing your unique preconditions we create a solution that leads to a highly efficient and productive dream practice. Services as part of this step include:
- Strategic planning
- Location feasibility study
- Needs analysis
- Site assessments
- Town planning assessment
- Site measure-up
- Briefing session
Concept
Drawing inspiration from your unique vision, OPTIMA begins at a place that focuses on form, function, and most importantly, empathy. Our design team follows a patient-centric approach. Our creative process involves careful consideration of our three pillars of empathic design: patient experience, practice efficiency, and staff engagement. This unique approach also takes into account the often-overlooked process of value engineering – collaboration at each step, ensuring partners are across every project development and budget adjustment, this cross-collaboration maintains the delicate equilibrium between expectations and visions. Steps in this part of the project include:
- Full project brief
- Conceptual design
- Site planning and test-fits
- Scope of work
- Budget
- Design workshop
- Design developments
- Permits and approvals
Construct
Seamless end-to-end integration of our design, technical and construction teams means that our projects are not only delivered on schedule with specialist equipment solutions and cost-controlled at every point. Steps include:
- Site set-up and safety
- Insurances
- Construction
- Internal fit-out
- Equipment supply and installation
- Defects rectification
- Occupancy and open for business
What else do I need to consider outside of what Optima will do for me?
While OPTIMA creates the practice of your dreams, other considerations to make outside of the array of services and equipment OPTIMA provides are; computers, computer equipment, telecommunication services and equipment, network services, practice management software, an IT service provider as well as any specialised equipment and consumables.
