Medesthetics

NOV-DEC 2015

MedEsthetics magazines offers business education and in-depth coverage of the latest noninvasive cosmetic procedures for physicians and practice managers working in the medical aesthetics industry.

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technologies and are able to offer anything from major resurfacing, skin tightening and body sculpting to hair removal and more. It is really nice to have so many tools to choose from," she says. The Work-Life Balance As the owner of a growing dermatology practice, medspa and skincare line, Dr. Eberting still struggles to balance her professional life—and workaholic personality—with her love of being a mother. "I make every effort to be with my children when I am with my children," she says. "I also have an incredibly supportive husband and, though he is a very busy business and fi nancial executive, he fi lls in where and when I cannot. He does all that he can to support me in what I am doing." She realized after her second child was born that her life became less stressful when she employed two nannies, who work in a job share so if one is sick, there's always someone to cover. "This is one of the best tricks I ever learned about work-life balance," says Dr. Eberting. "My offi ce is also only one mile from my home, enabling me to do things for my children when needed. Despite all this, I must admit that I am a die-hard workaholic and I absolutely love what I do, so there is never a moment of boredom in our lives." Of note, she never, ever watches TV or spends any time on social media. Dr. Eberting describes her management style as being "very focused, always strategizing, and a little intense but not micromanagement. I also like to have fun and laugh at work every day, and I think that everyone should," she says. "We hire people who have experience in doing what we need them to do. We hold regular staff meetings, set goals and follow up on them. I expect the best and empower my employees to do what is expected. I let my team members know how much I appreciate and respect them—I can't overemphasize this one." Getting the Word Out Marketing has always been an important part of Dr. Ebert- ing's practice, but she feels her reputation and patient referral base is really what has helped the practice grow over the years. She estimates that 90% of all new patients come from referrals. To that end, she employs a number of in- house marketing strategies. She created a catalog book of all the cosmetic services offered by the practice, complete with before and after photos of each procedure. A copy of the book sits in each waiting room, at the front desk and in every patient room. There are fl at screen TVs that broadcast a video loop of available treatments in the reception area and most treatment rooms. "This makes patients aware of our services and opens the door for more cosmetic procedures, medical services and retail sales," says Dr. Eberting. Additionally, she worked with Richard Dick, PhD, author of Emerging Computer-Based Patient Record Systems and The Computer-Based Patient Record: An Essential Technology for Health Care, to create her own telemedicine clinic and inte- grated e-commerce site called AZIVA. "Part of our patent-pending technology is that each prod- uct and cosmetic service is linked to a free online cosmetic consultation in our telemedicine clinic," she says. "Patients can browse pricing and other specifi cs without even calling us." Patients can then purchase a procedure from the website or pay for it when they come in for the actual treatment. "It has worked as an incredible lead-generation tool to post the actual prices of our procedures and to integrate them with a real-time online consultation," says Dr. Eberting. "This required an incredible amount of work, but it has been amazing at upselling products and services while taking minimal employee time." Her practice philosophy is: The patient always comes fi rst. Accordingly, she makes sure to give her full attention to each person she treats. "We need to pay close attention to the patient experience. At the same time, we can't always accom- modate demand as if we are a drive-through," she says. "There may be a patient who walks in with a melanoma— I'm not going to reschedule them just because their appoint- ment time is up. When that happens, someone is going to have to wait. I always explain to the patient who had to wait, 'I hope you understand that if it were you who needed a melanoma excised today, I would do it for you rather than make you come back next week.' I am always thinking about how we can do things better, and how we can improve the patient experience." Keith Loria is a freelance writer based in Oaktown, VA. 44 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | Med Esthetics THE ENTREPRENEUR Roughly 90% of Alpine's patients come through referrals.

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