The pediatric optometry suite is a new, “future-directed” model of child- and family-centered clinical eye care. It improves the patient experience by making care more accessible, efficient and private, with the provider’s first “onstage/offstage” spatial planning concept and new modes of communication before, during and after visits. It also increases collaboration between clinicians and optometry students to improve the quality of both education and patient care.

With the onstage/offstage planning, patients approach exam rooms from one side and clinicians from the other, reducing the confusion and anxiety that potentially result from overlapping flows.

The waiting area is a multi-functional space that doubles as an optometry store, in addition to a play/entertainment area for children and a mobile check-in and survey zone enabled by wifi and tablets.

According to the client, “The overall experience and feedback we’ve received has been extremely positive, not just for patients and family members, but also any visitors to the college who come and see that clinic.”

The staggered floor plan creates secondary waiting areas, or “porches,” outside each room that ease congestion in the main waiting area. The planning and design were inspired by optics: the staggered floor plan suggests the faceting of optical prisms, and the brightly colored exam rooms evoke the spectrum of visible light.

Formerly, the doctor’s offices were located away from the examination rooms and could be “invisible” to students, which limited interaction. But now, because clinicians and students share the same workspace, they are able to collaborate more easily in providing patient care. Anecdotally, staff are quite satisfied with the space, even among those who were skeptical of the innovative design.

To put children at ease, the space is bright, cheerful and transparent — families are directed to exam rooms by color, not by number — with privacy available at a flick of the switch-activated privacy glass.

The primary waiting area doubles as an optical and fitting shop, softened by color-changing LEDs and a wall that curves like an optical lens.

Additional design inspiration related to optics and prisms can be seen in the lobby feature wall that curves like convex and concave lenses, and in the color-changing LED lighting fills the waiting room with color.