Addressing your Practice’s Office Space – Reducing Overhead

Whether you’re just starting out, or your practice is transforming with your career, finding the right space (or spaces) for your practice is essential to serving your patients and your practice’s overhead.

While the traditional approach of renting some convenient commercial space is one of the most commonplace practices, there are some exciting alternatives that can allow more flexibility, practice security, and even community with fellow practitioners.

Renting Part of Your Space

If you’ve found the perfect spot, but there’s a little more space than your practice needs, consider renting that space to another practitioner starting their practice, or expanding their patient reach in your area.

Building your practice takes time, and that’s true for other practitioners as well. Allowing others to rent part of your space offsets your own costs while helping a peer reduce their own overhead costs.

Renting from Another Practitioner

Practitioners following the tip above are more common than you may think. Find practitioners renting out portions of their own space through peers or on peer discussion groups.

This is different than becoming an associate in that you retain ownership of your own practice, sharing only the address.

Colocating /Shared your Space

Depending on where you’re practice is in its growth, you may only need 20 hours/week in patient visits, with the rest of your week in back-office work building your practice.

Batching your time would allow you to ‘split’ a single location with another practitioner. This offsets your costs while allowing you the flexibility to work from home for more administrative work.

With services like Google Voice and Dialpad, your office phone number can go wherever you go. Cloud EHR/EHM platforms and an online dispensary can make your practice even more portable.

Practitioners who share space can do so by day of the week, or by the time of day – whichever works for your practices.

Telemed Is In

For practitioners with specialties that allow for a large geographic region, telemedicine is easier than ever for integrative practitioners.

Our own Dr. Jaclyn Chasse, who has built a specialty practice in fertility, serves patients nationwide – and eventually cut her rent all-together as more referrals came from across the country. Even her dispensary is 100% online with Wellevate – meaning she can connect patients with the vitamins, supplements, and even personal care products her patients need.

Bonus: Preparing for Fit-up

With rare exception, your new location is ‘as-is,’ and your requirements for rooms, power, and lighting are part of fit-up (or fit-out). Even ‘simple’ items like new ceiling tiles and flooring, or removed/added walls can quickly add up to tens of thousands of dollars.

It’s important that your practice be a great space that makes a great impression, but keep your fit-up simple in selecting your space. As your practice grows, you’ll likely move to a new space. Don’t over-invest in rented property.