I recently conducted a survey via LinkedIn of over 500 dermatologists and plastic surgeons across the country. It revealed that time constraints, staff education and patient education are some of the biggest challenges to retailing skincare in a medical practice. In my own practice, I came across these same problems. That’s why I developed the Skin Type Solutions System, a software methodology that streamlines the process of skin typing and customized skincare recommendations to benefit both your patients and your practice.
These are just some of the ways that using a methodology to prescribe skincare to your patients can help them see better outcomes and save you precious time.
1. It helps to identify patient skin types quickly while in the waiting room.
Before a patient even walks into the exam room, they have already answered the short Baumann Skin Type® questionnaire, which matched them with a one of the 16 Baumann Skin Types. So not only does this save you time in the exam room, but it also keeps new patients occupied while in the waiting room.
2. Your staff can correctly make educated skincare recommendations.
Because your staff members are all following the same system that you are, they will be able to recommend the proper skincare regimens based on a patient’s skin type without having to consult you. This also ensures that your patients get consistent and accurate recommendations, every time they walk through your door.
3. It’s easier to keep your staff educated and up-to-date on the latest science and ingredients.
Your staff doesn’t need to know everything about the science behind the latest skincare ingredients and science to make the right recommendations. They just need to match products to patients the way you would. So how do you teach them to treat a dry-skinned, rosacea patient’s wrinkles vs. a normal-skinned aging patient’s wrinkles? If you have a methodology in place, they can simply match the skin type with the corresponding products.
4. Software makes recommendations for you and your staff.
The Skin Type Solutions software makes recommendations for you and your staff, which allows for consistency across your practice. All you have to do is change the product that you want to carry within the software, and suddenly, your entire staff is recommending the same products to that patient skin type.
5. When the patient asks any staff member a question, they get the same answer.
Imagine this scenario: you sell five different eye creams and you have five staff members. The patients asks three staff members, “Which eye cream is best for me?” Are you certain each of your staff will give them the same answer? Using a software-based methodology that has already identified the patient’s main eye concerns and matched them with the most efficacious product that you have in inventory is key. This will ensure that each staff member gives the patient the same answer, every time.
6. Your staff members will choose products based on skin type, not based on brand biases.
You want your staff members to choose products based on how well they match the patient’s skin type and efficacy; not because of which brand rep they like the best or which products they personally like. How can you control this if you do not have a methodology?
7. Having a methodology helps you better track outcomes.
If you give all dry acne patients a retinoid and the same foaming cleanser and they get irritated, you start to learn that dry acne patients on retinoids do better with creamy non-foaming cleansers, while oily acne patients do better with a foaming cleanser. Without a standardized protocol (i.e. telling them to use any cleanser) you will not recognize these patterns.
8. It makes your life easier.
Using a standardized methodology lets you think less, get more help from your staff, and have fewer side effects and therefore better outcomes for your patients.
If you’d like more information about how the Skin Type Solutions Franchise system works, feel free to contact us directly online, send an email to info@stsfranchise.com, or call our Miami office at 305-714-5322.
To be a part of future LinkedIn surveys and to read more articles on skincare ingredient science and skin typing, feel free to connect with me (Leslie Baumann) on LinkedIn.
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