[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":123},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-clinic-pharmacy-layout-patient-flow-en-US":3},{"guide":4,"related":106},{"title":5,"seoTitle":6,"description":7,"summary":8,"sections":9,"faq":72,"cta":79,"date":81,"updated":81,"service":82,"order":83,"sources":84,"slug":104,"locale":105},"Planning patient flow in a clinic or pharmacy","Medical Office Layout & NY Pharmacy Size Requirements","Clinic and pharmacy layout in NYC and Long Island: front desk to MA to provider flow, exam room pods, accessible exam rooms and NYSED pharmacy space rules.","A clinic layout works when patients move in one direction, from check-in to a visible waiting area, past a medical assistant station into a pod of identical exam rooms around the provider's workspace, and out through check-out. Accessibility in an outpatient office comes from the general ADA Standards and federal guidance on accessible exam rooms, not from the hospital sections of the code. A New York pharmacy needs at least 300 square feet of contiguous registered space, with at least 100 square feet for compounding and dispensing, before the State Education Department will register it.",[10,19,24,37,67],{"heading":11,"paragraphs":12,"list":14},"Front desk to medical assistant to provider",[13],"We plan clinic layouts with our interior design partners around the sequence a visit follows. One entrance leads to check-in, where staff can see the waiting room. The medical assistant station sits between the waiting room and the exam rooms, with a vitals alcove or small triage room and a scale in a private spot rather than the corridor. The provider's workroom sits at the center of the exam pod, so the provider moves between rooms without crossing the waiting area. Where volume allows, check-out is separate from check-in, so departing patients do not queue behind arrivals.",[15,16,17,18],"A staff-only back corridor, where the floor plate allows, keeps supplies, specimens and staff traffic out of patient circulation.","Clean supply and soiled utility are separate rooms, placed at opposite ends of the clinical work path.","The lab draw station sits near a patient toilet room, ideally with a specimen pass-through.","Check-in windows are spaced or partitioned, and no screen showing patient information faces the waiting room.",{"heading":20,"paragraphs":21},"Exam room pods",[22,23],"A common planning ratio is two to three exam rooms per provider working at one time. It is a rule of thumb, not a code requirement, and it only works if medical assistant staffing keeps the rooms turned over. If the lease allows, building one more exam room than today's schedule requires costs less now than opening finished walls later.","Identical, same-handed exam rooms put the sink, supplies and table in the same place in every room, so staff never search for them. Inside each room the hand sink sits near the door, the table is oriented so a door opening does not expose the patient, a curtain adds a second screen, and the provider's computer faces the patient rather than the wall.",{"heading":25,"paragraphs":26,"list":29,"after":35},"Accessible exam rooms in an outpatient office",[27,28],"The medical care sections of the [2010 ADA Standards](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.access-board.gov\u002Fada\u002F) (223 and 805) address patient sleeping rooms in facilities where stays exceed 24 hours. They do not set the number of accessible exam rooms in an outpatient office. For an outpatient practice, the general Standards govern the entrance, the route, toilet rooms and the reception counter, and the [Department of Justice guidance on medical care](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ada.gov\u002Fresources\u002Fmedical-care-mobility\u002F) for people with mobility disabilities describes what an accessible exam room needs. The guidance does not fix a count; a small practice may meet the need with one accessible room.","Separately, HHS's 2024 Section 504 rule requires recipients of HHS federal financial assistance that use exam tables and weight scales to have at least one accessible table and one accessible scale, with a compliance date of July 8, 2026. Under the same rule, newly acquired diagnostic equipment must meet the accessible equipment standards until at least 10 percent of each type in use, and no fewer than one unit, does. The practice's counsel can confirm whether the rule applies.",[30,31,32,33,34],"Clear floor space of at least 30 by 48 inches beside the exam table, preferably on both sides.","A turning space of 60 inches in diameter, or a 60 by 60 inch T-shaped space.","Doors with at least 32 inches of clear width when open to 90 degrees.","Room for a height-adjustable table that lowers to about 17 to 19 inches, and for a patient lift.","A level approach and clear space at the accessible scale.",[36],"The NYC Building Code and the New York State Uniform Code add their own accessibility chapters. The architect of record determines compliance, and accessibility remains the practice's legal obligation. Our part is to build the clearances as drawn and keep them clear: casework, stools and carts added after inspection are the usual reason an accessible room stops working.",{"heading":38,"paragraphs":39,"table":41,"after":65},"New York pharmacy space rules",[40],"A pharmacy in New York must be [registered with the State Education Department](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.op.nysed.gov\u002Fprofessions\u002Fpharmacy-establishments\u002Finformation\u002Finformation-and-instructions) under Education Law 6808 before it operates. A new pharmacy files the PH-200 and PH-210 forms with a floor plan drawn to scale (not blueprints), and an investigator from the Office of Professional Discipline inspects the premises before registration. [A pharmacy moving to a new address](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.op.nysed.gov\u002Fprofessions\u002Fpharmacy-establishments\u002Finformation\u002Fregistration-application-requirements\u002Fchange-of-location) files an endorsement application, a new floor plan, the lease or deed, the Certificate of Occupancy and photographs, and the new location is inspected.",{"caption":42,"head":43,"rows":46},"Space requirements that shape a New York pharmacy layout (8 NYCRR 63.6 and NYSED instructions)",[44,45],"Requirement","What the layout must provide",[47,50,53,56,59,62],[48,49],"Registered area","Not less than 300 square feet of contiguous space",[51,52],"Compounding and dispensing area","At least 100 square feet within the registered area, with hot and cold running water",[54,55],"Refrigerator","Used only for drugs, with a thermometer, holding 2 to 8 °C (36 to 46 °F)",[57,58],"Storage, heating and ventilation","Safe drug storage, and heating and ventilation adequate to safeguard the purity and potency of drugs",[60,61],"Pharmacy inside a general merchandise store","Enclosed by a permanent partition at least 9 feet 6 inches high, with gates photographed open and closed",[63,64],"Floor plan","Shows the registered and dispensing areas, dispensing counter, stock storage, entrances, sink, refrigerator and bathroom facilities",[66],"A plan that splits the registered area across rooms that do not connect fails the contiguity rule, and it is the first thing we check on a pharmacy floor plan. The working layout also needs a secure prescription department, a counseling area where patients can speak privately, will-call storage, controlled-substance storage arranged with the pharmacist-in-charge, and power and space for [any vaccine refrigerators](\u002Fguides\u002Fclinic-backup-power-vaccine-network).",{"heading":68,"paragraphs":69},"Compounding rooms",[70,71],"The compounding scope sets the room. Under USP chapter 797, Category 2 and 3 sterile preparations need an ISO-classified buffer room and ante-room with [HEPA-filtered supply air and controlled pressure](\u002Fguides\u002Fclinic-ventilation-filtration-nyc), while Category 1 preparations, with short beyond-use dates, may be made in a hood inside an unclassified segregated compounding area. Under chapter 800, hazardous drugs are compounded in negative-pressure rooms exhausted to the outdoors, either a classified buffer room or, for low volumes, a containment segregated compounding area with at least 12 air changes per hour. Nonsterile compounding under chapter 795 needs no classified room. Classified and negative-pressure rooms rarely fit under a standard office ceiling with landlord ductwork, because the hood exhaust, HEPA supply and pressure monitoring drive the ceiling height, power and roof access. The pharmacist-in-charge and a cleanroom certifier define the requirements, the engineer designs the room, and the room is certified after construction.","Our licensed partner contractors perform the electrical, plumbing, HVAC and low-voltage work on [the pharmacies and clinics we build](\u002Fservices\u002Fhealthcare), coordinated with the cleanroom certifier's requirements where the project includes compounding.",[73,76],{"q":74,"a":75},"How many exam rooms does each provider need?","Two to three exam rooms per provider on duty is a common planning ratio, not a regulation. The right number depends on visit length, medical assistant staffing and the specialty. Procedure-heavy practices often need fewer, larger rooms.",{"q":77,"a":78},"What is the minimum size of a pharmacy in New York?","The registered area must be at least 300 square feet of contiguous space, and at least 100 square feet of it must be the compounding and dispensing area, under [8 NYCRR 63.6](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.law.cornell.edu\u002Fregulations\u002Fnew-york\u002F8-NYCRR-63.6). The State Education Department inspects the premises before registering the pharmacy.",{"text":80},"Send the floor plan or lease exhibit, the number of providers and your specialty, or for a pharmacy, the planned dispensing and compounding scope. You receive, at no charge, a room-by-room scope for the services planned, a budget range, and a list of the approvals and design professionals the project is likely to need, for your architect to confirm.","2026-10-25","healthcare",125,[85,89,93,97,101],{"title":86,"url":87,"publisher":88},"Access to Medical Care for Individuals with Mobility Disabilities","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ada.gov\u002Fresources\u002Fmedical-care-mobility\u002F","U.S. Department of Justice, ADA.gov",{"title":90,"url":91,"publisher":92},"ADA Accessibility Standards","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.access-board.gov\u002Fada\u002F","U.S. Access Board",{"title":94,"url":95,"publisher":96},"NYS Pharmacy: Pharmacy Establishments: Registration Application Requirements & Forms: Information and Instructions","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.op.nysed.gov\u002Fprofessions\u002Fpharmacy-establishments\u002Finformation\u002Finformation-and-instructions","NYS Education Department, Office of the Professions",{"title":98,"url":99,"publisher":100},"N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 8 § 63.6 - Registration and operation of New York establishments","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.law.cornell.edu\u002Fregulations\u002Fnew-york\u002F8-NYCRR-63.6","Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute",{"title":102,"url":103,"publisher":96},"Change of Location","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.op.nysed.gov\u002Fprofessions\u002Fpharmacy-establishments\u002Finformation\u002Fregistration-application-requirements\u002Fchange-of-location","clinic-pharmacy-layout-patient-flow","en-US",[107,111,115,119],{"slug":108,"title":109,"description":110,"service":82,"date":81,"updated":81},"clinic-lease-checklist-nyc-long-island","Before you sign a clinic lease in NYC or Long Island","What to settle before leasing clinic space in NYC or Long Island: occupancy, Article 28, the certificate of occupancy and what the building can supply.",{"slug":112,"title":113,"description":114,"service":82,"date":81,"updated":81},"hipaa-physical-safeguards-clinic-design","Designing a clinic around HIPAA physical safeguards","How door hardware, cameras, workstation placement, a secure network closet and separated networks in a NYC clinic support the HIPAA Security Rule.",{"slug":116,"title":117,"description":118,"service":82,"date":81,"updated":81},"clinic-backup-power-vaccine-network","Keeping a clinic open through a power or network outage","Vaccine refrigerator outlets, UPS and generator options, a critical-load panel, internet failover and HVAC redundancy for NYC and Long Island clinics.",{"slug":120,"title":121,"description":122,"service":82,"date":81,"updated":81},"clinic-ventilation-filtration-nyc","Clinic ventilation and filtration in NYC and Long Island","What NYC and Long Island codes require for clinic ventilation, where ASHRAE 170 applies, MERV 13 vs HEPA, waiting-room pressure and filter access.",1792938766900]