Aesthetic Society News — Fall 2018 by Karen Zupko, President Potentially thousands of non-surgical revenue dollars are walking out your door every day. Consider this: Keely Smith is in for a consultation about a blepharoplasty. At the end of the consult, she says to the surgeon, “Tell me about this CoolSculpting. I picked up the...
Category: Especially for Cosmetic Practices
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Will The Real Conversion Rate Please Stand Up
Aesthetic Society News — Summer 2018 by Karen Zupko, President, Cheryl Toth, MBA, Amy Boyer, MBA Everyone agrees that it’s important to understand how many patients seen in consultation actually schedule surgery Aesthetic surgeons measure their value on it, and patient care coordinators are rewarded for improving it. Nearly every aesthetic surgeon we talk with wants to...
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Evidence Based Pricing Strategy for Plastic Surgeons — Winning the Price Wars
Aesthetic Society News – March 2018 by Karen Zupko, President One area of practice administration where most plastic surgery practices make poor decisions is in how and when to disconnect their fees. Surgeons make responsible decisions caring for patients using evidence-based medicine ― yet fail to apply evidence-based management principles when it comes pricing their...
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Put Your Best Face (and Breasts and Body) Forward How to Showcase Your Surgical Results with Clinical Photography
Aesthetic Society News – Winter 2018 by Amy Boyer, MBA Every plastic surgeon knows that photography is an essential part of a cosmetic surgery practice. Early in practice you probably created a photo consent form and instructed your staff to get before-and-after surgery photos of every patient. You may have purchased special photo storage software,...
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Going From Free to Fee Consultations. Yes, You Can. Here’s How.
Aesthetic Society News – Fall 2017 by Karen Zupko, President To charge or not to charge? That is the question many aesthetic surgeons and their staff ask about paid consultation fees. Some are concerned that if they charge, patients will schedule with a free “cosmetic surgeon” across town. Others use the excuse, “Everyone else is...
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9 Mistakes You Don’t Want the Patient Care Coordinator to Make
Aesthetic Society News – Summer 2017 by Karen Zupko, President Looking to build the skills of a newly hired Patient Care Coordinator (PCC)? Need an objective approach for showing the PCC how to polish her professionalism? Want to help your PCC go from good to great? This article offers some options. It covers the most...
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Profiles in Plastic Surgeons’ Practice Transitions
Aesthetic Society News – Spring 2017 by Karen Zupko, President “Sorry, I didn’t call you back last week, Karen. I was climbing mountains in Nicaragua.” That was the message that New Orleans plastic surgeon John Church, MD, left for me after my call requesting an interview. What a perfect message and precursor to the fascinating,...
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Can This Partnership Be Saved?
Aesthetic Society News – Winter 2017 by Karen Zupko, President “C an This Marriage Be Saved?” was a McCall’s Magazine column I used to read with great fascination as a teenager. Each month, a psychologist would address questions from real readers whose marriages were on the rocks. The problems were frequently related to miscommunication, money,...
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10 Things a Billing Service Should Provide Your Practice
Aesthetic Society News – Summer 2016 by Karen Zupko, President Last week, a plastic surgeon from Tennessee called. He outsources his bill six months ago and asked which reports the service should send him each month. To date, he had not received any reports, and cash flow was slow. A client with a blended reconstructive...
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10 Non-Financial Reasons Patients Don’t Schedule
There is a common perception among aesthetic surgeons that the primary reason a patient doesn’t schedule surgery is because of the fee. You aren’t “cheap” enough. You won’t discount or haggle. Someone across town charges less so they probably scheduled with him/her.