Whenever I lecture or consult, physicians seem to be very interested, not just in the techniques of cosmetic dermatology, but they are also fascinated with the management skills required to run a cosmetic practice. Although many dermatologists now perform new types of cosmetic procedures — in addition to more traditional cosmetic procedures such as removing seborrheic keratoses or treating hyperpigmentation — few receive any training on how they should manage this portion of the practice.
A DIFFERENT BUSINESS MODEL
As medicine in general and dermatology in particular become more reliant on a direct-pay, quality-based model, practice management knowledge is critical to the survival of a practice. Whether or not one believes that this transition is a good thing — and I do because I believe physicians will be especially responsive to patients when patients are again paying the bill instead of an amorphous third party who dictates coverage, payment and whom the patient can see — this change is here to stay. So here are some tips to help practitioners evolve.
FOCUS ON SERVICE WITH COSMETIC PATENTS
First, because cosmetic patients are different, they need to be treated differently. This will almost certainly require some staff training — especially if you have had a large managed care practice in which your staff has the attitude that they are doing the patients a favor by granting them an audience with you, the dermatologist.
THE PHONE: THE PATIENT’S FIRST CONTACT WITH YOUR PRACTICE
Those who answer the phones are prospective patients’ first contact with your practice, so you should emphasize to your staff the need to make a good first impression with some basic telephone approaches. Those answering the phones should do so promptly and pleasantly. They should identify themselves and try to deal with the request from the patient in a timely manner.
It bears repeating that if the patient’s first encounter with the practice is the phone and if the person answering is less than inviting, the cosmetic patient will take her money and go elsewhere. This is the most direct business model known.
PHONE PROTOCOL IN MY OFFICE
When my staff members answer the phone, not only do they identify the practice and themselves but they also try to ask how they can help the caller. Some of the staff members who have been with me for a decade remember the days when we dealt with insurance and may have an unfortunate tendency to ask, “Why do you want to come in?” or “ Do you have insurance?”
STAFF RE-EDUCATION MAY BE NECESSARY
It is very difficult, if not impossible, to undo the damage done by a verbal wall erected on the phone, so re-education of the staff is critical. Re-education does not have to be as direct as knee capping — despite the methodology of my friend and colleague Joel Cohen. The re-educating process can be anything from reviewing the Ritz Carlton service credo to attending The Cosmetic Bootcamp for Office Staff. (Disclosure; I am one of the directors.) My practice scripts the phone calls to remind employees of the emphasis of the practice’s patient-centric care.
SEPARATE SCHEDULING FOR COSMETIC AND MEDICAL PATENTS
Scheduling presents another shift in attitude and logistics. Whereas managed care patients expect long wait times and even to be held captive by the limited number of board certified dermatologists, cosmetic or direct pay patients have the ability to go anywhere they want. In addition, they typically have the means to find another dermatologist or injector who may not even be a physician. This means accommodating certain scheduling needs.
Few dermatologists have a pure cosmetic practice, so there are skin cancer or general dermatology patients to accommodate as well. When I try to schedule patients, I look at half-day blocks of time. I find that this is the most reasonable increment that my staff can deal with for office preparation and mental acuity.
I will schedule my cosmetic patients on half days separate from the general dermatology or Mohs patients. This enables them to sit with patients who are in the office for similar reasons and, if they are sociable, to learn from patients who have already had procedures done to find out how well they work and what to expect.
In an era when patients are confused by the many derm-pretenders who inject in pretty medispas without any formal education, it is not wise to park cosmetic patients among a host of kids with rashes and acne or with Mohs patients covered in large bandages. Scheduling separation is one key to running a successful cosmetic practice.
OFFICE LAYOUT AND APPEARANCE
The physical layout for a cosmetic office could be the subject of an entire book, but for this article it will suffice to say that the layout needs to be different than a general dermatology office. From the waiting room to the checkout area, and everything in between, it is important that the office be immaculate.
Patients make subconscious and conscious decisions about you and your ability based on the appearance of the office. In my practice, I have several of my diplomas and publications in the waiting rooms.
Magazines are of the type and vintage that are appealing: We have this month’s Town and County, Architecture Digest, Golf and other magazines that patients would subscribe to.
We have a T.V. that features something interesting, and we are designing a Powerpoint presentation about the practice that will soon run.
The floors of the waiting room are constantly monitored for cleanliness, the chairs are comfortable, and we try to keep the room fresh by changing the painting or flooring every few years.
This type of presentation needs to carry through to the entire office including the exam rooms, which need to be perfectly clean and organized, to the checkout area, which should enable the patient to schedule and pay with some modicum of privacy.
These are the types of details that are crucial to a successful practice.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Recommendations for a cosmetic practice consultation are so numerous that I am presently writing book for them. Suffice it to say that attention to the details of the practice is critical.
In future columns, I will highlight some of these changes as well as offer marketing suggestions for a cosmetic practice.
Unfortunately, being a technically proficient dermatologist is no longer a guarantee of practice success, and it is critical to have some training in practice management as well as dermatology.
Whenever I lecture or consult, physicians seem to be very interested, not just in the techniques of cosmetic dermatology, but they are also fascinated with the management skills required to run a cosmetic practice. Although many dermatologists now perform new types of cosmetic procedures — in addition to more traditional cosmetic procedures such as removing seborrheic keratoses or treating hyperpigmentation — few receive any training on how they should manage this portion of the practice.
A DIFFERENT BUSINESS MODEL
As medicine in general and dermatology in particular become more reliant on a direct-pay, quality-based model, practice management knowledge is critical to the survival of a practice. Whether or not one believes that this transition is a good thing — and I do because I believe physicians will be especially responsive to patients when patients are again paying the bill instead of an amorphous third party who dictates coverage, payment and whom the patient can see — this change is here to stay. So here are some tips to help practitioners evolve.
FOCUS ON SERVICE WITH COSMETIC PATENTS
First, because cosmetic patients are different, they need to be treated differently. This will almost certainly require some staff training — especially if you have had a large managed care practice in which your staff has the attitude that they are doing the patients a favor by granting them an audience with you, the dermatologist.
THE PHONE: THE PATIENT’S FIRST CONTACT WITH YOUR PRACTICE
Those who answer the phones are prospective patients’ first contact with your practice, so you should emphasize to your staff the need to make a good first impression with some basic telephone approaches. Those answering the phones should do so promptly and pleasantly. They should identify themselves and try to deal with the request from the patient in a timely manner.
It bears repeating that if the patient’s first encounter with the practice is the phone and if the person answering is less than inviting, the cosmetic patient will take her money and go elsewhere. This is the most direct business model known.
PHONE PROTOCOL IN MY OFFICE
When my staff members answer the phone, not only do they identify the practice and themselves but they also try to ask how they can help the caller. Some of the staff members who have been with me for a decade remember the days when we dealt with insurance and may have an unfortunate tendency to ask, “Why do you want to come in?” or “ Do you have insurance?”
STAFF RE-EDUCATION MAY BE NECESSARY
It is very difficult, if not impossible, to undo the damage done by a verbal wall erected on the phone, so re-education of the staff is critical. Re-education does not have to be as direct as knee capping — despite the methodology of my friend and colleague Joel Cohen. The re-educating process can be anything from reviewing the Ritz Carlton service credo to attending The Cosmetic Bootcamp for Office Staff. (Disclosure; I am one of the directors.) My practice scripts the phone calls to remind employees of the emphasis of the practice’s patient-centric care.
SEPARATE SCHEDULING FOR COSMETIC AND MEDICAL PATENTS
Scheduling presents another shift in attitude and logistics. Whereas managed care patients expect long wait times and even to be held captive by the limited number of board certified dermatologists, cosmetic or direct pay patients have the ability to go anywhere they want. In addition, they typically have the means to find another dermatologist or injector who may not even be a physician. This means accommodating certain scheduling needs.
Few dermatologists have a pure cosmetic practice, so there are skin cancer or general dermatology patients to accommodate as well. When I try to schedule patients, I look at half-day blocks of time. I find that this is the most reasonable increment that my staff can deal with for office preparation and mental acuity.
I will schedule my cosmetic patients on half days separate from the general dermatology or Mohs patients. This enables them to sit with patients who are in the office for similar reasons and, if they are sociable, to learn from patients who have already had procedures done to find out how well they work and what to expect.
In an era when patients are confused by the many derm-pretenders who inject in pretty medispas without any formal education, it is not wise to park cosmetic patients among a host of kids with rashes and acne or with Mohs patients covered in large bandages. Scheduling separation is one key to running a successful cosmetic practice.
OFFICE LAYOUT AND APPEARANCE
The physical layout for a cosmetic office could be the subject of an entire book, but for this article it will suffice to say that the layout needs to be different than a general dermatology office. From the waiting room to the checkout area, and everything in between, it is important that the office be immaculate.
Patients make subconscious and conscious decisions about you and your ability based on the appearance of the office. In my practice, I have several of my diplomas and publications in the waiting rooms.
Magazines are of the type and vintage that are appealing: We have this month’s Town and County, Architecture Digest, Golf and other magazines that patients would subscribe to.
We have a T.V. that features something interesting, and we are designing a Powerpoint presentation about the practice that will soon run.
The floors of the waiting room are constantly monitored for cleanliness, the chairs are comfortable, and we try to keep the room fresh by changing the painting or flooring every few years.
This type of presentation needs to carry through to the entire office including the exam rooms, which need to be perfectly clean and organized, to the checkout area, which should enable the patient to schedule and pay with some modicum of privacy.
These are the types of details that are crucial to a successful practice.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Recommendations for a cosmetic practice consultation are so numerous that I am presently writing book for them. Suffice it to say that attention to the details of the practice is critical.
In future columns, I will highlight some of these changes as well as offer marketing suggestions for a cosmetic practice.
Unfortunately, being a technically proficient dermatologist is no longer a guarantee of practice success, and it is critical to have some training in practice management as well as dermatology.
Whenever I lecture or consult, physicians seem to be very interested, not just in the techniques of cosmetic dermatology, but they are also fascinated with the management skills required to run a cosmetic practice. Although many dermatologists now perform new types of cosmetic procedures — in addition to more traditional cosmetic procedures such as removing seborrheic keratoses or treating hyperpigmentation — few receive any training on how they should manage this portion of the practice.
A DIFFERENT BUSINESS MODEL
As medicine in general and dermatology in particular become more reliant on a direct-pay, quality-based model, practice management knowledge is critical to the survival of a practice. Whether or not one believes that this transition is a good thing — and I do because I believe physicians will be especially responsive to patients when patients are again paying the bill instead of an amorphous third party who dictates coverage, payment and whom the patient can see — this change is here to stay. So here are some tips to help practitioners evolve.
FOCUS ON SERVICE WITH COSMETIC PATENTS
First, because cosmetic patients are different, they need to be treated differently. This will almost certainly require some staff training — especially if you have had a large managed care practice in which your staff has the attitude that they are doing the patients a favor by granting them an audience with you, the dermatologist.
THE PHONE: THE PATIENT’S FIRST CONTACT WITH YOUR PRACTICE
Those who answer the phones are prospective patients’ first contact with your practice, so you should emphasize to your staff the need to make a good first impression with some basic telephone approaches. Those answering the phones should do so promptly and pleasantly. They should identify themselves and try to deal with the request from the patient in a timely manner.
It bears repeating that if the patient’s first encounter with the practice is the phone and if the person answering is less than inviting, the cosmetic patient will take her money and go elsewhere. This is the most direct business model known.
PHONE PROTOCOL IN MY OFFICE
When my staff members answer the phone, not only do they identify the practice and themselves but they also try to ask how they can help the caller. Some of the staff members who have been with me for a decade remember the days when we dealt with insurance and may have an unfortunate tendency to ask, “Why do you want to come in?” or “ Do you have insurance?”
STAFF RE-EDUCATION MAY BE NECESSARY
It is very difficult, if not impossible, to undo the damage done by a verbal wall erected on the phone, so re-education of the staff is critical. Re-education does not have to be as direct as knee capping — despite the methodology of my friend and colleague Joel Cohen. The re-educating process can be anything from reviewing the Ritz Carlton service credo to attending The Cosmetic Bootcamp for Office Staff. (Disclosure; I am one of the directors.) My practice scripts the phone calls to remind employees of the emphasis of the practice’s patient-centric care.
SEPARATE SCHEDULING FOR COSMETIC AND MEDICAL PATENTS
Scheduling presents another shift in attitude and logistics. Whereas managed care patients expect long wait times and even to be held captive by the limited number of board certified dermatologists, cosmetic or direct pay patients have the ability to go anywhere they want. In addition, they typically have the means to find another dermatologist or injector who may not even be a physician. This means accommodating certain scheduling needs.
Few dermatologists have a pure cosmetic practice, so there are skin cancer or general dermatology patients to accommodate as well. When I try to schedule patients, I look at half-day blocks of time. I find that this is the most reasonable increment that my staff can deal with for office preparation and mental acuity.
I will schedule my cosmetic patients on half days separate from the general dermatology or Mohs patients. This enables them to sit with patients who are in the office for similar reasons and, if they are sociable, to learn from patients who have already had procedures done to find out how well they work and what to expect.
In an era when patients are confused by the many derm-pretenders who inject in pretty medispas without any formal education, it is not wise to park cosmetic patients among a host of kids with rashes and acne or with Mohs patients covered in large bandages. Scheduling separation is one key to running a successful cosmetic practice.
OFFICE LAYOUT AND APPEARANCE
The physical layout for a cosmetic office could be the subject of an entire book, but for this article it will suffice to say that the layout needs to be different than a general dermatology office. From the waiting room to the checkout area, and everything in between, it is important that the office be immaculate.
Patients make subconscious and conscious decisions about you and your ability based on the appearance of the office. In my practice, I have several of my diplomas and publications in the waiting rooms.
Magazines are of the type and vintage that are appealing: We have this month’s Town and County, Architecture Digest, Golf and other magazines that patients would subscribe to.
We have a T.V. that features something interesting, and we are designing a Powerpoint presentation about the practice that will soon run.
The floors of the waiting room are constantly monitored for cleanliness, the chairs are comfortable, and we try to keep the room fresh by changing the painting or flooring every few years.
This type of presentation needs to carry through to the entire office including the exam rooms, which need to be perfectly clean and organized, to the checkout area, which should enable the patient to schedule and pay with some modicum of privacy.
These are the types of details that are crucial to a successful practice.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Recommendations for a cosmetic practice consultation are so numerous that I am presently writing book for them. Suffice it to say that attention to the details of the practice is critical.
In future columns, I will highlight some of these changes as well as offer marketing suggestions for a cosmetic practice.
Unfortunately, being a technically proficient dermatologist is no longer a guarantee of practice success, and it is critical to have some training in practice management as well as dermatology.
