Practice Management

THE INTERNET HAS changed the way people shop. Today, consumers go online to purchase everything from clothes to cars and even movie tickets. If your practice retails skincare products, adding online ordering to your website can expand your audience, build sales, and improve the patient experience by providing a convenient way to browse and purchase products. The key is to determine what you hope to accomplish with your e-commerce site and incorporate the right features to help you reach those goals.

PLASTIC SURGEON Paul Vanek, MD, FACS, was drawn to the field of medicine at a young age. When he was 8 years old his father suffered a traumatic brain injury, which gave Dr. Vanek a unique perspective on the care that physicians provide. “The doctors who took care of my father and comforted my mother really had that ability to make people feel better, even though it was a very out of control situation,” he recalls. “It was that experience that led me into medicine.”

As the physician-owner of an aesthetics practice, no matter how effective your practice manager or administrator may be, your employees will look to you as the leader of the business. Your behavior and attitude can bring out the best—or the worst—in your staff. Therefore it is vitally important that practice owners embrace their roles as practice leaders and take time to consider the culture they wish to create for their teams and patients.

Building and maintaining a successful aesthetic practice requires more than a steady stream of patients. If your services are not priced correctly, no amount of volume will help improve revenue shortfalls. When setting the price for a medical procedure, there are several factors to consider, including your costs to offer the treatment, your desired income and your local competitors.

Aesthetics is one of the fastest growing fields in medicine, fueled by the introduction of more affordable nonsurgical cosmetic procedures, such as botulinum toxins, dermal fillers and laser treatments. These noninvasive and minimally invasive procedures are often performed by—or delegated to—allied health professionals and, in some cases, estheticians.

As a teenager, Edward Glassberg, MD, struggled with severe acne and was treated by a dermatologist for several years. The experience led him to consider a career in medicine. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelors of Science degree, he was accepted into the University of Southern California (USC) School of Medicine.

As any good gardener knows, in order to have a healthy tree that bears plentiful, quality fruit, the tree must be regularly pruned. This holds true for businesses as well. In order to maintain a healthy bottom line, practice owners must be willing to cut away the deadwood in their facilities—those products and services that simply don’t carry their weight. Offerings that are not selling and those that contribute a below average return on investment (ROI) can damage cash flow—and your business overall.

Retail skincare products offer several benefits to aesthetic patients and practices. They help patients protect the health of their skin and maintain the results of in-office treatments, while providing an additional source of ongoing revenue for the practice. The challenge is that with so many online and brick-and-mortar retailers offering high-end skin care, patients naturally shop for the best deals on their favorite brands.

Are you struggling with the challenges of employee management? Wondering how to track and improve the patient experience? Perhaps you are eyeing retirement and looking for ways to maximize the value of your practice. If so, a new organization called the Dermatology Business Accelerator (DBA) may be of help.

What happens when a couple in love goes into business together? For dermatologist Susan Stuart, MD, and her husband, plastic surgeon Richard Chaffoo, MD, the answer is happy patients and private practice success.