What Exam Chair Is Right For Your Facility?

Apr 30th 2024

If you are in the business of serving medical patients or spa clients (or a hybrid of the two), your reputation is staked on customer satisfaction. And satisfied customers are the ones who always feel comfortable in your office. This begins from the moment they cross the threshold.

Every part of your space—from the check-in and waiting areas to the changing rooms to the treatment and exam rooms—should be outfitted to demonstrate your unwavering commitment to patient satisfaction.

Whether you use exam chairs and tables for chemical peels and facials, for teeth brightening, for physical therapy and massage, or any other reason, they should be comfortable, durable, and safe.

Meeting those requirements can also be done in an attractive way, with today's exam chairs and tables available in sleek and sophisticated designs. Read on for some useful tips to guide you through the process of choosing the right exam chairs for your facility.

Getting Started: The Exam Chair Checklist

If you are starting from scratch to build out your medical or spa facility, exam chairs will play a crucial role in not only your budget but also your design. The services you offer will dictate not only the size and type of chair you need but also how big your exam room needs to be in order to accommodate movement around the chairs and clients.

If you are replacing or upgrading existing medical exam chairs, you will be confined to the space you already have, making that an important consideration. Consider these factors as you begin to shop for exam chairs:

Your budget
The measurements of your spaces and exam/treatment rooms
Any sizing requirements specific to the type of clients you serve
Desired upgrades and features (such as power adjustments)
Overall comfort and design

Budgeting and Measuring for Exam Chairs

Exam chairs are no area to skimp when it comes to your facility. They are one of your most important tools and an investment in your long-term reputation and success.

Exam chairs are also not cheap: depending on the type/style of chair you need, you can generally expect to spend an average of $2,000 per chair. One consideration for limited budgets is whether you can get by with fewer chairs.

For example, can you eliminate one chair from your initial plan and have more money to spend on higher-quality exam chairs? You might also consider ordering the chairs as you can afford them if you have more exam rooms in your space than you may be using when you first open the business.

As you consider the measurements of the room and the chair, don't forget to factor in how you will be moving around patients for various procedures. Just because the exam chair or table fits in the room does not mean you will have enough room for the type of treatments and procedures you offer. One helpful method is to tape out the dimensions on the floor so you can visualize yourself working around the exam chair in the space.

Exam Chairs Personalized for Your Clients

Medical exam chairs and tables are generally designed to fit a variety of clients, but you may have some specific needs to consider. For example, exam chairs generally come with a weight limit so you will want to be sure it's appropriate for your clientele.

Additionally, if you serve younger patients you may want to look at specifically designed pediatric exam chairs and tables better suited to smaller bodies. Not only are the chairs safer for younger patients, but they can also help anxious pediatric patients who may feel overwhelmed by full-size exam chairs.

Chairs that fold out into a table position are also important for some facilities, so you will need to consider whether yours can do both.

Features: The Extra Bells and Whistles

Many spa and medical exam chairs come with features galore, from power adjustments to removable armrests to optional facial cutouts. Exam chairs with power adjustments are especially helpful for providers, eliminating their own risk of injury or strain.

Chiropractors and physical therapists have physically demanding jobs, and the more they can rely on the automatic adjustments available in exam chairs, the less they have to use their own strength and force—instead of reserving that energy for patient care.

While many of the features on exam chairs today are incredibly useful, you should also make sure you are not spending extra money on things you do not need. Use the manufacturer's features list as a checklist, marking off those features you will use and those that probably are not necessary for your practice. Make sure you have more checks on that list than X marks.

Finding the Best in Comfort and Design

Finally, give some exam chairs a test drive for comfort and, whenever possible, read the customer reviews. Find out how satisfied other facilities are with the chairs before you purchase. The last thing you want is a patient sitting through a long procedure in an uncomfortable (or unsafe!) chair.

Make sure the medical exam chairs you purchase for your facility have an ergonomic design, durable and soft-to-the-touch fabrics, and are appealing to the eye. In many cases, exam chairs will have a few different fabric choices, so you can choose what works best in the color scheme of your facility.

At Spa Source we take pride in our reputation for providing only the best equipment to spas and medical facilities, including everything from medical exam chairs to towel warmers. Whether you are looking for chiropractic tables or microdermabrasion tools, we have you covered and have an expert team standing by to assist with your facility's needs.