When the time comes for a surgeon to open their first practice, what methods should they focus on for success in plastic surgery?
From the promotion of new procedures, to looking closer into well-being and healthy habits, aesthetics can often be a range of things.
If not projected in the correct way it may present itself as a lot of hype and little substance.
There are various methods that surgeons can implement from the initial planning of opening a practice. Not only is it important to have a clear plan for the practice and team, but also ensures organization is followed within the years to come.
Thorough preparation leads the way for a healthy working environment and success for practices’ overall, and can be achieved in several ways.
- The Benefit Of In-Depth Consultations
- Start Smart And Small
- Identifying Emerging Trends
- Specializing In Your Field
- Correctly Balancing Internal And External Beauty
- Overall Wellness
- Conclusion
The Benefit Of In-Depth Consultations For Success In Plastic Surgery
Practices can hugely benefit from having a clear guide for staff members on how consultations should be performed.
Consultations hold the key to initiating a healthy patient and surgeon relationship. From the questions surgeons must ask, to training of how to sensitively approach patients.
Asking The Right Questions
As previously mentioned in our blog post “Will Some Patients Be Dissatisfied No Matter What”, the questions that are asked within consultations should be well thought out and consistent.
This helps create a clear practice identity.
It may prove beneficial to have a general set of questions that will be asked to patients.
Read our blog post “Will Some Patients Be Dissatisfied No Matter What?”
However, through thorough staff training, practices should seek to learn additional information that can make them better informed about patients. The importance here should be focused on understanding what type of questions are:
- Relevant
- Not too personal
- Help build authentic trust
This may start with setting a clear intention to always allow time for patients to share their past experiences. By making way for conversations like this, it will help to give a clear indication of numerous things such as:
- What did not work for this patient in the past
- Patient expectations
- Possible vulnerabilities in which your practice can help put them at ease
This all comes down to intelligently finding opportunities to exceed patient expectations. By having a deeper understanding of individuals.
The Correct Consultations Duration For Success In Plastic Surgery
The consultation time should be long enough to cover all of the necessary information required for both sides to be well informed.
Just as you need to gain as much detailed information as possible about patients, patients should have a clear understanding of their surgeon.
Ensuring additional time, to allow prospective patients to ask questions that may need an in-depth response.
If a patient feels that their questions have been unanswered due to a time limit, or they feel a sense of urgency to finish the consultation, this transcends a feeling of unimportance towards the patient.
On the other hand, patients are likely to take comfort in their queries being answered in a relaxed environment.
Dr. Lubna Khan-Salim says how she loves when patients ask questions in consultations. She sees this as a good representation of how they will be as a patient.
For example, patients who seem genuinely interested in all parts of their procedure journey, are often more likely to be great patients to deal with (taking things such as aftercare seriously).
A practice’s goal must be to make patients feel that their well being and interests are always priority.
Staff Training
Staff training goes hand in hand with the importance of allowing the necessary time in consultation. Properly trained staff will have knowledge of all of the above, including the ability to approach different patients in different ways.
Practices will inevitably deal with a range of different kinds of patients. From eager individuals, to patients who may be slightly nervous regarding their potential procedure.
The ability to read situations, and understand the best way to communicate, is an important factor for staff within a practice. No two people are the same, therefore, in-depth staff training is essential to create a highly trained and adaptable team.
Start Smart And Small
When opening a new practice, Dr.Lubna shares how it is better to start smart and small. From successfully identifying emerging trends and specializing in specific procedures.
Identifying Emerging Trends For Success In Plastic Surgery
Identifying new trends will give your practice the opportunity to stand out from the first moment of opening.
Being one step ahead is crucial to succeeding success in plastic surgery. If prospective patients see you have been performing a certain procedure for a longer period than other practices, they may often have more faith and trust in your ability, considering your additional experience.
Specializing In Your Field For Success In Plastic Surgery
When it comes to cosmetics and plastic surgeries, there are endless options you can provide as a practice. However, trying to over provide at the beginning may come with its disadvantages.
Firstly, this limits the chance to show a clear identity, as prospective patients won’t be able to distinguish where your expertize lies. It could be more beneficial to be known as the best doctor to offer a certain procedure, rather than a surgeon who offers everything.
When asked about the ‘5 things he wishes someone told him’ before he started his surgeon career, Dr.William Rahal shares how important it is to ‘specialize in your field’.
His most popular procedure is 360 liposuction and BBL, he says how he has been referred to as the ‘surgeon who invented 360 liposuction with the BBL’, and even though he shares how “this is not the case”, this is the result of specializing in a procedure and then proceeding to become so well known for it.
Read the Authority Magazine article with Dr. Rahal
In addition to this, focusing on too many different procedures limits the chance to be the best in one area. It can be argued that to be the best at something, it requires in-depth experience and knowledge, therefore, focusing on numerous procedures does not give a chance to be a specialist in one specific area.
Correctly Balancing Internal And External Beauty
While aesthetics are focused on external beauty, Dr. Lubna shares how practices should not forget the importance of internal beauty. The ability to do so means balancing both with equal significance.
There are several ways that practices can ensure they are balancing internal and external beauty correctly.
Listen to our podcast episode with Dr. Lubna Kalim-Salim
Overall Wellness
Promotion of a healthy lifestyle is also a great ethos to consider when opening a practice.
Overall wellness goes right down to the things we eat and how we spend our free time.
One of the responsibilities of being a surgeon is to provide a safe, informative space for patients.
Showing patients that you also give importance to internal wellness shows care, an essential characteristic for many prospective patients.
Promoting how staying positive and healthy from the inside can transcend into external beauty and wellness.
Offering patients informative guides on how they should be taking care of themselves pre and post-procedure.
Conclusion
Whether surgeons arrive at the time to open their first practice or find themselves in a position to expand, the best route for surgeons to choose is subjective.
Surgeons should not be afraid to think big, but must consider the advantages of starting small to grow authentically at a sustainable pace.
The secret may lay with finding the right balance of being open to adapt and move forward with the times. However, not to be in a hurry to win the race, which leaves room to possible compromise on procedure quality and expertize.