You Don't Need a Doctor
A funny thing has happened to the medispa industry. They now feel you don’t need a doctor for your cosmetic medical and surgical needs. Their thinking and marketing promotes technician expertise to the public. They often have an emergency room doctor or other non-cosmetic trained physician listed as a medical director. This legitimizes the practice of medicine in the medispa according to state requirements. Often they employ nurses or other paramedical personnel but as near as I can tell a squirrel with its fur shaved is still a squirrel and a nurse who takes a job as a sales lady is still a saleswoman.
About 8 weeks ago I got a call from one of these spas asking if I would be interested in working with them. The deal is they sell surgery to a client for an average fee of $10,000.00 (according to the spokesman who had contacted me) and they schedule the surgery at my surgicenter. They pay me $1500.00 to perform whatever surgery the salesperson has sold the client and after Drs Lack, Rachel, or Franco take care of this person the client returns to the medispa. I actually forgot about the offer until 2 days ago when I consulted with 2 patients who had already had consults at that medispa and had come for a second opinion. Both related the same story. The saleswoman at the spa listened to their requests and outlined a surgical plan. They were each told they would meet the doctor the day of surgery and they were not given the name of the doctor. There was no attempt at education and no discussion comparing risks and benefits and no pictures of before and after patients. One of the patients was quoted $20,000.00 for her fee, but was offered a 50% discount if she would sign up that day. I forgot to ask the second patient what her charge was. Both patients were unhappy with the interview they had received and both said they would not have surgery performed by such a clinic.
Questions arise in my mind:
Why would someone go to a medispa for surgical concerns?
Why is this business venture not prosecuted by the state as fee splitting?
Why are so many doctors employing paramedical technicians to inject fillers and Botox? Are they mimicking the medispa business plan: profit at any cost? What is their training in injections, dosing, methodology, taking care of complications?
What about doctors who do Botox parties. Are patients receiving good medical care or is this the new spa mimic?
Idle thoughts:
You get what you pay for in life
Generation Y, ala Obama administration, is changing the way society seeks expertise and evaluates it. You think I exaggerate? Think about what the Clinton administration did to sexual mores and the proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases among young people. Think about the apathy of the Bush administration and the desecration of small business and subsequent recession.
Edward Lack MD
About 8 weeks ago I got a call from one of these spas asking if I would be interested in working with them. The deal is they sell surgery to a client for an average fee of $10,000.00 (according to the spokesman who had contacted me) and they schedule the surgery at my surgicenter. They pay me $1500.00 to perform whatever surgery the salesperson has sold the client and after Drs Lack, Rachel, or Franco take care of this person the client returns to the medispa. I actually forgot about the offer until 2 days ago when I consulted with 2 patients who had already had consults at that medispa and had come for a second opinion. Both related the same story. The saleswoman at the spa listened to their requests and outlined a surgical plan. They were each told they would meet the doctor the day of surgery and they were not given the name of the doctor. There was no attempt at education and no discussion comparing risks and benefits and no pictures of before and after patients. One of the patients was quoted $20,000.00 for her fee, but was offered a 50% discount if she would sign up that day. I forgot to ask the second patient what her charge was. Both patients were unhappy with the interview they had received and both said they would not have surgery performed by such a clinic.
Questions arise in my mind:
Why would someone go to a medispa for surgical concerns?
Why is this business venture not prosecuted by the state as fee splitting?
Why are so many doctors employing paramedical technicians to inject fillers and Botox? Are they mimicking the medispa business plan: profit at any cost? What is their training in injections, dosing, methodology, taking care of complications?
What about doctors who do Botox parties. Are patients receiving good medical care or is this the new spa mimic?
Idle thoughts:
You get what you pay for in life
Generation Y, ala Obama administration, is changing the way society seeks expertise and evaluates it. You think I exaggerate? Think about what the Clinton administration did to sexual mores and the proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases among young people. Think about the apathy of the Bush administration and the desecration of small business and subsequent recession.
Edward Lack MD
posted by Edward Lack MD at 8:42 AM
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