5 Tips to Reduce the Work of an Aesthetic Provider!
In honor of national “Work Like a Dog Day” (yes, that’s a thing) we decided it would be helpful to outline five simple ways to make your day easier so that you DON’T HAVE TO work like a dog (although we love to honor our hardest workers)! Everyone knows that in an aesthetic practice, whether you’re a very large or small practice, most employees wear many hats. As multi-tasking is common procedure for the typical aesthetic business, below are five simple ways to alleviate yourself or your staff today, tomorrow, and hopefully every day in the future.
- Prioritize your tasks. Define what’s most important for you to accomplish and DO IT FIRST. So often we spend the first part of our day, which should be the most productive, on remedial tasks that are easy to complete, but don’t add value to the business. These tasks may make us feel like we’ve accomplished something worthwhile when in reality, the most critical tasks are left undone.
- Don’t take short cuts…short cuts are never shorter. Temptation in the typical aesthetic practice may include skipping documentation & proper charting, selling a cosmetic Rx without a prescription, or sending patient information through a mobile phone or unsecured system. All of these choices may save a little time, but could eventually affect the health of a patient, your HIPAA compliance, or your overall compliance with a state board and/or state and federal regulations…all of which, will take up more time to resolve in the future.
- Delegate the tasks that others can do just as well (if not better). I’ve been to a number of aesthetic practices where I’ve met a physician with an outstanding team only to find out that the physician prefers to manage most aspects of the practice alone. Managing ‘marketing, purchasing, and scheduling’ is not a one-person job—nor should the key providers in a practice be doing ALL of this independently. Save yourself the time and delegate. You’ll free up your time for high-revenue treatments which makes you not only more efficient, but more profitable!
- Lean on groups (of similar practices) for help & advice. This doesn’t mean I expect you to become best friends with your competitor down the street. Find a buying group, an educational network, or association to keep you up to date with current treatments, best practices and cost-savings. Buying groups and GPOs (like MedResults Network) take the headache out of purchasing by negotiating for benefits on products and services so you don’t have to. Organizations like ASPS, ASAPS, ADAM, etc. offer networking and educational opportunities that you can use in your practice to improve process efficiencies.
- USE YOUR NETWORKS. Did you read number 4? The most common mistake I see aesthetic practices make daily, is when they sign up for a buying group or trade organization and they NEVER use the benefits available to them! Think how much time you could save by using forums to find answers to your questions, by relying on a buying group to help you secure your cost-savings from a wide range of vendors and by attending educational conferences to improve your performance.
This all sounds like added work, but by incorporating each of these steps into your daily/monthly routine (and mindset), you’ll save time and money AND you’ll be operating ethically, legally, and more profitably.
Jamie Parrott, MBA, Vice President & COO, MedResults Network
