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Healthcare Facility Planning Tools and Guidelines

 

 

     

 

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SpaceMed Newsletter                                                                               

Summer 2008

Volume 1, Number 3

Physician Office and Clinic Capacity and Preliminary
Space Need

 

Indicator

Private
Practice

Academic Faculty

Practice or

Resident Clinic

Comments

       

Exam Rooms
Per Provider

2 to 3

exam rooms

per provider
 

1 to 2

exam rooms

per provider
 

Three exam rooms per provider increases efficiency only for specialties/practices where exam rooms are turned over every 15 minutes.

Annual Visits
Per Exam Room

2,400 to 4,500

annual visits
per exam room

1,000 to 2,000

annual visits
per exam room

Lower range for internal medicine, ob-gyn, oncology, neurology, pediatrics, and medical specialties; higher range for primary care, dermatology, ENT, and most surgical specialties.

Average Daily Visits Per Exam Room

10 to 20
average daily

visits per

exam room

4 to 8

average daily

visits per

exam room
 

Lower range assumes that physicians or providers schedule patients 46 weeks per year; higher range assumes that they schedule patients 48 weeks per year.

Typical Exam Room Size in
Net Square Feet (NSF)

92 to 100 NSF
(inside
wall-to-wall dimensions)

100 to 120 NSF

(inside
wall-to-wall dimensions)

Larger rooms used for teaching, family conference, pediatrics, or to include a provider workstation.

Department Gross Square Feet (DGSF) Per Exam Room

400 to 450
DGSF per
exam room


 

450 to 600
DGSF per

exam room
 

Higher range assumes additional treatment/procedure rooms or separate administrative offices for providers.

Annual Visits
Per Department Gross Square Feet (DGSF)

3 to 6

annual visits

per DGSF

1 to 3

annual visits

per DGSF
 

Academic/faculty practices and resident clinics historically experience lower utilization of exam rooms.

       

Note: DGSF represents the "footprint" of a department or functional area and includes the net square feet of the individual rooms as well as the space occupied by internal circulation corridors, walls/partition, and minor utility shafts; DGSF excludes common areas such as shared public corridors and lobbies, elevator banks, stairwells, major mechanical spaces, and the space occupied by the building's exterior wall.

Source: SpaceMed Guide (Second Edition).

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