ARTICLE: Pre- and Post-Procedural Care Best Practices to Enhance Energy-Based Treatment Outcomes

Importance of Overall Treatment Experience

The following comment, submitted by Dr. Burns in the survey, generated much discussion: "I am convinced that patients want an experience. Patients will choose experience and service over results." Participants agreed that as devices and products improve, making outcomes more predictable, the total patient experience becomes an important new treatment criterion.

Dr. Kilmer: “I really do think that the experience that patients have is so much more important than I appreciated before. You think it's all one thing, but it's the whole thing. With Alastin products, patients don't have to do soaks as much, they heal faster, they're back in their makeup faster, everything works better. We've maximized what we can do with a procedure, now we are maximizing the whole experience. I'm just talking CO2 right now because that's the most dramatic.”

Dr. Geronemus: “I've been an enthusiastic Alastin Skincare user for quite a few years now, and our usage continues to grow, as does the excitement among the physicians in our practice. In response to Suzanne Kilmer’s pre- and post-regimen, in my situation, I think people want simple. I don't offer that many options. I strictly stick to the Alastin Procedure Enhancement System Regimen. I do not use vinegar soaks anymore, knock on wood, and don’t see infections. I'm simply using some soaking with sterile water. That seems to work quite well with the Alastin Procedure Enhancement System for pre-treatment or the post-treatment, as I mentioned before.”

Dr. Karimi: “The experience really reflects on the office, so obviously, from the person who answers the phones to the person prescribing the skincare, it's all part of your brand. So, if the skincare fits with the brand and it is doing what you want it to do, then I think in that sense, yes, it is definitely part of the experience and very important.”

Dr. Geronemus: “My main reason for using products is to ensure the outcome of the procedures that I perform, and historically, I have had a lot of issues pre- and post-treatment where patients were using things without guidance, and without thought, and were using products that would be counterproductive to the efforts that we were making. But I think in terms of experience, patients very much appreciate when a physician recommends the perioperative treatment regimen in terms of concern for optimizing the outcome. So, I think Alastin fits in very nicely with the entire process, and the entire experience that we're trying to provide our patients in terms of providing them the ultimate benefit from the treatment and the recovery.”

Dr. Tanzi: “I use the Alastin products frequently with larger laser procedures because these treatments are a significant investment for patients in terms of time and resources. They want to know they're going to squeak out every possible benefit from the procedure. So, if they are making the initial investment in a larger laser procedure, after learning about the products, most patients will choose to use them to enhance the experience.”

Dr. Saedi: “Yes, and that's going back to what Liz [Tanzi] was saying about maximizing results but also improving the experience. Patients do want to get the most out of every procedure and are willing to invest in skincare to enhance their results.”

Dr. Burns: “I want the patients to have an experience. I want them to have not just an interaction where they simply pay you for a service. I want our practice to be the land of “yes”. I want their experience to be something that looks and feels a little different. I want them, when they leave, to say, "You can't believe what happened there. This is what happens when you go to this clinic". Part of that experience is having less downtime. That's all part of it. I want them to know that we pay not only attention to the service itself, but everything that surrounds that treatment, like comfort of the treatment and optimizing recovery. I think that's where Alastin fits in, as part of that experience, with regard to decreased redness and downtime. For the first time, the pre-treatment makes a lot of sense.”

Summary: Overall, participants agreed that rejuvenation procedures represent a significant investment in time and money for their patients and they expect the most for their investment. Any treatment, in addition to the actual rejuvenation procedure, that improves outcomes, shortens downtime, and increases patient convenience is desirable and will enhance the reputation of their practice.

Patient and Energy-Based Treatment-Tailoring Considerations, Selection

Dr. Kilmer: “For any given indication, when I start off, I consider whether they have darker or lighter skin, acne-prone or not, reactive skin or not, downtime (length and intensity), and the cost – I don't think about it as much when I'm doing a big deal procedure, but I do think about it a lot more for the lesser procedures. Sometimes they pick those procedures not just because they want less downtime, but because they don't want to spend as much money. I think that anything that makes recovery time shorter has value. If I can speed up the recovery and the downtime, that's a huge benefit. The way I look at it, I tell everybody that, basically, whatever we are going to do is based on your pocket-book size, your fear factor and what you are afraid to do or not to do, what will react with your skin, and how much benefit you want to get versus how much pain and downtime you can tolerate.”

Dr. Karimi: “Probably time availability for recovery. That's really