In short: DocHelp sets up new medical clinics in Melbourne and across Australia — layout, fitout, software, staffing, pathology, supplies and accreditation — for doctors and investors opening a practice.
From an empty shell to your first patient through the door — we’ve built and sold two medical centres ourselves. We know every spec, every supplier, every cost-saving trick, and we’ll get yours running properly the first time.
Layout · Fitout · Systems · Staffing · Pathology · Supplies
Setting up a medical clinic is a build, a business and a compliance exercise at the same time, and most owners have only done one of the three before. Floor plans get drawn by builders who have never worked in a clinic. Software gets set up by salespeople who don’t understand workflow. Pathology and supplies get bought at list price because nobody knew to negotiate.
The cost shows up later — in failed assessments, frustrated staff, awkward patient flow, and money spent fixing what should have been right from day one. This page is the sequence we follow, what it costs, what the law and the Standards require, and how long it takes. We approach it as operators: we have built and sold two centres ourselves, both accredited first attempt, both profitable on exit.
Fourteen steps. Several run in parallel — provider numbers, software and staffing all happen while the fitout is underway — but skipping or reordering them is how clinics open late or open non-compliant.
Owners ask for one number. There isn’t one — a two-room suite in existing medical premises and an eight-room greenfield build are different businesses. These are the lines every build has, and what drives each.
Usually the largest line. Driven by the number of rooms, whether the space is an empty shell or existing medical premises, treatment-room and pathology plumbing, accessibility works and fire compliance. A plan drawn to the Standards before the builder quotes is the single biggest saver.
Examination couches, clinical hand basins, sterilisation if you reprocess, vaccine fridge with monitoring, emergency equipment, doctors’ bags, treatment-room equipment and furniture. Bought through partner pricing rather than list.
Server or cloud, network, workstations, clinical software licences, secure messaging, online booking, payments terminals, phones and internet. Set up once, properly.
Practice manager, reception and nurse are usually employed weeks before the first patient for training and setup. Doctor recruitment costs, including visa and registration for overseas-trained doctors, sit here too.
Policies, infection control, training, registers, agency registration and assessment fees. Cheapest when built in from day one; most expensive when retrofitted in the month before a survey.
Signage, website, Google Business Profile, online booking, launch material. Modest if done early; expensive if the book is empty for three months.
The gap between opening and Medicare and patient billings flowing, plus the first months of rent, wages and supplies. The line most often underestimated, and the one that decides whether a clinic survives its first year.
General requirements; the detail varies by state and by the services you offer. Confirm specifics with your lawyer, accountant and the relevant regulator.
A registered entity and ABN, a lease or title, council planning permission for medical use where required, a building permit for the fitout, accessibility and fire compliance, and insurances — public liability, workers compensation and property.
Every doctor Ahpra-registered with medical indemnity, a Medicare provider number for the new location, PRODA and HPOS access, Medicare online claiming, and — for overseas-trained doctors outside Distribution Priority Areas — a Section 19AB exemption before they can bill.
A privacy policy and practices that meet the Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles, secure clinical records, work health and safety systems, infection prevention and control, clinical and sharps waste through a licensed contractor, and vaccine storage to the National Vaccine Storage Guidelines if you immunise.
Storage and recording of Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 medicines to your state’s medicines and poisons regulations, emergency equipment and drugs, and clinical governance arrangements for credentialing, incidents and quality improvement.
Voluntary, but required for the Practice Incentives Program and other funding, and expected by doctors and patients. Assessment is against the RACGP Standards for general practices by an agency such as AGPAL or QPA. We build new clinics to the Standards from the start.
Additional registrations apply if you offer radiology, pathology collection, cosmetic or day-procedure services, or aged care work. Each has its own regulator and standards.
Every build is different — but the underlying stages are the same, and four to eight months from a signed lease is the realistic range.
Lease review, floor plan against the Standards, equipment list, software selection, staffing model, revenue projections, target patient demographics.
Oversight of the fitout — rooms meeting RACGP layout, infection control and clinical workflow needs; pathology room; server and network; security and fire.
Software install and configuration, pathology and radiology integration, supplies account, hiring and training reception and nurses, doctor recruitment.
Soft launch with the team, document as you go, register for accreditation, pass the assessment, settle into normal operations.
A single new practice has no leverage. Our clients get ours.
Collection centre setup, agreements, and full electronic ordering, results and secure messaging integration into your clinical software.
Account setup, initial equipment and stock list, negotiated pricing and a reorder process — so consumables don’t quietly eat the margin.
Clinical software built properly from the start — templates, billing, recalls, reminders — with Cubiko dashboards so you can see how the practice is performing from week one.
Online bookings, claiming and payments, and Medicare access configured and tested before your first patient, not after.
A centre set up correctly — with proper documentation, trained staff and a clean accreditation history — runs cheaper and sells for a premium. We know, because we’ve sold two.
Smart layout means fewer staff for the same patient flow. Right software config means hours saved daily. Negotiated pathology and supplies mean better margins.
Patients feel the difference between a chaotic practice and a smoothly run one — even if they can’t say why. Good operations mean better reviews and more patients.
Doctors choose practices that don’t waste their time. A well-run centre with proper systems is far more attractive when you’re bringing on associates.
Buyers pay premiums for clean books, documented systems, trained staff and an unblemished accreditation history. We’ve banked those returns ourselves.
Plenty of doctors and investors want to start a medical practice; far fewer are told what the first year actually involves. This is the short version — the sequence that works, and the traps.
The build starts on paper, not on site. Entity, ABN and registrations agreed with your accountant before anything is signed. Then premises — with planning permission for medical use confirmed before the lease, not after. Then a floor plan drawn to the RACGP Standards before a builder quotes, because moving a wall on a drawing costs nothing and moving it after fitout does. We draft those plans in-house.
From there the workstreams run in parallel: the fitout proceeds while Medicare provider numbers, PRODA access and the practice’s HPI-O are applied for; clinical software is built and tested while reception and nursing staff are recruited and trained; and the accreditation pathway is set up from day one rather than retrofitted before a survey. Get the order right and nothing waits on anything else.
The mistakes first-time owners make are remarkably consistent: a lease signed before medical use is confirmed; a layout that fails the Standards and has to be reworked; software configured by a salesperson rather than someone who has run a practice; doctor recruitment left until the month before opening; working capital that runs out before Medicare billings flow. Every one is avoidable — and every one is expensive to fix.
Whether you want to open a general practice, a specialist suite or a multi-doctor centre, the checklist above is the playbook we run. It was written by people who chose to open a medical practice in Australia themselves — twice — and it is the same sequence whether we build yours or you do.
It depends on the size of the clinic, whether you are fitting out an empty shell or taking over existing medical premises, and how many doctors you open with. The large items are the fitout and building works, equipment, IT and clinical software, staffing before the practice is earning, compliance and accreditation, marketing, and enough working capital to cover the gap before Medicare and patient billings flow. We give owners a costed range for their specific site after the free consultation rather than a headline number, because a two-room suite and an eight-room greenfield build are different businesses.
From a signed lease to first patient is typically four to eight months, driven by fitout scope, council and building approvals, and doctor recruitment. Provider numbers, software, staffing and accreditation registration run in parallel with the build so nothing waits on anything else.
You can open and bill Medicare without accreditation. Accreditation against the RACGP Standards is voluntary, but it is required to access the Practice Incentives Program and other funding, it is expected by many doctors and patients, and it is far cheaper to build in from day one than to retrofit. We set new clinics up accreditation-ready and register them for assessment as part of the launch.
Yes. Many medical centres are owned by non-clinicians or by companies, and the doctors work as contractors or employees. What the owner cannot do is influence clinical decisions, and Medicare, privacy and state medicines rules apply regardless of who owns the business. Set the structure up with your accountant and lawyer first; we build the operations around it.
A business entity and ABN; premises with the right planning permission and a compliant fitout; Ahpra-registered practitioners with Medicare provider numbers for the location; PRODA and Medicare online claiming; privacy, WH&S, infection control and medicines storage that meet the relevant Commonwealth and state requirements; insurances; and, if you want incentive funding, accreditation against the RACGP Standards. The full list is in the requirements section above.
The sequence we run: entity and ABN, site and lease, planning and building approvals, floor plan to the Standards, fitout and fire safety, IT, clinical software and secure messaging, Medicare and provider numbers, payments and claiming, pathology and radiology, supplies, staffing and training, policies and compliance documentation, marketing and online booking, soft launch, then accreditation. Each item is expanded in the checklist section on this page.
Yes. We arrange the collection room or co-located centre, negotiate the agreement, and set up ordering, results and secure messaging in Best Practice or Medical Director. We work with 4Cyte Pathology and Melbourne Pathology.
Two, from the ground up: Lorne Street Medical Practice (co-founded 2015, sold 2023) and Doy Street Medical Centre (built 2017, sold 2021). Both were accredited first attempt. We bring that same playbook — and the supplier relationships that came with it — to your build.
There is no honest single figure. The cost is driven by the size of the practice, the state of the premises, the fitout scope and the equipment list — a two-room suite in existing medical rooms and a greenfield multi-doctor build are different projects with different budgets. What matters is knowing your own numbers before you sign a lease: fitout, equipment, IT and software, staffing before revenue, compliance and working capital. We scope every line for your specific project in the setup budget conversation. Book the free audit and we will start there.
It depends on a chain of dependencies: securing premises and any planning permission comes first, the fitout usually sets the pace after that, registrations — provider numbers, PRODA, software, claiming — run in parallel if they are started early, and accreditation assessment follows once you are operating. We will not promise a date before we have seen the project, but we will map the sequence for yours and show you what actually drives the timeline. Book a conversation and we will walk you through it.