Don't Lose sight of your primary business
Physicians should avoid falling victim to the four
common mistakes, marketers says
by
Kevin M. Coffee
Update on the state of the nation for Medical Spa
2007 in Miami
Developing
a MediSpa1 center within an existing cosmetic surgery or cosmetic
dermatology practice is once the best
ways of creating more major surgery and adding an additional revenue stream to
your bottom line. They are also, according to Greg Washington, President and CEO
of Patients Unlimited Marketing Consultants, “a good way to run your entire
practice into the ground.”
Sometimes success with a MediSpa requires more
than simply knowing what to do. Knowing what not to do is equally (and at times
more so) helpful in determining successful outcomes as knowing what to do. With
this idea in mind, there are four common but critical mistakes practices with MediSpas make that lead them to be under-performing ventures. The key idea
underlying these mistakes is not allowing your MediSpa center to become
something that it is not.
Don’t let your MediSpa become a Day Spa.
Understanding what a MediSpa is and is not is perhaps the most fundamental
error physicians wanting to add a MediSpa to their existing practice make.
“While it is possible and necessary to incorporate some
of the modalities of Day Spa into the MediSpa, the MediSpa should not be
allowed to become a Day Spa and doctors should know the difference between the
two of them as they consider adding one to their practice,” says Washington. To
be clear, MediSpas are facilities that operate under the supervision of a
licensed health care professional. MediSpas generally provide spa like services
that are true extensions of medical procedures that requires injections, skin
oblations and body modifications that are of a medical nature. These procedures
are complementary and alternative health practices and treatments provided in a
spa-like setting.
MediSpas providing significant levels of day spa services are courting business
responsibilities and problems that most cosmetic practices are not set up to
handle. These activities have proven to be serious distracters for the major
objective of increasing revenue from major procedures, adds Washington.
A suggestion he gives to his clients considering adding a Medi Spa is for them
to write down exactly what they want from their MediSpa. If what they want
significantly extends beyond increased utilization of major medical procedures,
he often advises that the doctors examine restructuring the practice with the
aid of a Day Spa specialist with a tract record in retail, space planning and
the art of dealing with outside contractors needed to run the Day Spa.
Don’t slavishly follow the market.
Once MediSpa services are initiated in a practice, it is often difficult,
especially if the money coming in, not to want to provide all the services your
patients request.
“A patient asked a client of mine, why she
couldn’t get her hair and nails done along with her peel,” Washington recalls.
When enough clients began to ask, the doctor was tempted to extend his set of
services in order to meet this market need. He did and found his practice in
deep financial trouble in short order.
“We were all raised on the idea that the customer
is always right but they are not always right for a particular practice,” says
Washington. He advises his clients with MediSpas to “stick to their knitting.”
That is, know their core business and competencies are and stick with them. If
there is a demand for services a practice doesn’t provide, Washington suggests
developing a structured reciprocal relationship with an outside facility
specializing in these services.
“Remember,” says Washington, “your practice should
wag the MediSpa not the other way around.” If your MediSpa isn’t feeding your
core business, then adjustments are in order.
Don’t let personnel decide what business you’re in.
Sometimes pressure to expand the scope of a MediSpa comes from within the
practice. “Keeping the interests of the practice and the interests of employees
clear and distinct is hard for many doctors,” Washington says.
“MediSpa personnel often push for more services
by claiming that offering these services can and will help with the acquisition
and management of additional major procedures,” he continues. Washington
concludes by saying that personnel, no matter how well meaning or well
established should decide the scope of services for the MediSpa. Again
Washington emphasizes adherence to the practice’s core competencies.
“Listen to your employees. Value their suggestions. But in the end make the
final decision on the direction of your MediSpa based on the needs of the core
practice and established scope of services,” Washington advises. He also notes
any potential hurt feelings are often offset by good salaries that follow from a
successful, well-focused MediSpa.
Don’t let the MediSpa become a retail business.
Finally, the worst thing that can happen to a MediSpa attached to an existing
practice is that it becomes, in full, a retail business. “The worse situation I
run into when consulting with clients after they’ve established their MediSpa
is that it’s become a retail business,” says Washington.
Washington goes on to say that “a retail business is a beast with its own set of
burdens.” Some of those burdens are strict accounting controls, the need for
strong management oversight, inventory control and personnel control.
“Most cosmetic practitioners are not equipped by training, temperament or have
the time necessary to allow a retail business to be profitable,” says
Washington. He finishes by noting that in his experience the retail oriented
MediSpa almost always ends up consuming the resources of the primary practice.
“Respond,” says Washington, “to requests for more products and services in a
manner consistent with your primary practice.” Functionally, this can means
sending patients elsewhere for these products or services outside of your area
of expertise.
By not committing these errors, a practice considering adding a MediSpa can
avoid the major potholes in the road towards greater profitability. And though
such avoidance appears easier said than done, summing it all up, Washington says
it can be very simple. “If practices keep their eyes on their primary business
and let their MediSpas be just one more piece of their business, then most will
fare well.”
Copywrite PUMC
© 2005
1 Also known as medical spa, medical spas and
medi spa including a franchise but not to be confused with Day Spa
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