A Hub for Collaboration

Repertoire: How should visitors prepare for their visit? For example, how much research would you prefer they complete prior to the visit?

Vierra: Our sales professionals are highly engaged with the client to best prepare for their visit in three ways.

1. First, our sales teammates conduct pre-trip presentations and trip-planning discussions with the client to tailor the experience to their specific goals.

2. Second, clients find it beneficial to share project floorplans and project lists in advance so that our designers can best prepare for the live design session during their visit.

3. Most important, our sales teammates visit one or more existing clinics to conduct a “gemba walk,” which is a Japanese lean principle describing the act of observing where work is being done. During a gemba walk, we capture firsthand knowledge of the client’s current clinic layouts, equipment and workflows as well as feedback from frontline staff to uncover gaps and opportunities. When clients are engaged in this type of preparation, they ensure they get the maximum value out of their Midmark Experience.

Repertoire: What should visitors expect during their visit?

Forsthoefel: Several things, including: ʯ Insights into clinical workflow, equipment, technology and design that set a solid foundation for the Quintuple Aim of healthcare – to improve patient outcomes and the patient/provider experience while reducing cost/ waste and advancing health equity. ʯ Voice-of-customer exercises to capture a current-state gap analysis and the desired future state of the clinic. ʯ Clinical solutions that enable care delivery and the seamless transfer of patient data to the EMR as healthcare shifts from a fee-for-service to value-based care model. ʯ Cabinetry and exam room design consultation to optimize workflow and the patient/caregiver interaction. ʯ Key considerations for infection prevention in the exam room as well as the five-step instrument processing workflow. ʯ Hands-on experience with our products, colors, finishes and upholstery selections. ʯ A factory tour to see how quality and innovation are built into our products.

Repertoire: After their visit, what work lies ahead for the visitor as well as Midmark in terms of building/ renovating/expanding their clinic?

Williams: We create an Executive Summary document that ties together our pre-trip work, our live design consultation, ideas and concepts from our exam room vignettes and additional ideas that resulted from the trip. We then work with our channel partners to present our overall delivered and installed pricing packages, secure purchase orders for the project, and become part of their journey for equipment setup and product installation as well as clinical education for the medical staff and IT department.

A year after the project is complete, we perform a Post Occupancy Evaluation at no charge, which allows us to help customers continuously improve their designs and workflow. We visit new clinics and interview key customer stakeholders to find out what design and workflow improvements they prefer, what they would change, etc. We compile data from this site visit and consult with their leadership team so we can make adjustments, changes, etc. for their next project together.

Repertoire: Since the Experience Center opened for customer visits in 2021, what changes have you made to improve your customers’ (and Midmark’s) experience?

Ian Rodenberger: We have added a flexible learning lab area, which allows us to recreate the customer’s current clinical workflow. This space is a starting point to fully understand the “why” behind their current room design, document important checkpoints throughout the patient’s visit, and uncover any potential risks to patients or staff. To drive consensus around the customer’s new way forward, we come back to the learning lab at the end of the trip to compare their existing room layout with their vision for future workflows and designs.