PracticalDermatology

When it comes to aesthetic medicine, patient satisfaction is paramount. Often, this means providing patients with optimal outcomes based on your aesthetic eye and a mutually agreed upon treatment plan. One way you may accomplish this goal is by establishing treatment packages with corresponding pricing that help patients visualize their outcomes in a simple, easy manner. If you’ve ever contemplated doing something like this but were unsure how to implement it, ahead are some considerations for incorporating it into your daily clinic routine.

Ways to Introduce Treatment Packages

1. Educate patients.

Informing patients of the causes and effects of aging and how they play a role in the signs of aging, may go a long way in getting patients to understand what treatments should be done and why. Once patients understand the “why” along with the “how” you can slow down the signs of aging, a treatment plan may be discussed that not only addresses their current concerns, but future concerns as well. Having this full anti-aging discussion with every patient may help to create patient buy-in. It also focuses the consultation on a collaborative aesthetic solution that has a more all-encompassing approach, as opposed to just addressing existing aesthetic concerns with a spot treatment.

2. Show results.

Presenting your patients with a picture that illustrates a level of correction that’s achievable may be extremely impactful. You may create these illustrations by showing before-and-after pictures of other patient or staff member results you’ve accomplished (with their permission, of course). When referencing these results, you may call each illustration either mild, moderate, or optimal correction when showing patients. This should allow patients to more easily relate to the desired result you’re trying to illustrate and, therefore, likely create a mutual understanding of the results each patient wants to achieve. Remember, by focusing on the results, you’re touching on both patient outcomes and packages, rather than just price to determine a patient outcome.

3. Consider using branded packages.

As discussed above, showing illustrations of what a mild, moderate, or optimal correction looks like may help in getting patients to visualize their desired outcome. Another way to describe these outcomes and possibly create relatability is to consider branding your packages with catchy, accessible phrases like “The Refreshed Look” or “The Ultimate.” This kind of branding may help you to stand out by differentiating the outcomes you provide patients compared to other places that offer similar procedures.

4. Leverage customer loyalty programs.

Customer loyalty programs are a great way to possibly increase patient adoption of treatment packages and commitment to maintenance visits through rewards. Ideally, the program rewards patient loyalty to your practice, as well as provides you with reliable patient analytics so you know your patients’ treatment behaviors and where opportunity exists for them to return for their treatments. If developing your own program seems daunting, then you may always ask your medical aesthetic vendors if they have a program to implement in your practice. Most offer a program that rewards patients for coming back to your practice, and, as a bonus, the vendors usually provide the financial incentive instead of it coming from your own pocket.

Why Offer Package Pricing

While introducing treatment packages may benefit your patients in terms of outcomes and satisfaction, it may also benefit the practice in the form of increased productivity and efficiency. Let’s examine how that’s possible.

1. Increased Procedural Value per Hour (PVpHr)

When it comes to pricing a procedure, one of the most important components is the amount of time you spend with each patient. Most of your time and cost is absorbed with that first treatment area, with any additional treatment areas likely having a negligible impact on your time. For instance, you might book 30 minutes for a procedure regardless if a patient receives treatment in one or three areas. Therefore, adding additional areas of treatment during that office visit may still take the same amount of time, but could increase the value of your time.

Below is a simple process to ascertain the value of your time, which will later help you determine adequate pricing for each package based on how much you think your time is worth.

First, determine how much money you make on each procedure using the equation below.

Procedure revenue - cost of goods sold (COGS) = gross profit

Second, determine how much time the procedure takes, accounting for all time variables, as illustrated below.

Consultation time + time to perform the procedure + any follow-up appointments to check on results or make touch-ups = total time spent on the procedure

Third, take your gross profit (from equation 1) and divide it by the amount of time spent on that procedure (from equation 2) to calculate how much money you make on that procedure on a per hour basis. Let’s propose the following figures for a treatment and do the math to calculate your PVpHR for one treatment area vs. three treatment areas.

1. $500: Amount you charge for one treatment area

2. $100: Your total COGS

3. 30 minutes: Total time you spend with that patient in the treatment room.

As illustrated above, by performing multiple treatment areas you may increase your PVpHr even when charging less per additional area, making it likely worth your time to offer and provide treatment packages. Should you think your time is worth more than what the PVpHr calculation reveals, you may always increase the package pricing (impacting the revenue line). Meanwhile, if you think your PVpHr overinflates a package, then you may make the opposite adjustment. Taking either action will likely elevate the PVpHR to an amount you feel is appropriate. It’s important to remember that by trying this exercise, you may get a true sense of how to value your time based on the effort you’re dedicating to a particular procedure.

2. Increased Productivity

To take your productivity to the next level, you may ask yourself “What percentage of my patients are achieving optimal outcomes? How many of my patients may benefit from such outcomes who aren’t currently opting for an optimal result?” If you’re able to increase that percentage even by a few points through treatment packages, imagine the increased productivity you may achieve per patient visit. Keep that in mind when determining your package pricing. The right balance between the price of your packages and the chance a patient commits to the agreed upon package must be struck to gain the possibility of enhanced productivity through treatment packages.

The Short of It

The goal in aesthetic medicine is to create amazing aesthetic results that make patients happy. Through patient education, mutually agreed upon results, and proper pricing strategies of treatment packages, providers may accomplish this goal while at the same time creating a productive, efficient practice. A win-win for all parties involved.