Primary care providers chose their profession out of a desire to help patients live better and longer lives according to the Hippocratic Oath. But the winds of change are blowing stronger across the landscape of medical practices throughout America. Now, more than ever, practitioners wishing to fulfill their calling are increasingly challenged on all sides by the pressures of time, patient demands, and complexity in the health insurance industry, government involvement and economics.

Many primary care providers (PCPs) find themselves on a treadmill, trying to maintain the highest standards of care while also endeavoring to achieve the rewards they and their families deserve to compensate the years and high cost of medical training and the long hours devoted to this most noble profession. There are several strategies to bring the economics of medical practice back into balance: work more hours and see more patients (not usually possible); raise fees (not practical given insurance industry dynamics); cut costs further (many practices are already close to a point of diminishing returns); or offer new, cash-based medical services.

The first question many PCPs have when they consider the topic of offering aesthetic laser services is: are these procedures medical treatments? All aesthetic lasers currently on the market are federally regulated medical devices under the jurisdiction of CDRH/FDA. Virtually every state regulates the use of these lasers and limits their use to either a medical doctor (M.D., D.O., D.M.D.-M.D.) or to a nurse or physician’s assistant, operating the device under the license and supervision of the doctor.

Since the time of Hippocrates, physicians have focused on healing the sick and injured. During the last 20 years or so, physicians have increasingly turned their attention to patients who were neither sick nor injured in a traditional sense. Consider the dramatic rise in prescriptions for conditions such as clinical depression, anxiety, incontinence, restless leg syndrome, insomnia and many other conditions that are not typically life-threatening. Society has now accepted the idea that part of a person’s health and well-being relates to their emotions and their psychology. And not surprisingly well-being is strongly linked to physical appearance. So it is understandable that once basic health needs of populations have been satisfied, patients want to look and feel better. PCPs can meet this need by offering quality aesthetic services using good marketing and customer care practices. (more…)

Chiropractic and pain management clinics are getting into aesthetic medicine. Some of the more forward looking doctors in the field realize the potential of the growing market and feel that laser aesthetic procedures are a natural extension of their core business.

For these chiropractors, adding aesthetic services has been a plus. Not only have they benefited from an entirely different client base, but they’ve offered reasons for established patients to come in more regularly. And correcting cash-flow issues has been a real plus.

But aesthetic services will not fit every practice. Chiropractors need to learn about the new treatments they’re considering and measure the potential benefits against possible drawbacks. If space or staffing is an issue — or if new marketing methods do not seem feasible — reconsider.

Aesthetics can offer a brand new way of approaching a chiropractic practice, complementing existing holistic services for a growing baby-boomer market.

A general drop off in plastic surgery procedures has become an obvious trend evidenced by many surveys. Consumers opt for less invasive and less expensive cosmetic procedures, such as dermal fillers and light-based aesthetic treatments. Among the procedures on the rise are Botox, dermal fillers, laser skin resurfacing, skin rejuvenation with skin tightening, laser treatments of age spots and spider veins.

Another story with comments by several plastic surgeons published in clarionledger.com adds to the following prevailing trends in aesthetic medicine:

• Expensive plastic surgery procedures (reconstructive and cosmetic) continue to decline:
  • Consumers who do not have money now put off their elective surgeries indefinitely;
  • Consumers with savings prefer to wait out the storm;
  • Consumers with some savings seek loans with reasonable terms to cover their surgeries – they do not want to let go of their cash;
  • Before setting up the first appointment, consumers do their research on how much cosmetic treatments will cost; before the recession, they would come in and ask all their questions.
• Medical practices see their profit margins slimming as patients seek less expensive procedures, do a lot more of price shopping, and use up all incentives (coupons and discounts) before committing to a treatment package;
• Physicians’ costs are on the upswing as they have to spend more on marketing, advertising and customer service.

Aesthetic physicians are being forced into turning into businessmen more than ever before. Those who have adapted stand to gain tremendously when consumer spending turns around.