Download PDF - The Dermatologist

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Pathways: Winter 2005 continued from page 1 handful of pharmaceutical companies, including Johnson & Johnson. COSMECEUTICALS IN THE OFFICE SETTING Dr. Mary Lupo, a New Orleans dermatologist who has her own line of skin care products, said she first considered embarking on the project in 1989.“I liked [alphahydroxy acids] and couldn’t get information from companies on acid concentrations, etc.,” said Lupo, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Tulane University Medical School. “It took me until 1994 to find a biochemist I thought I could work with.” Her product line came out the next year and now includes 10 items. Lupo displays her skin care products in a pedestal case that takes up “no more [space] than a chair.” She also has another case where patients check out of the office, from which staff can retrieve products. “The case has storage underneath, and we have more products down in our laser area,” she said. Lupo estimates that dispensing products takes “a few hours” a month to educate patients, monitor inventory, and otherwise handle the items. In addition to her own line, Lupo dispenses two others, Procyte and Kinerase, and will soon carry a third, Prevage. How does she choose which products to offer? “The most important element in deciding is to believe in the products you sell and understand how to recommend them to patients. It should not be about money but rather good patient care. If they are doing well and like their existing products, I don’t push mine just to make a sale.” Dr. Patricia Farris, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Tulane University Medical Center, in New Orleans, said she uses herself as her own guinea pig.“I never buy anything that I don’t try myself. Personally, I can’t sell anything I don’t love. My motto is ‘great products at a great price point.’” Farris said most of the fun dispensing products comes when she talks with patients about what works and what doesn’t, “and saving them money on expensive brands that are not worth the money” is also pretty enjoyable. “Patients really appreciate this and find it a value-added service.” As for the business end, how much doctors make depends on how committed they are to dispensing, she said. Many dermatologists sell products in the office. Fewer take the time to talk with patients about what they should be using. More often, those recommendations come from office staff instead of the physicians themselves, a practice that should be reversed, she said. What happens if a product doctors sell is no longer produced or for some reason loses luster—leaving patients on a limb? That’s a risk, admits Farris.“We have had problems with products that are discontinued, but I try to find something to replace it with that is comparable.” While a growing number of dermatologists dispense cosmeceuticals, they’re now competing, often unsuccessfully, with the Internet. Dr. Mark Nestor, director of the Center for Cosmetic Enhancement, in Aventura, FL, sells his own line of cosmetic products, as well as selects others that he likes. “If you dispense appropriately and ethically, we’re essentially giving benefit to patients that they don’t have otherwise,” said Nestor, who is also an associate professor of dermatology and cutaneous surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine.“You can’t get these cosmeceuticals most are dispensing elsewhere.” Nestor’s practice has offered patients several product lines in recent years. He also has developed a touchscreen computer system, called Dermassist, that guides patients to the products right for their particular skin types. Patients who want to buy something are given a one-month supply of the item, which they must pay for out of pocket, since health insurance doesn’t cover the items. If the product doesn’t help, Nestor added, he will work with the patient to find something better. While a growing number of dermatologists dispense cosmeceuticals— surveys show about 40 percent, Nestor said—they’re now competing, often unsuccessfully, with the Internet. “Some companies and doctors are looking at this as a quick revenue source, and that undercuts doctors who sell them in the office” where overhead is higher than in cyberspace. “Patients are coming in saying, ‘You charge me more than what I can get on the Internet.’”That’s friction no one wants, he said. As a result, doctors are increasingly turning to proprietary product lines that offer brand distinction. “They make sure it’s a private label,” he said. Dr. Kenneth Beer, founder of Palm Beach Esthetic Center, in West Palm Beach, FL, has been selling his own label of skin care products for a decade. But the label has changed several times over the years, as Beer struggled to find a producer with which he felt comfortable. Usually, the rifts that forced breakups involved poor packaging or, more often, weak product and sales support.“If a company sells you a product and that’s the last time you hear from them, and they never come in to see how things are going, you sit with inventory, your staff doesn’t want to sell it, and patients don’t want to buy it,” he said. Beer has been buying his current product line, Palm Beach Esthetic, from the same New York-based supplier for the last five years, a relationship he considers successful. However, he is about to make a significant shift away from office-based dispensing by opening a day spa dedicated to skin care procedures. The move will free up his office staff members, who already are swamped with cosmetic patients and “don’t have the time or the desire to deal with products,” he PAGE 2
Dispensing Cosmeceuticals Photo courtesy of Evelyn Jones, MD, Paducah, KY. Opening a day spa that focuses exclusively on skin care could spur sales of creams and lotions that languish on the shelves of a dermatology suite. said. It will also vacate much needed real estate in his office, which can’t handle any more display cases. Financial considerations also play a role in the decision, Beer said. He typically turns over product inventory every 30 to 45 days. “It’s less than I’d hoped for, and we’d like to turn it faster,” he said. Opening a day spa that focuses exclusively on skin care could spur sales of creams and lotions that languish on the shelves of a dermatology suite. Like many of his colleagues, Beer was attracted to dermatology because of the entrepreneurial prospects it promised. “You have the opportunity to do a few very interesting business things,” he said, including creating individualized product lines—something he said he wanted to do from the start of his medical career. New dermatologists, he advises, should start thinking about that side of their practices immediately. “I would start it early. It’s a lot easier to set the stage early and build your own brand as you’re building your practice then to have your brand built and say, ‘Hey, I want to modify it.’” ■ REFERENCE 1. Tsao A.The changing face of skin care. BusinessWeek online. November 30, 2004. Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/ bwdaily/dnflash/nov2004/nf20041130_096 2_db035.htm. Accessed December 29, 2004. Adam Marcus is a contributing editor for Skin & Aging magazine. Send correspondence to Adam by e-mail at amarcus3@nyc.rr.com. PAGE 3
Page 1: Volume 5, Number 1 Winter 2005 Brou
Page 5 and 6: Getting Published tive, and others
Page 7 and 8: Getting Published author and may pi

Download PDF - The Dermatologist

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?