How AI is Revolutionizing Success for Medical Spas

Doctors and clinics must adapt to new AI tools for automation, care pathways, and patient engagement to adapt to the new A.I. world - or lose…

In the past few years, the world has seen a massive shift in healthcare. The rise of artificial intelligence and technology has created an opportunity for clinics and doctors to improve patient outcomes and generate recurring revenue through automated care pathways. The need to adapt to these changes is high, with patients already using these technologies and waiting for doctors to catch up. Clinics and doctors who fail to adapt risk becoming irrelevant and losing patients to those who do.

Note: All of the stats and sources used are in the reference section at the bottom of the post.

The world has already shifted to AI.

The statistics speak for themselves. Since 2020, there has been a 63x increase in telemedicine and it’s probably that you’ve already got some kind of video telehealth solution in place, but guess what? It’s already out of date.

71% of all in-person clinical visits can now be done remotely and 89% of all patient interactions are redundant and could be automated. (In fact, the global market for AI in healthcare is expected to grow at a CAGR of 44.9% through 2027, indicating the widespread adoption of these tools.)

Think about what that actually means. Most of what you’re doing in-clinic is essentially redundant and just wasting time and productivity.

Yeah, so the bad news is that you’re already losing money and falling behind.

Worse for you, the top 3 things that patient wants - especially in retail medicine - are 1) more time with caregivers that listen, 2) a feeling that their provider cares personally about their outcome, and 3) more information about their condition, treatment, care, and options. However, your current system of manually reviewing treatment options, recovery, and care prevents you from filling those needs in any type of scalable way. You’re forced by market economics to ration your time, and curtail patient access.

The result is systems that are expensive, highly variable, and slow. In the past the fix has been to hire more people and spend more time at the clinic, but that’s no longer effective.

Here’s some numbers that should keep you up at night 62% of patients admit they don’t understand their doctor's advice and the information discussed during a visit. Less than 30% of primary care clinics are financially healthy. 57% of doctors work 70+ hours a week, but 73% of their time is spent not providing care. Clinicians believe they deliver superior patient care and experience, but only 8% of their patients agree. 68% of patients leave because they believe their physician doesn’t care about them, and 81% of existing patients are open to switching providers at any time.

While most clinics feel like they’re adapting, they’re not really. Just because you’re offering telehealth visits or offering check in on an iPad ain’t it. Ditto for appointment reminder emails and the new ‘app’ you just got sold on — they might seem like significant steps forward, but they don't truly address the core issues. These changes are only skin-deep. They don’t fundamentally address the growing patient demand for personalized, efficient, and high-quality care.

There are now 4 million apps in the app store and another 100,000 added every month. No one want’s a one-trick pony

There will be winners and losers. Let’s be a winner.

However, there is a massive new opportunity for first movers who adapt to these changes to grow their practice and their revenue.

While some clinic owners will attempt to keep up with the changes by piecing together multiple disparate systems, this leads to a chaotic, inefficient hodgepodge of tools, each demanding overhead and training and constant attention that force you to struggle with inefficiencies and operational bottlenecks. The winners in this new era of healthcare will be those who embrace integrated care pathways to deliver seamless, personalized patient experiences inside a single, cohesive platform that simplifies operations and workflows.

The right A.I. tools let you do some amazing things that are not immediately obvious, like building in compassion and caring into practice, or measuring their willingness to comply with your treatment plan, or automatically building deep patient relationships that a scale (clinics with strong patient relationships retain an average of 89% of patients as opposed to 33% for clinics with weak engagement).

Best of all, you have a chance to move from a manual fee for service model into a hybrid services + recurring revenue business model (subscriptions) that dramatically scale your business and keep you and working at the top of your license.

Here’s another stat; A 5% reduction in patient churn leads to a significant increase in patient retention, which in turn boosts the lifetime value of each patient. This enhanced lifetime value directly translates to a 25% increase in total profitability, as retaining existing patients is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones and fosters long-term, loyal relationships.

A massive new opportunity for early adopters.

To move beyond the BS and benefit from this new world you need a comprehensive platform.

It’s a long list.

Telemedicine, automated care pathways, user-friendly patient portals, e-signatures, and HIPAA compliance. Additionally, they require tools for patient self-enrollment, automated notifications, mobile accessibility, top-notch security, integrated payments, advanced analytics, and a library of clinically proven resources powered by behavioral A.I. all wrapped up in lightning-fast workflows.

But there’s good news, too.

It’s already being used by the savviest clinics.

Small cosmetic medical clinics now have access to A.I. healthcare tools due to the drop in price and increased affordability of these technologies. The cost of cloud computing has fallen by over 70% in the past five years, making it more accessible to smaller clinics. This has led to an increase in the use of A.I. tools such as image analysis, predictive modeling, and natural language processing to improve patient outcomes.

Fortunately, many of these new AI tools have already been proven in enterprise deployments and are now available for everyone.

Adapting to this new world may seem daunting, but it is necessary for clinics and doctors to thrive in the future. By embracing AI tools and technology, clinics can automate redundant work, build care pathways that improve patient outcomes and engagement, and create a scalable and profitable business model. The opportunity is there for those who are willing to take the leap.

Get a free demo of these new tools:

My recommendation is to get a demo of these new tools and see what they can do for you.

Storyline, which is the only comprehensive platform. It’s also free to use.

I’m not just saying that as the CEO, (Disclaimer: I’m the CEO of Storyline). Other people say that too.

Storyline is trusted by researchers and clinicians at major research universities like Huntsman Mental Health Institute, University of Utah, Moffitt Cancer Institute, Rubicon AI, DepoIQ, Arizona State University, and others.

And now you can use Storyline for free.

Clinics using Storyline have seen a 4x increase in team productivity, a 260% increase in patient interactions without additional provider burden, and an 82% of patient follow-up is automated. Additionally, they have seen a 17% increase in total revenue and Storyline has a 4.9-star patient rating.

Get a demo of Storyline, ask some questions, and kick the tires.

Here’s a big button to get started.

References:

1. 71% of all in-person clinical visits can now be done remotely. (Source: McKinsey & Company, https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/telehealth-a-quarter-trillion-dollar-post-covid-19-reality)

2. 63X Increase in telemedicine since 2020. (Source: Forrester Research, https://go.forrester.com/blogs/the-future-of-healthcare-its-time-for-digital-to-step-up/)

3. 3 things patients value most: 1) more time with caregivers that listen 2) a feeling that their provider cares personally about their outcome 3) more information about their condition, treatment, care, and options. (Source: The Beryl Institute, https://www.theberylinstitute.org/page/UnderstandingPatientExperience)

4. 62% of patients admit they don’t understand their doctor's advice and the information discussed during a visit. (Source: New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst, https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.18.0342)

5. 89% of all patient interactions are redundant and could be automated. (Source: Deloitte, https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/3955_Health-care-technology-trends/DI_HC-technology-trends.pdf)

6. Less than 30% of primary care clinics are financially healthy. (Source: McKinsey & Company, https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/the-future-of-us-primary-care)

7. 57% of doctors work 70+ hours a week. (Source: American Medical Association, https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/most-physicians-work-over-50-hours-week)

8. 73% of a doctor’s week is spent not providing care. (Source: Annals of Internal Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5705686/)

9. 84% of clinicians believe they deliver superior patient care and experience but only 8% of their patients agree. (Source: The Beryl Institute, https://www.theberylinstitute.org/page/UnderstandingPatientExperience)

10. 68% of patients leave because they believe their physician doesn’t care about them. (Source: Bain & Company, https://www.bain.com/insights/why-your-doctors-should-care-about-customer-satisfaction/)

11. 81% of existing patients are open to switching providers at any time. (Source: Doctor.com, https://www.doctor.com/blog/new-patient-acquisition-is-critical-during-covid-19)

12. Clinics with strong patient relationships retain an average of 89% of patients as opposed to 33% for clinics with weak engagement. (Source: Accenture, https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/health/healthcare-consumer-survey)

13. Just a 5% reduction in patient churn results in a 25% increase in total profitability. (Source: Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers)

6 Questions Every Medical Spa Owner Should Ask About Pricing Strategy

Determining how to price a new product or service is a key challenge that medical spa owners need to tackle early in their business development lifecycle. To make this process more manageable, we suggest six key questions every founder should ask themselves:

1. What are all the different ways I could price, and which approach makes the most sense for my market? First, identify all of the different possible approaches to pricing. This exercise can unlock new insights or hybrid pricing approaches that better align with the needs of your clients. Common pricing models in medical spas include per session, package deals, or membership-based pricing. It's worth noting that there's a growing trend in the healthcare industry towards value-based pricing, where prices are set based on the perceived value to the client​1​​3​.

2. Are there opportunities for me to price differentiate within my product line? Most medical spas offer a range of services that appeal to different customers, from basic treatments to more advanced procedures. This range creates an opportunity to tailor product offerings through a Good, Better, Best framework. This approach ensures that there's a product for every level of client sophistication and need, while maximizing revenue potential​3​.

3. Am I charging the right price? Medical spa owners often worry about overpricing their services. However, a common mistake is actually underpricing. If your services are delivering significant value to your clients, you have the opportunity to capture meaningful economic value in return. Experiment with different price points and closely monitor client responses and purchasing behavior to find the optimal price range​3​.

4. How do other products or services in adjacent markets price? Researching how other medical spas and similar businesses price their offerings can provide valuable insights. Look at businesses in your local market as well as those in other regions or countries. Additionally, don't limit yourself to just medical spas. Consider pricing strategies in other related industries such as beauty salons, wellness clinics, and even gyms and fitness centers​3​.

5. What are the specific costs associated with delivering my services? Understanding your costs is crucial to setting prices. Factor in all costs associated with delivering your services, including staffing, equipment, supplies, rent, marketing, and more. Over time, as you get a better understanding of your costs, your pricing can become more accurate​4​.

6. Can I use pricing to better align with my clients' goals and preferences? Think about how your pricing strategy can incentivize behaviors that align with your business goals. For instance, you may want to encourage regular visits or the use of multiple services. This could be accomplished through a membership program, volume discounts, or a loyalty rewards program​5​.

By answering these six questions, medical spa owners can take a strategic approach to their pricing, aligning it with their business goals, market dynamics, and the value they provide to their clients. Remember, pricing is not a one-time decision but an ongoing process of testing, learning, and adjusting.

Put Your Patients To Work (Medical Spa Blueprint)

Put your fans to work

You know those loyal few people who are in the front row every time you perform?

You know those people that sat down to write you an email to say how much they love your music?

You know that guy that said, “Hey if you ever need anything - just ask!”

Put them to work!

Often, people who reach out like that are looking for a connection in this world. Looking for a

higher cause. They want to feel they have some other purpose than their stupid accounting job.

You may be the best thing in their life.

You can break someone out of their drab life as an assistant sales rep for a manufacturing company.

You might be the coolest thing that ever happened to a teenager going through an unpopular

phase. You can give them a mission!

If they're a fan of your music, invite them over for pizza to spend a night doing a mailing to

colleges. Go hit the town together, putting concert flyers on telephone poles. Have them drive a

van full of friends to your gig an hour away. Have the guts to ask that “email fan” if she'd be into

going through the Indie Contact Bible and sending your presskit to 20 magazines a week.

Soon you can send them out on their own, to spread the gospel message of your amazing music,

one promo project at a time. Eventually, as you grow, these people can be the head of “street

teams” of 20 people in a city that go promote you like mad each time you have a concert or a new

CD.

Those of us busy busy people may think, “How could ANYone do this boring work?” But there are

plenty of people out there with time on their hands that want to spend it on something besides TV.

Don't forget that to most people, the music business is

pure magic. It's glitter and fame and fantastically romantic.

Working with you might be the closest they get to that magical

world of music. Give someone the chance to be on the

inside circle. Put 'em to work.

HIPAA + Medical Spa Marketing: What you need to know to stay out of the brig.

What does HIPAA mean for your medical spa’s marketing?

HHS, which implements, enforces, and offers helpful information about HIPAA and related topics, has provided specific information on healthcare marketing to help clear up some confusion. They define marketing as “a communication about a product or service that encourages recipients of the communication to purchase or use the product or service.” 

That’s a pretty broad description.

The key function of marketing is telling a story that compels someone to purchase a product or service. However, healthcare marketers are not able to access these stories to tell without consent from that person since that would mean using their protected health information (PHI). 

Beyond this central definition, marketing can also refer to an arrangement between a covered entity (CE) and another organization where the CE gives PHI to the other organization in exchange for payment, whether direct or indirect, so that the other entity can then make communication about their products or services. This part of the definition doesn’t have any exceptions but the individual must authorize this usage before that exchange can happen. Covered Entities cannot sell these lists under any circumstances without approval from each and every person on the list. 

Within the scope of the definition of healthcare marketing by the HHS, organizations are still required to receive clear and direct consent from the patient before their protected health information is used in any of these ways. 

Take free HIPAA risk assessment

What is NOT considered Healthcare Marketing 

Just as the HHS has clearly defined what marketing is in the context of healthcare & PHI, they have also laid out the exceptions to this definition. There are three exceptions to the marketing definition laid out above which allows these communications to occur without approval from the patient, assuming that they comply with HIPAA in any other ways as necessary. 

The first exception is that communication is not considered marketing if it describes a health-related service or product that is provided by or included in a plan of benefits of the CE making the communication. This means that an email or posting from a covered entity can include a product and service that they offer without being considered marketing. CEs are allowed to let their client lists know about a new piece of equipment they have or a new facility that is being built. 

Another exception to the HHS definition of marketing is that if a form of communication is created for the treatment of the individual that it is sent to, then it is not considered marketing and does not need their approval. This often looks like a healthcare provider sending the patient a prescription refill reminder or a referral for a discussed follow-up testing. Since these types of correspondence are regular parts of the treatment of that individual, they are not marketing. 

The last exception from marketing is a communication that occurs during the care coordination case management process of working with a patient. This is typically where a recommendation for an alternate provider or treatment is suggested and presented. As long as that is part of their treatment and is their genuine recommendation for their patient, then it is not considered marketing but merely a part of caring for the patient. 

HIPAA Compliant Healthcare Marketing

If you are having trouble distinguishing between marketing activities and typical treatment activities, there are a few things to keep in mind. Sometimes in the course of recommending a treatment, a doctor or healthcare provider recommends the purchase of a medicine or product of some sort. This is not considered marketing by the HHS, as the benefit of this product is being portrayed and it is within the regular operations of the healthcare industry. 

Specifically for marketing, the main thing to keep in mind is getting written authorization for any uses of PHI in a campaign or communication that you may be sending out. 

There are many do’s and don’ts to healthcare marketing and complying with HIPAA as a whole that it may seem complicated at times. That is why Accountable exists to simplify the process and steps of achieving HIPAA compliance. Getting written authorization for use of PHI in marketing is important, but there are many other steps that need to be taken for complete compliance.  

How to Choose the Best Social Media Platform for Your Medical Spa

Before you start promoting your cosmetic clinic or medical spa on social media, it's important to determine which social media platforms you’re going to use, how they’re likely to perform, and how much time it’s going to take to get results. Just “doing it” is going to lead to wasted time and effort that produces mediocre results.

How to Choose the Best Social Media for Your Business

To make an informed decision on where you should focus your social media marketing effort, start by thinking through what you’re trying accomplish and match that with what your resources and time commitment will allow. A focused effort is going to drive much better results than a spray-and-prey approach.

Let’s think through a few things..

1: What social media platform are your patients using?

Share of U.S. Adults Using Social Media, Including Facebook, Is Mostly Unchanged Since 2018. Source: Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. (2019)

For most clinics you you likely won't want to bother with social media apps like Snapchat or Reddit because very few patients in the age group that you’re going to be targeting that use those platforms. Instead, you'll want to focus on the apps they do use—primarily Facebook and YouTube.

Note: For most clinic’s, the majority of the patients you’re looking for are going to be on Facebook and Youtube, but those also can be the most expensive since the competition is fierce.

2. Where are competing clinics and medspas focusing their attention?

If your competitors are having success with a specific social media app, you may also do well there. Conversely, if your competitors are neglecting a specific app, there may be an opportunity for you to capitalize on that neglected market.

It doesn’t take much effort to track down what your competitors are doing. Most companies display links to their social media profiles on their websites, so it should be easy to collect data on where your competitors are focusing their social media efforts. It's also good to actually visit their social media profiles and make sure they're maintained; a rarely used social media profile shouldn't be considered an active effort.

3: What is the reach into your desired patient population?

For the most part, succeeding on social media requires that you have followers or subscribers, with a few exceptions: YouTube videos, Twitter Tweets, LinkedIn Articles, and Pinterest Pins are indexed by Google, meaning people can discover that content through a general Google search.

Profile pages/channels are indexed by Google for all of the social media apps we're looking at in this article, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and even Reddit. It’s an easy way to pick up a backlink so you should default to having well designed and professional looking profile pages on every social network, even if you don’t use them much.

Resource: https://workhorse.design can help you out here if you need design help that knows the industry and they won’t cost you agency prices.

Note: individual posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram are not indexed by Google, so the only way to get those posts in front of an audience is to either publish it for your network or get others to share it to their networks.

Additionally, the algorithms these platforms use can have a major impact on whether or not your posts are seen, even by people who follow you. For example, Facebook made a change to its algorithm in early 2018 to prioritize posts from friends and family, and as a result, organic reach on the platform severely declined for many brands.

The result: Facebook doesn’t work as well for organic distribution to a wider network.

4: Does the social distribution fit the content you’re creating for your clinic?

Instagram and Pinterest are focused on image content. YouTube is focused on video content. If you mostly produce text-based content and use stock images, you’re dead in the water there.

Unless you plan to add designers or videographers to your payroll to create these assets for your social media efforts—or plan to learn how to do these things yourself—you'll be better served to concentrate on text-focused sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

Resource: LinkedIn is a surprisingly good venue for medical spas, if you do it right. We have a course on the training academy that teaches you exactly how to build your influence on LinkedIn.

5: Should you use paid advertising?

Low organic reach isn't necessarily a barrier if you're willing to spend money on ads. Each social media app offers advertising opportunities, though some are more detailed than others.

For example, apps like Facebook and LinkedIn have deep data-sets that let you target potential patients in a very specific audience. Popular YouTube channels often offer sponsorship opportunities but often don’t work well for a specific geography.

In most cases you’ll be paying extra to get in front of people who will never become a patient.

Question: Is anyone else tired of the endless stream of “we get you patients on Facebook” pitches by “medical spa consultants”

6: How much time should you devote to social media?

One mistake that many businesses make when they're getting started with social media marketing is trying to continually update every social media app. The problem: Keeping multiple social media accounts updated is a lot of work, and unmaintained profiles can reflect poorly on your clinic.

The more realistic approach is to focus on one or two platforms—no more than you realistically have time to keep updated, and to point your other profiles at these maintained accounts. This will give you more time and attention to really grow your audiences on those channels and actually engage with the people who follow and interact with your business.

For example: You may create a profile on Pinterest, but just include a message that says that you spend most of your time connecting with people on Facebook and warmly asks them to follow you there.

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Recommended Resources:

• Workhorse Design - Medical spa design work that won’t kill you on cost.

• MeetEdgar - Social media scheduling. Get $10 off with this link.

• Pebble - On-demand cash flow for your medical spa

5 Reasons Why Growing Your Medical Spa Business Is FAR More Powerful Than Cutting Expenses

Think about it this way; It's much easier to grow your clinic's revenues than it is to cost-cut your way to profitability.

Let's face it. You can't cut your way to long-term wealth or success.

While you'll hear a lot about how to minimize costs and maximize efficiencies and productivity in your clinic (and I'm a big fan of that too), that's only one part of having a successful clinic or medspa that's throwing off mountains of excess cash and expanding multiple revenue streams. Growing your revenue is the most powerful strategy you can use and the only one that will give you the resources to build a business that supports the lifestyle you want, rather than building a soul-crushing hamster-wheel job.

Here are 5 reasons why growing your clinic's business and revenue is more effective than simply cutting costs:

Most businesses, especially clinical physicians, can't simply turn on a switch and earn more. Your medical spa can.

If you're a clinical physician you're trading time for money — a 'job' business model — you can't just start seeing more patients or cram more hours in a work day. (Few physicians ever try to actually earn more money except by working more hours.)

One of the reasons that you opened a cosmetic practice or medical spa is that you're able to leverage technology and secondary providers (physician extenders) to deliver your services. In most palaces you can hire others to perform the actual IPL or laser hair removal treatments under your license and you don't have to push the button on every treatment. That model allows you to extend your license and 'scale yourself' using technology and labor.

There's a catch of course. You have some pretty high fixed costs that are in the tens of thousands of dollars with laser leases, rent, financed equipment and salaries. Those expenses are something that you can mitigate if you're smart (group buy filler injections, used cosmetic lasers, etc. ), but the hard truth is that those costs are part of the business model. Scaling back too far is actually dangerous to your business - cut too deep and you're into the muscle that powers your clinic operations, customer service and employee motivation.

Many docs first thought is to keep monthly costs low and move to commission-based compensation, room rental, or add other low-level services like massage or aroma therapy to try to gain patient flow while not spending anything. While it may look like it's a low risk strategy it's a fools errand because of the distractions and opportunity costs.

Other mistakes like cutting the cost of your Botox treatments as a 'loss leader' (total B.S.) or relying on discounted Groupon traffic... simplistic tactics that waste your time at best, and can cripple you if things go wrong.

The revenue streams I'm talking about may actually involve real business decisions and create an asset that you own - permanent makeup, massage and 'aroma therapy' provided by someone who rents a room in your clinic doesn't.

If you're frugal and want to be sensible, great! Combine earning more with the automation strategy for implementing systems into your clinic, and you have a powerful financial combination. Start by setting sensible short term revenue goals, buy your next IPL or cosmetic laser used, start implementing systems in your clinic, and cut costs mercilessly on commoditized products like taking advantage of group buy injectibles if you can. Do these things and you’ll be ahead of 99% of other cosmetic physicians.

But that's only the savings and productivity part. To be successful you're also going to have to grow.

When you focus on growing your medical spa and creating a bigger pie, you'll benefit from disproportionate and compounding rewards that most other physicians and clinics can't match.

Here's why:

1: There's a limit to how much you can save, but no limit to how much you can earn. Ok, there may be some theoretical limit somewhere but for how big an profitable a cosmetic clinic can be, but it's far easier to add another $10,000 a month in gross revenues than it is to cut $5,000 from the spend. And it's much more fun.

2: The effects compound. If you're bumping along the bottom and have cut all of the fat from your budget, where do you go? You've starved yourself of the ability to grow.

As your medical spa's business grows you gain access to a larger patient network, and the network works harder for you. It's like compounding interest and gives you scale to reach an ever larger audience that's limited only by your ability to execute and lead. You'll also find it's a better message to patients and staff to be able to tell a growth story. Once you learn how to turn the dials and grow your first $10,000 monthly bonus, it’s relatively easy to turn the dial to make $15,000, or $20,000.

In every market the top 3 or 4 clinics take 90% of the revenue. Everyone else fights for scraps.

3: It improves your teams morale and your patient experience. Have you ever seen a clinic that is just barely getting buy? It's a bummer.

Growing your income let's you provide your patients with a much better experience, and moves your clientele upstream and away from bargain hunters that come with headaches and no profit margins.  Moreover, since payroll is the biggest cost you have it's a target for clinics that are cutting costs and novice business leaders often try to skimp on staff.

Growing revenues means that you can attract and pay for a skilled staff that can be trusted to help build the business, not just see you as a stepping stone to the next gig.

4: It allows you to focus on big wins rather than minutia. As a clinic owner you should be focusing on the big wins instead of trying to save money by eliminating what doesn't matter. Earning more is one of the biggest wins you can have. And by reducing the number of things to focus on — and picking major, important items like increasing revenue — you don’t need to worry about trying to keep your staff working at minimum wage. If you’re handling your major goals, the minor details fall out of that. Whether it’s taking a CME course with polar bears, putting your clinic on autopilot, or building other lifestyle businesses on the side, you can manage your lifestyle the way that you want.

5: It forces you to compete on price, which will kill you. If you're competing on price you're in a losing battle. A patient who comes to you for price will leave you for a lower price just as quickly, and there can be only one lowest price. It's a downward spiral which leads to a miserable existence.

6: It gives you options. Growing your sales lets you move from what you have to do to survive, to what you want to do. It gives you options, and opportunity. Personally, I want to live a rich life, and that means spending money on the things I love. Ask yourself whether you'd rather bump along the edge of going out of business and grinding out another payroll, or spend some time earning money so you could live the lifestyle you want. I'm betting you'll answer earn more 100% of the time.

“The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.”

— Walt Disney

So what actions should you take right now?

First, you have to be convinced that it's possible. You need to adjust your mindset from one of scarcity, to one of opportunity. You need to be convinced that you can step forward in a slightly different direction than you're headed, but with dramatically better results. You're going to need to educate yourself.

The good news is that you're in a fantastic market. Most businesses, especially clinical physicians, can't simply turn on a switch and earn more. With a cosmetic practice you can.

There are three main areas where you can take immediate action to begin increasing your sales and income; getting more patients in the front door (marketing), raising your conversion rates (consultations), and streamlining your clinic operations (systems). Increase any of these and your revenue will increase. Ignore them and your opportunities will slowly be throttled, wither and die.

While we don't yet (as of this post) have our training course on marketing available, we can immediately address the other two areas where you can increase your conversions and streamline your operations.

Whatever you do, take action right now and begin.

How To Write (Or Fix) A Killer About Page For Your Medical Spa

What's the most important and useful page on your medical spas website? It's your about page. Your "about page" is where new patients learn why they should choose you, stick with you, and what's in it for them.

After your homepage - which is where you're trying to drive all of your traffic too and so the number are skewed - your "About" page is going to be the most visited page on your site.

People want to know who you are, what you look like, why they should trust you over your competitors, and if they should trust you with their face and body. 

Crafting Your About Page

Crafting a grade A About Page requires more than just a location, your office hours and a paragraph on how you're great. While it's not easy writing about yourself, I'm going to walk you through, step-by-step, how to squeeze the most benefit from this critical page.

1. What Value Do You Give Your Patients

This one is a biggie, which is why we're starting with it. Your About Page should be ALL about the value you provide to your patients - NOT all about how great you are. Don't squander the chance to answer the questions that your perspective patients are looking for. Yes, patients want to learn about you and your team and we'll get in to that, but the most important thing they're looking for is how YOU are going to help THEM. That's what they're going to make their buying decisions on and that's why you have a website in the first place.

2. Who Is Your Clinic For? Who Is Your Target Patient?

Who is your most profitable patient? What is your most profitable treatment? Which treatment attracts the most new patients? These are the questions you'll want to start with. Don't fall in to the trap of trying to be everything to everyone. (The cliche holds true in cosmetic medicine as it does elsewhere.) Find a a patient who is right in your sweet spot and write directly to her. Why should this patient choose you?

On the Medical Spa MD page you'll see that right up front we're speaking to clinicians who are looking for info on the business of nonsurgical cosmetic medicine. Those 3 items; nonsurgical, cosmetic, and medical providers are how we filter and segment who we're talking to. It doesn't matter where you are in the world or if you're a MD, DO, PA, NP, RN, if you're a clinician we can help you. We don't cover lotions and potions, we don't talk to patients, and we don't tuck in to invasive surgical techniques.

It's all intentional. Why? Because when the right people visit your About Page you want them to immediately recognize themselves. You want them  to know that the site was created for THEM. Anything that detracts from that central point should be included only with great hesitancy. You're looking to connect to the right people, not all of the people.

3. How You're Going To Benefit Them

Ok, you've written a few sentences geared towards your ideal audience. Now what? Most sites you'll see will begin by talking all about themselves; what medical school they graduated from, how committed to patient care they are... There is a place for a little of that but it's not the main course (it's more like the mint at the end of the meal.)

Key takeaway coming here: Patients want to know about you because of how it may relate to them!

Some ways to think about your About Page.

1. Tell a story: When you have a great story about how your clinic or medspa was built to change lives (even if they're your own), share it. Good stories humanize you and provide context and meaning to your services. Even better, good stories are 'sticky', meaning that your patients are more likely to remember them and pass them on as part of their story about your brand.
2. Be human: Most medical spas, plastic surgeons and dermatologists have pages that scream stuffy and formal. Physicians were taught to control the situation after all and formality and hierarchy provide easy to see guard rails that keep everyone in their place. I'm the expert. you're the patient. You're lucky to be seen and treated by someone as magnificent as I. Patients hate that. My advice is to step off your pedestal and use your About Page to tell the human story of you, whatever that is. Don't be afraid to pull out a misstep or mistake (as long as it's not a negative treatment outcome) like switching majors in college or making a difficult life choice. People want to be treated by other humans, not gods.
3. Skip the medical babble: Please don't use medical jargon. You may think it makes you sound super-smart to use "neuromodulators", but it really just makes your patients think you're talking down to them. People want and appreciate straight talk and clarity. Just be authentic.
4. Be unique and visually interesting: Instead of following the classic script of writing a few paragraphs about your 'mission', try something that makes it more interesting and compelling. Everyone has some photos of their blank waiting and treatment rooms. Make something interesting that demands attention and that people will remark on. Boring = death. Don't do what everyone else is doing.

Here are some example About Pages that I've included for you to take a look at. I've purposefully excluded any medical spas or clinics since much more can be learned by looking at the best About Pages rather than just those from existing practices.

Great Example About Page Examples

If you have any other suggestions from sites that I have missed please leave a comment and let me know. Even more importantly, if you don’t like one of these pages I would love to hear why not. Oh, and these are in no particular order. I just couldn’t do it.

TUMBLR - A great about page that has credibility oozing out all over the place in an interesting package. It's clever and communicates very clearly with human copy

Bentley Motors - Bentley's About Us page does an excellent job of creating that magical and illustrious vibe. They use rich professional photographs and enticing copy. The whole point of this About Us page is to get you to feel part of the experience. To draw you in to their way of thinking and acting which is, in fact, their marketing plan and branding.

Eight Hour Day - Here'a creative studio with an awesomely human about page that tells the story of the people behind the brand. They use some straightforward copy and photos that make you feel like these are people who know what they're doing and that you'd really like to work with. Hey... that's the point.

Harry's - Yep, the razor guys. They don't even call this the about page. It's "Our Story". It's clean, there's plenty of white space, it has purpose and it's well designed.

Hello Alfred - A services platform for residential buildings, Hello Alfred's about page puts the founding story front and center and tells the "why" of their business, not just the 'what'.

The Saddleback Story - Leather travel bags hand made in Mexico. Another "here's how it happened" story about page that really checks all of the boxes. It's human, compelling and relates some really interesting stories that elevate their products from expensive leather bags to a complete lifestyle.

Ok, so there are some great About Pages out there to learn from.

Take a look at your existing About Page - if you have one - and just start making it better. Change out the photo. Write some better copy. Add some white space. Your About Page is going to be the most visited page on your site. Make it great.

If you'd like us to take a look at your site's about page and provide some feedback, just contact us.

New Medspa Opening? What should I do?

Here's an email that we received a while back that is typical of where physicians new to the cosmetic space start - buying a cosmetic laser or IPL and then trying to figure out how to pay for it.

I am a newer reader and now subscriber to MedicalSpa MD. By the way great content!!

My wife's (Ob/Gyn) practice has recently purchased Syneron Emax and VelaSmooth equipment to begin their aesthetic practice within their Ob practice.

So now that the $$$ has been spent we are working on getting our Marketing, brochures, website etc together to begin to establish an image, look etc. and begin to take customers.

While you name several MedSpa www sites that have problems, do you know of any MedSpa sites that you really like?  We would rather not reinvent the wheel and if you might provide a few good www sites we might reference as starting points it would be much appreciated.

Also, I realize you are very busy, however, I think a "Top 10 list of things to avoid" in the MedSpa business or the "Top 10 things to do before you buy your aesthetic equipment" would be very helpful.  We just kinda jumped into this market and well as they say... now here we are.

I'm not going far out on a limb here to suggest that this probably sounds really familiar to a lot of clinicians who are just starting out, and to existing cosmetic practices who see competitors popping up around them.

So, we're going to break this down by parts and see if we can't provide some feedback that can help. In fact, we're going to make this part of a series of posts that pulls apart the hopes and false assumptions and injects both some hard realities and some tactical advice that you can put to work ASAP.

NOTE: If you have some questions like this, use the contact form and ask them. We'll do our best to answer your questions since there are others that also have them. (You will not be identified in any way so don't worry that your name or clinic will appear in a post.)

The Accidental Medical Spa

It's obvious from the first sentence in the email above that the spouse has been assigned the task of doing some 'market research' after the fact. It's not uncommon to have a spouse, office manager, or even a trusted friend take on the role of 'startup consultant' and try to bring some clarity to the chaos of trying to start a cosmetic practice inside or alongside your existing clinic. In a lot of cases the physician just wants someone else to do it and tie it up in a bow. After all, they're already working full-time in the practice that is paying the bills.

While I think there are better ways to approach a new business there are also some actual benefits to doing it this way. (Note that I'm not recommending this.) At least it causes you to focus in a way that gets you involved and problem-solving. After all, you now have laser payments to make and if you don't figure out things toute suite, you're in for a big loss. It has the effect of forcing you to pay attention and make some decisions. In the best cases you learn things quickly and make some smart decisions. In the worst cases you lose your shirt and sell your new lasers with a 60% loss which is a really painful lesson. In either case you're getting an education and you're paying for it.

More from the email: "So now that the $$$ has been spent we are working on getting our Marketing, brochures, website etc together to begin to establish an image, look etc. and begin to take customers..."

Ouch.

That's the sentence that really stands out more than the others. It's clear that - since the physician is an OB-GYN - the cosmetic portion of the practice is going to target the existing patient population, but once you start buying lasers you're on the hook for those payments one way or the other. It would be really nice if you knew that the demand was there before those payments start, and there are ways to do that. 

So what would I suggest?

If you're a physician who's thinking that you could bring in some additional revenue doing Botox and filler injections and getting a laser or IPL and selling those services to your current patient base.. well, you're right. IF you're smart.

First - and this is critical - sell the treatments before you have to deliver them.

It's not hard to do and you'll learn a lot.

The very toughest sales for everything you will ever do are the first ones. If you can make the sales you'll lower the risk and sleep easier at night knowing that you're going to be able to make your payments. Most physicians ask their current patients IF they would pay for something like Botox or stretch mark reduction or whatever... the real trick is to "presell" the treatments. The only real responses that you can trust are when a patient actually buys from you. That's the ONLY real test.

Here's how you do it:

1. Announce to your current patient population that you're going to launch a new service; Filler injections or whatever. Don't position this as "I'm thinking of this, what do you think?". Just proceed as though you're doing it with a specific date or timeline.
2. Attempt to presell the treatments or service to your existing patients. If you can't do it with your existing patients you'll find it even harder with new patients that don't already know, like, and trust you. Give them a discount for "pre-ordering" the treatment, something like 10 or 15%. (Don't make the percentage too high since you're trying to find out if you can sell it at full price.)
3. Collect the money. The ONLY think that counts here is real sales. Do not count any "I'll buy it once you do it" stuff. Patients will always tell you that it's a great idea to offer more services but you need to know how many patients will buy it and what they will pay. (NOTE: Depending upon what the treatment is the cost may vary widely. If it's really expensive you don't need to sell as many as if it's something cheaper.)
4. IF you're absolutely sure that this is a windfall, then actually buy the laser or add the service. If it's not clear, be very careful. Remember that you have to support every service you and and there are opportunity costs to anything you do.
5. IF it doesn't sell, refund the buyers you have with your appologies and a small free gift (something like a 20% discount on their next filler injection or a free facial) as a thank you.

See how that works? 

You want to start collecting money before you actually make the investment and doing it this way puts you in a position to ensure that you're going to be adding a profitable service and not an $80,000 towel rack.

As always, thoughtful comments or thoughts appreciated.

3 Local Marketing Hacks For Cosmetic Medical Practices To Leapfrog The Competition

Turning your local reputation into sales results is a complicated effort that every medical spa, laser clinic, plastic surgeon and dermatologist is continually trying to solve.

Many of the traditional ways no longer work. Yellow pages are dead. Newspapers have fewer readers. Tired 'discount local flyers' are less effective. Everything is turning to the mobile web. According to Pew Research, 72% of US adults use a smart phone, and the percentage of your patients are going to be higher than that. And they're using those little computers in their hand to research and find businesses on-demand - "best local lunch restaurants", "great roofing company near me", or "lowest Botox treatments near me".

Google refers to these times when people are asking for on-demand information related to purchases as "micro-moments" and they are quickly becoming the norm of many consumers. If you're not optimizing your online presence to take advantage of these moments and get yourself in front of potential patients you're missing all of those sales since you're not even in the game.

With the current tools available and the way people interact with them you should no longer be taking a spray-and-pray approach, trying to get in front of everyone. Instead, look at your metrics and see exactly where your sweet-spot is by age, types of treatments, and margins. Then examine they're buying patterns. It's probable that before you're selling the most expensive and profitable treatments that patients are exhibiting certain buying 'tendencies' that you can address. Uncover what those pathways are and then market those entry treatments to that narrow market segment. For example you may see that your most expensive laser treatments are sold to patients aged 40-45 who first came in initially for Restylane or Juvederm. Rather than market the laser first, you should really be targeting them with low cost lip augmentation or fillers.

What are marketing "Micro Moments"?

A post on Think With Google highlights some key opportunities for capturing customer mindshare during micro-moments, including:

• Identify the top mobile searches in your area. As mentioned previously, mobile device usage is on the rise. More and more consumers are conducting searches on the go and those searches result in increased foot traffic and increased sales. In fact, 50 percent of mobile searches result in an in-store visit within 24 hours with 18 percent of those visits ending in a sale within a day. Knowing what those top mobile searches are can help ensure that your business is the one capturing those customers.
• Know the frequently asked questions related to your business. If you know what consumers are asking about your business you can create content tailored specifically to answer those questions. For example, if you were a dentist you might want to optimize for questions like “how often should I floss?” or “do I need braces?” Helping to educate your community about issues important to them can help you build trust.
• Know how customers find your business. Finally, it’s important to find out how customers are getting to your business. Map your customer journey and identify specific moments where customers might have questions. Doing so can help inform your local marketing strategy to ensure your messaging helps push them from consideration to purchase.

Now that you have a better understanding of how micro-moments affect your business, let’s touch on how you can use these moments to get new patients in your front door.

1. Hyper-Targeting

Look for opportunities to personalize your message when you're putting yourself in front of someone. It's now easy to collect mountains of information about customers and potential customers. You can use that info to personalize calls-to-action to make them more appealing. According to HubSpot, personalized CTAs converted 42 percent better than CTAs that aren’t personalized. The personalization need not be as targeted as someone's first and last name.... no. Social media platforms allow you to segment audience quite well, so you can address a message to 30-35 year old women to 'Soccer Mom', or 'Empty Nester" for those 50-55. Just use something clever that your target identifies will immediately.

2. Optimize Directories

One way to ensure that your business is there when your customers need you the most is optimizing your directories for local SEO. Doing so will give your business a better chance to show up in Google’s Map Pack and near the top of local search engine results pages. There are a number of simple things businesses can do to optimize for local search, but for whatever reason, they neglect to do so. They include:

1. Claiming all relevant business directories
2. Consistent contact info across all listings and on your site
3. Upload high-res photos to increase attractiveness of your listing
4. Use your blog to drive links back to your site
5. Collect and manage online reviews

3. Build Out Extensive Online Patient Reviews

Online reviews are search engine gold. They build your search rankings, add to your credibility, and are trusted much more than what you say about yourself. A vast majority of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from family and friends. Finally, they can help your business get chosen because online reviews have a strong influence on purchase decisions.

If online reviews are so valuable, why do many clinics ignore them? If you don’t have the right processes or tools in place, collecting online reviews can be difficult. In the past, the process was long and cumbersome, so many customers didn’t follow through with leaving a review even though they were willing to do so.

The key for a successful online review program is to make it as easy as possible. You can do this by focusing on which review sites customers already use and then delivering invites via your customers’ preferred communications channel. Doing those two things should result in a significant uptick in your invitation conversions.

Take a look at the Podium offer for Medical Spa MD Members to see how this should be working for your clinic. 

Note: There are a number of other competitor systems other than Podium that you might want to review, but Podium is the only one that is currently a Medical Spa MD Select Partner.

Vibration Anesthesia + Insulin Syringes: Does it make a difference?

Having some yahoo stick needles in your lips hurts. We try to mitigate that using everything from topical anesthetics (the most common), ice, and even nerve blocks, but should we be using vibration anesthesia and/or insulin syringes?

Vibration Anesthesia has been explored since 2004, but it hasn't reached mainstream adoption.

The study also applied topical anesthetic cream to lessen the incidence of pain as well.

Findings:

• 25 patients underwent the procedure
• 92% of patients were comfortable with vibration anesthesia
• The 8% of unsatisfied patients felt more pain and anxiety from the vibrations

Previous studies are also on the positive side of vibration anesthesia.

In conclusion, vibration anesthesia is deemed effective from some other studies. Smith et al. (2004) conducted one of the earlier studies of vibration anesthesia with regard to dermal fillers. The researchers recommended the use of vibration anesthesia for several procedures to help alleviate pain, but it is also suggested to use other methods in producing less pain to the patient.

Another study also explored vibration anesthesia, Mally et al. (2014) showed the efficacy of vibration anesthesia, with around 95% of their participants preferring vibration anesthesia.

What anesthesia works in your practice and for your patients?

In another article, an insulin syringe was used to inject dermal filler on the lips. More and more studies emerge in terms of injection techniques. What about what the needles used for injecting dermal fillers, do they matter as well? 

It is best to consider the consistency of the filler (Urdiales-Gálvez et al., 2017) before going through what needle or cannula to use. Many physicians made the switch from needles to cannulas, simply because of its ability to reduce pain and cause less discomfort to the patient. There is collagen stimulation when a cannula is administered (Brackenbury, 2015). On the other hand, needles are more precise, and a few injection sites would suffice. Bruising is the most common complaint when using needles.
 
Both modes have their pros and cons, but eventually the physician will need to discern, which is much better for dermal fillers.

In one journal article, the researchers found that an insulin syringe is also an effective way to deliver dermal filler injections. Kechichian et al. (2017) used an insulin syringe for lip augmentation. It is a novel method, but the idea is to give the patient more comfort as the injection is administered. Their findings leaned towards the preference of using insulin syringe due to its fine needle.

In the end, it all boils down to the administering of the injection and the comfort of the patient, and the experience of the provider.

Physician Lifestyle Design

Guest post by Greg Bledsoe MD, MPH

I've posted a couple of articles about taking responsibility for yourself and "building your own ship" , and we've also gone through a few common reasons why physicians aren't the best at career modification.

In this post, I'd like to spend a little time introducing you to the idea of "lifestyle design," something that has become a bit of a buzz-phrase in the business world but as far as I can tell hasn't penetrated the world of medicine just yet (for a lot of reasons).

I'll begin with a personal story...

When I jumped off the academic track in 2006, I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do as a career but I knew I wanted something unique.  My idea was to design a career that was flexible, fun, adventurous, and meaningful, all the while paying my bills and being a responsible spouse and parent.  Simple, huh?

I spent months thinking about how to do this as a physician.  I searched websites and blogs.  I spoke with mentors and colleagues.  I read the literature, all to no avail.  There seemed to be no conversation about a career like this in medicine.  I mean, there were a few articles about volunteer opportunities or non-traditional careers, but nothing really like what I was trying to create.  

What I found, though, was that while the medical community was silent about how to develop a very non-traditional and interesting career, the business world had already awakened to the idea.  Within the world of business, the idea of becoming a "free agent" and overhauling your career through "lifestyle design" was beginning to pick up steam. 

Around this time I picked up a copy of the book Free Agent Nation by Daniel Pink.  I'm not sure how I found this book, but it became a sort of manifesto for me.  In this book, Dan explains how more and more individuals were escaping their cubicles to become independent free-lancers and living their lives with increasing flexibility and empowerment.  It was a great read and it hit me at a very important time.  Through this book I realized that I was not alone in my desire for more autonomy, and that a lot of workers who had already yanked themselves off the grid were thriving.  I was hooked.

The second book I read was a book that has become a bit of a cult classic already, Timothy Ferriss' text, The 4-Hour Workweek .  This book is a basic introduction to how Tim built a stream of residual income and then used his extra time and money to explore his interests and live a more interesting life.  It was Tim's book that introduced me to the term "lifestyle design," and while the phrase might seem a bit hokey, it's a very powerful concept.  Basically, what Tim discusses in his book is the idea that it is possible to live an incredible life if you prioritize correctly, live frugally, and develop your entrepreneurial side.  Some have criticized the book recently, explaining that no productive person-- not even Tim Ferriss himself-- really only works four hours a week-- but I would argue that that's not really the point.  The catchy title sells books, but it's the mindset Tim describes that is the reason why the book is an important introduction for individuals who feel helplessly caught in a hamster wheel at work.  Tim's point is that you can-- through ingenuity and hard work-- leap off the hamster wheel and into something much better.

So how does all this apply to physicians?

Well, when you have a career discussion with most physicians, it often boils down to whether or not that individual wants to continue practicing clinical medicine or go into a nonclinical job.  There's nothing wrong with either, mind you, and I have friends who have great careers in each; however, for me and for many other physicians, I suspect, this approach is just too simplistic.

The fact is, I like clinical medicine.  I've spent a of of time getting good at what I do and I'd like to continue to be able to help people by providing good clinical care to patients who need it.  I also like many aspects of the nonclinical opportunities available to physicians-- things like consulting, writing, medical device development, and many other niches really appeal to me.

My main question is not whether I want to practice clinical medicine or jump into a nonclinical career, it's how do I design my life to be able to practice medicine, participate in the nonclinical activities I enjoy, and still have the flexibility to pursue life outside of medicine?  Discussions about clinical versus nonclinical are at their core too reductionistic for most modern physicians.  What most modern physicians really need to be having are overarching discussions about how to design a lifestyle that incorporates the multiple facets of their career interests and also does not overlook the ultimate (and most likely unspoken) goals they have for their lives. This is a much deeper conversation, but one that is desperately needed today in this time of significant upheaval in our healthcare system.

So where do you begin if you're a physician and you are interested in exploring this idea of "lifestyle design?"

Well, don't go to the career advice section of your specialty journal and certainly don't go to the HR person at your hospital or academic institution.  

In my opinion, you should begin by checking out the conversations going on in other fields.  There are some incredible websites built around some really creative and interesting people who are living fascinating lives and teaching others how to do the same.  Check out the following as a starting point:

• The Blog of Tim Ferriss: Experiments in Lifestyle Design
• The Art of Non-Conformity Blog
• Thrilling Heroics with Cody McKibben
• The Blog of Corbett Barr

Once you immerse yourself in this culture you begin to see possibilities that you never would have realized before.  What's more, as a physician there are even more possibilities available to you than for the typical person, if only you'll step out and take a little risk.

Over the last few years this idea of lifestyle design has been a focal point of my thinking when it comes to career moves and ultimate goals.  I've invested a lot of time, cash, and sweat into learning how to build a unique career, and my hope with ExpedMed is that we can use this website as a vehicle to help other physicians, just like you, succeed in designing a lifestyle and career they truly enjoy. 

Remote Patient Monitoring Research

Remote Patient Monitoring via Smartphone

Telehealth is finally beginning to show real adoption with the move to outcome based care.

Any number of virtual care platforms have now thrown their hat in the ring to attempt to make patient communications as easy as regular calls. 

Smartphone monitoring seems like a good option for physicians and patients alike. The literature on smartphone monitoring is limited, but it shows potential for clinical use.

In a recent study by Dalla Pozza et al. (2017), the researchers explored patient monitoring after treatment, which asked their patients to take photos of post-op procedure as they were instructed by their surgeons. Patients were asked to send photos of the front and side views of their face to send to the surgeons.

Out of the original 57 in the sample, only fifty followed-up with post-operative photos.

The following procedures performed were:

• (32) Facelifts, platysmaplasty, submental lipectomy;
• (14) Upper and lower blerophaplasty;
• (11) Fat injections

After treatment, three patients experienced complications early on. The patient in the study still preferred the usual face to face consultation, but the researchers mention that most of their sample were older patients, and were not able to adapt to some applications used for the study.

A similar study also examined the use of patient monitoring via smartphone. Chee et al. (2016) focused more on laser resurfacing on the dermatological aspect of it. Their study provided insight on the patient’s use of smartphone monitoring. There were 123 patients in the study, and having done the procedure around 12% had adverse events after it. Due to the complications, the dermatologist treated them the day after. Numbers dwindled as only a few answered the follow-up survey leaving only a few to report the smartphone review had good effects on them.

According to the authors, 95% out of the 24 who completed their survey felt at ease with the teledermatology process.

There is the risk of violating HIPAA and HITECH. In the first study, the researchers mention that limitation as patients may not have a HIPAA-compliant smartphone to send images or details of their condition. In this case, physicians have the responsibility to make sure their images are secure. In the second study, patients were wary with sharing their photos as well.

To learn more you might take a look at the scores from the KLAS 2017 Virtual Care Platform Report in which a dozen or so telehealth platforms (TruClinic, American Wellness, InTouch, etc.) were scored across a number of criteria.

The Physicians path To Effective Leadership: Humility and Will

Most physicians think that they're effective leaders but there are plenty of clinics that rely more on authority than leadership.

So what do you need to be an effective leader? Personal humility and the will to be a great leader.

Studies shows that CEO humility is positively associated with empowering leadership behaviors. They tend to connect more effectively with both top and middle management, creating a collective empowerment for the organization.

This was the result of the study examining the concept of humility among CEOs in 63 companies from China. A More than 300 top management team members and 600 middle managers were surveyed in the study.

In 2001, the research done by Jim Collins about how a CEO's humility can impact a company has been shown in his book, From Good to Great. Here, Collins shattered the concept of a supposed CEO image: charismatic, authoritative, convincing, and larger-than-life.

Collins described leaders who have both personal humility and intense will to be "Level 5 Leaders".

According to our five-year research study, executives who possess this paradoxical combination of traits are catalysts for the statistically rare event of transforming a good company into a great one.

The other types of leaders, according to Collins, possess skills to transform companies but not sustain the level of excellence. This type is not the only one that can effectively lead a company, but it is essential. An interesting question would be: Can this type of leadership be learned? In an answer, Collins shares his hypothesis about two categories of people: those who don’t have the Level 5 seed within them and those who do.

My best advice, based on the research, is to practice the other good-to-great disciplines that we discovered. Since we found a tight symbiotic relationship between each of the other findings and Level 5, we suspect that conscientiously trying to lead using the other disciplines can help you move in the right direction. There is no guarantee that doing so will turn executives into full-fledged Level 5 leaders, but it gives them a tangible place to begin, especially if they have the seed within.

Read more:

• https://hbr.org/2005/07/level-5-leadership-the-triumph-of-humility-and-fierce-resolve
• http://asq.sagepub.com/content/59/1/34

Can A Dentist Own A Medical Spa?

There's been a fair amount of angst around dentists performing Botox treatments and whether it's legal or not.

This is from a press release that was emailed to me from a thread on a LinkedIn forum:

In Illinois, for instance, only a licensed physician may own a medical spa. Under the Illinois Medical Corporation Act, a medical spa, or any entity that provides medical treatment, must be owned and operated only by persons licensed under the Medical Practice Act of 1987 (the Medical Practice Act governs the medical licensing of physicians).

In Florida, for example, anyone, including a dentist, can own a medical spa. And in Washington and Oregon, non-physicians are not completely precluded from med spa ownership if they structure the business in a particular way.

Similarly, the laws vary widely from state to state as to whether dentists can even perform medical procedures like Botox and laser hair removal, which are commonly offered in med spas. In most states, dentists are limited to injecting Botox or other injectables in certain areas around the mouth. In Kentucky and Illinois, the use of Botox and other injectables falls within the scope of dentistry as long as it involves conditions surrounding the mouth but in other states like Missouri, the law does not provide express guidance on whether dentists may administer Botox or other injectables."

Does anyone know any cases where a state has come down on a dentist who owns a laser clinic or medical spa?

RockBottomLasers.com Joins Medical Spa MD Classifieds Ads

We're happy to announce that RockBottomLasers.com is joining Medical Spa MD as a Select Partner and listing their entire inventory in the classifieds. 

Buying and selling used devices is something of a headache. There are a lot of resellers but you never really know if you're getting the best price, and there's not really anyone to ensure that you're treated fairly if there's a problem. We wanted to do something about that.

We had launched a previous iteration of a classified ads area but it came with some problems. The previous ads were free. These are not. While we moved millions of dollars in cosmetic equipment, the fact that the previous listings were free invited spammers and ne're-do-wells that were always a pain in the ass to try and keep out. We didn't want to deal with that any more so we've added a payment system to keep out the riff-raff.

This time we wanted to do it better. We wanted to benefit Members by building a system that promoted:

1. Transparency in the pricing of cosmetic lasers and aesthetic equipment.
2. Active competition and pricing between resellers.
3. Easier selling of your own equipment, either by listing it yourself or contacting resellers.

Vin Wells, the founder and CEO of RockBottomLasers.com has been around the Medical Spa MD community for more than a decade, answering comments in the forums and generally being helpful to members who are looking for inside info. So, when we started looking around for used cosmetic laser vendors to have some preliminary discussions with, Vin was first on the list of people we talked to and he readily agreed to post his entire inventory to the site.

Check out Vin's inventory of pre-owned cosmetic lasers and IPLs in the classifieds area.

We're not done. We're looking for other reputable cosmetic laser resellers who want to be part of this new program and list their inventory too. We think that by aggregating multiple resellers we'll meet our goals of more transparent pricing, more active competition, and easier buying and selling for everyone. Vendors get exposure, leads and sales. 

To list an add for your laser or IPL it will cost you a measly $10 a month. Making the ad 'featured' will add another $10. That's not bad to sell a $40k laser.

There are some other things we'e working on as well. There's a category for buying and selling cosmetic medical practices and even the ability to promote and list services or products that you're trying to get in front of cosmetic clinics.

Cosmetic laser reseller? Learn more about becoming a Select Partner.

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