Clinic Setup & Operational Redesign

What We Offer

New Clinic Establishment

• Feasibility analysis and demographic profiling: We analyse local population demographics, existing provider density, disease burden data, and competitor mapping to validate the commercial opportunity and inform your service model
• Business case and financial modelling: Detailed financial projections covering establishment costs, operating expenses, revenue forecasts by service line, and break-even analysis
• Site selection and lease negotiation support: Assessment of potential sites against healthcare-specific criteria including accessibility, parking, public transport, visibility, floor plate suitability, and zoning compliance
• Fitout planning in collaboration with healthcare architects: Coordination of the physical build to ensure the space supports clinical workflows, infection control requirements, and RACGP accreditation standards
• Practice management software selection and configuration: Vendor assessment, system setup, and data migration support
• Accreditation-readiness from the outset: Every element of the clinic is designed with RACGP 5th edition standards in mind, avoiding costly retrofitting

Fitout Considerations

The physical design of a clinic has a direct and lasting impact on operational efficiency, patient experience, and staff satisfaction. Common fitout mistakes we help practices avoid include:

• Undersized reception and waiting areas: The front-of-house area is the bottleneck in most clinics. We model patient arrival patterns and peak-hour volumes to size reception desks, waiting areas, and check-in points appropriately
• Consulting room design: Each consulting room should accommodate the clinical model it supports. GP rooms require examination beds, hand wash basins, adequate bench space, and dual-screen computer setups. Procedure rooms need additional space for trolleys, lighting, and sterilisation access. Allied health rooms may need floor space for exercise equipment or treatment plinths
• Treatment and procedure rooms: Practices offering skin procedures, minor surgery, or wound management need purpose-built treatment rooms meeting infection control standards, including appropriate ventilation, surfaces, and sterilisation workflows
• Infection control compliance: Hand hygiene stations at point of care, appropriate surface finishes, clinical waste management, and airborne infection isolation capacity where required
• Staff amenities: Adequate break rooms, secure storage, and staff bathroom facilities are accreditation requirements and directly affect workforce retention
• Accessibility: Compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and relevant building codes, including wheelchair access, accessible bathrooms, hearing loop systems, and wayfinding signage
• IT infrastructure: Structured cabling for network and telephony, sufficient power outlets and data points in every clinical and administrative space, server room or rack space with appropriate cooling, and Wi-Fi coverage across the entire facility

Technology Stack Recommendations

Choosing the right technology platform is one of the most consequential decisions in clinic establishment. Our technology consulting covers:

• Practice management software: We assess options including Best Practice, Medical Director, Cliniko, Nookal, Genie Solutions, and Zedmed against your clinical model, workforce structure, billing requirements, and integration needs. Key evaluation criteria include Medicare online claiming, My Health Record integration, telehealth capability, appointment booking, SMS reminders, and reporting functionality
• Clinical software integration: Ensuring seamless integration between your practice management system and pathology, radiology, hospital discharge summaries, and specialist correspondence
• Online booking and patient engagement: Patient-facing platforms including HotDoc, HealthEngine, and integrated patient portals for appointment booking, repeat prescription requests, and results notification
• Telehealth infrastructure: Video consultation platforms, patient consent workflows, billing configuration for MBS telehealth items, and hardware requirements including cameras, microphones, and lighting
• Digital health compliance: My Health Record connectivity, electronic prescribing (ePrescribing), secure messaging, and compliance with the Australian Digital Health Agency requirements
• Cyber security: Essential Eight compliance, data backup and disaster recovery, access controls, and staff training on information security obligations

Patient Flow Design

Optimising patient flow is central to both patient experience and practice profitability. Our patient flow consulting addresses:

• Arrival and check-in: Self-service kiosk options, reception workflow design, and queue management for high-volume practices
• Appointment template design: Structuring appointment books to balance consultation types, manage walk-ins, accommodate urgent presentations, and protect clinician time for complex care
• Clinical workflow sequencing: Designing the physical and process flow from waiting room to consulting room to treatment room to checkout, minimising patient wait times and clinician idle time
• Multi-provider coordination: In multidisciplinary clinics, ensuring patients can move between GP, nursing, allied health, and pathology services within a single visit where clinically appropriate
• Discharge and follow-up: Streamlining the checkout process including billing, follow-up appointment booking, referral generation, and prescription handling

Staffing Models

Workforce structure is a critical determinant of clinic viability. We help practices design staffing models that match their clinical and commercial objectives:

• GP engagement models: Comparison of service agreement, percentage-of-billings, and salaried models, including implications for Medicare compliance, practice viability, and clinician retention
• Nursing workforce: Determining the right mix of registered nurses and enrolled nurses based on clinical services offered, chronic disease management programs, immunisation volumes, and triage requirements
• Reception and administration: Staffing ratios based on patient volumes, peak-hour modelling, and the balance between front-desk and back-office functions
• Practice management: Defining the practice manager role, reporting lines, and the operational scope required for practices of different sizes
• Allied health integration: Workforce planning for co-located allied health practitioners, including engagement models, room allocation, and shared services arrangements

Operational Redesign

For existing practices seeking transformation:

• End-to-end workflow mapping and bottleneck identification
• Patient flow analysis and appointment template redesign
• Rostering models for GP, nursing, and administrative staff
• Reception and front-of-house process re-engineering
• Referral pathway and triage protocol development
• Benchmarking against comparable practices on key operational metrics

Multidisciplinary Clinic Design

• Co-location model development for allied health integration
• Shared-care workflow and communication protocols between GPs and allied health practitioners
• Room utilisation planning for multi-provider environments, maximising use across the full operating week
• Team-based care frameworks aligned with MBS incentives including Chronic Disease Management items and Health Assessments

Our Approach

1. Discovery and Scoping: We assess your clinical vision, patient population, and commercial goals to define a clear project brief

2. Design and Planning: Our consultants develop detailed operational blueprints covering workflows, staffing, technology, fitout, and accreditation requirements

3. Implementation: We work alongside your team during buildout and go-live, ensuring systems are embedded and staff are trained before the first patient walks through the door

4. Stabilisation and Review: Post-launch monitoring over the first 8-12 weeks identifies early friction points and allows rapid refinement before patterns become entrenched

Expected Outcomes

• Faster time to revenue: Structured project management reduces delays in clinic opening by an average of six to eight weeks
• Optimised patient throughput: Workflow design delivers 20-30% improvement in daily patient capacity compared to unplanned operations
• Lower fitout costs: Informed planning avoids costly redesign and rework, typically saving 10-15% on fitout budgets
• Accreditation-ready operations: Clinics are designed to meet RACGP 5th edition standards from opening day, avoiding the cost and disruption of retrospective compliance work
• Technology confidence: Practices launch with a fully configured, integrated technology stack rather than spending months troubleshooting system issues

Who This Is For

• GPs establishing a new practice or relocating an existing one
• Corporate health groups expanding into new locations
• Existing practices undergoing major operational transformation
• Multidisciplinary clinics seeking to improve efficiency and allied health integration
• After-hours and urgent care services requiring purpose-built operational design

Get Started

Whether you are planning a new clinic or redesigning an existing operation, our consultants bring healthcare-specific expertise across fitout, technology, workflow, and workforce planning. Contact us to discuss your project scope and timeline.