Medical Spa Consulting

Spa Biz Consultants, LLC has an experienced team of industry experts dedicated to assisting you in the pre-planning, operational development, capital acquisition and marketing of your medical spa facility. Unlike many consulting services, the principles and staff of Spa Biz Consultants have first-hand knowledge of each phase of spa development having co-founded, owned and operated The Institute for Advanced Skincare and Optimal Health and The Shanti Medical Spa.

Seema Patel MD, MPH president of Spa Biz Consultants offers significant knowledge and comprehensive experience in both the medical and the business entrepreneurial disciplines to give you a significant competitive advantage. Her clinical medical expertise combined with her business training and practical experience provides a unique combination of skill-sets that provide comprehensive advisory ability to the nascent or mature facility.

Aesthetic and cosmetic goals can be pursued
in a variety of medical spa settings

• A medical office offering a combination of medical procedures and spa services.
• A spa where doctors supervise or administer aesthetic/cosmetic procedures.
• A medical establishment where doctors offer traditional medical services and procedures in a setting that is spa-like and non-traditional.
• A hospital that offers aesthetic/cosmetic spa therapies and services.
• A cosmetic dental office with a spa-like environment and spa services.
• Cosmetic centers where pre- and post-operative spa therapies are available.
• A wellness center that focuses on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), where non-traditional health care professionals may practice.
• An integrative center that combines traditional medicine with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
• Combinations of the above.
• New models yet to be developed

Do you have a plan for your Medical Spa's success?

Common Important but unanswered questions. At Spa Biz Consulting, we help you find the right answer to this question, as well as the myriad others arising from opening a business such as a Medical Spa:

• What is your market size?
• What are the demographics of your market, and how does this compare with spa users overall? Day spa users? Medical spa users?
• What is the volume of business that can be generated by your market?
• What spa and medical services and products will you offer and what facilities, equipment and staff will be required to provide them to your target market?
• Who is your competition, and what kind of competition are they?
• Will my business model be profitable? Will it provide desired returns for the required investment?
• Do you need a formal business plan?
Contact us today!

PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE MEDICAL SPA
The primary purpose of the medical spa is to expand and complement the medical practice by offering a variety of medical aesthetic or health and wellness modalities in conjunction with complementary spa treatments including but not limited to facials, massage, and hydrotherapy (wet treatments). Many medical spas have further expanded their services and have become “full service” facilities also offering cosmetic and nutritional advice, healthy and nutritious spa cuisine, manicures, pedicures, hair services and an apothecary.

THE NEED FOR A SPA ANCHOR
A shopping mall offers a variety of services and products but its ability to attract customers and be a financial success depends to a large degree on the strength of its primary or anchor tenant. The same can be said of a medical spa - in order to be a success, we believe that a medical spa must be anchored by a successful medical practice. And in our opinion, those anchor practices or medical specialties that have the best chance of succeeding as a medical spa are plastic surgery , dermatology , obstetrics and gynecology, general internal medicine or integrative medicine. Our experience indicates that it is very difficult for a non-medical entrepreneur to develop a financially successful medical spa that is unrelated to an existing practice using physicians who are either employees or independent contractors.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF THE MEDICAL SPA TO THE CLIENT?
The medical spa allows the client or patient to receive a wide variety of spa services that not only complement the medical services offered by the practitioner but expand those services into the client’s home. By doing so, greater emphasis is placed on the overall health and wellness of the client including home maintenance through a holistic medical approach that includes not only the body, but the mind and spirit as well.

WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF THE MEDICAL SPA TO THE MEDICAL PRACTITIONER?
The primary benefits of the medical spa to the medical practitioner are to improve the overall quality of the medical services delivered through the practice and to improve the overall economic viability of the medical practice.

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE MEDICAL SPA
The term medical spa has come to define a variety of enterprises ranging from an aesthetician offering Microdermabrasion; to plastic surgeons and dermatologists offering laser hair removal, fillers, Botox and chemical peels; to non-medical doctors offering a wide range of natural medicine and spa services; to chiropractors offering acupuncture and wellness services; to dentists offering skincare and massage treatments; as well as licensed physicians offering a variety of alternative and complementary medicine - not to mention all the variations in between. As a result, the general public has had to maneuver carefully through this maze of “so-called” medical spas in search of what a medical spa is or should be.

A survey by SpaFinder and SpaTrade reported in January 2005 indicates that people in the northeastern U.S. were more aware of medical spas and liked the term better than people who were located in California. Interestingly, less than 5% of these spa-going consumers thought anti-aging hormone therapy, Botox, full body scanning, mammography, or sclerotherapy procedures were appropriate to have performed in a spa. None felt that liposuction should be. There was slightly less resistance to laser skin resurfacing and in-office tooth whitening being offered in a spa, while up to half felt microdermabrasion, laser hair removal, permanent makeup, and/or glycolic peels were acceptable in a spa facility. As noted by Griffin, “these responses suggest that hiring a physician to provide these services in a day spa may not be a good strategy: “Medical” implies higher levels of credibility, good results, and overall safety.”

Based on these observations and our experience, Spa Biz Consulting firmly believes that a medical spa should be organized with two important principles in mind: First, a medical spa should have a medical director on site who is licensed to practice a specialty that is related to the spa services being offered. Any other form of spa organization is misleading to the public and should be avoided. Second, the medical director should be an owner of the business and not merely an independent contractor or employee of the owner. In other words, the medical director should have a vested interest in the financial outcome of the business.

Dr Patel’s SpaBiz Tip

Check with the state medical board to see who can perform laser and other medical aesthetic services. If you are not a physician, you may have trouble starting a medical spa.

Medi-Spa Success Story

As President and co-founder of The Institute for Advanced Skincare and Optimal Health, Corporate Wellness Partners and Shanti Medical Spa and Wellness, Dr Patel has used it as a proving ground for her own medical spa ideas. This gives Spa Biz Consultants a unique advantage over most consultants, in that its advice is founded in the actual operations of a medical spa by a physician who understands the uni que challenges of integrating a retail medicine model with sound clinical services.

Give Spa Biz Consultants a call and let us discuss how we can help you turn your medical practice or spa operation into a successful medical spa operation. Contact us today!

The industry average profit margin for medical spa facilities approaches 6-7%. Efficiency in operations is essential for long term success. This begins with concept development and continues on through the various stages of operations. Fifty percent of facilities will fail within two years for various reasons resulting in substantial personal and institutional financial loss.

Spa Biz Consultants offers a wide range of specific medical spa consulting services that deal with everything from concept and marketing plan, to staffing, capital acquisition, marketing and operations. These services may be purchase separately or they may be bundled into comprehensive integrated solution plans that we have found to be quite effective. We also customize other solutions to your specific needs.

Seema Patel MD, MPH president of Spa Biz Consultants offers significant knowledge and comprehensive experience in both the medical and the business entrepreneurial disciplines to give you a significant competitive advantage. Her clinical medical expertise combined with her business training and practical experience provides a unique combination of skill-sets that provide comprehensive advisory ability to the nascent or mature facility.

Her previous experience allows her a unique perspective as physician service provider and entrepreneurial business expert. The goal: cost effective, profitable delivery of cosmetic medical services with a focus on customer service in a retail business model. Our experience has suggested that the failure rate for medical spa is largely a function of inadequate due diligence, business plan design and operational strategy deficiencies.

Additionally, Dr Patel is also President of Corporate Wellness Partners, A Cenegenics Affiliate. She is a diplomate of The Cenegenics Institute.

Credentials
Seema Patel MD, MPH, Board Certified Physician, operates the state-of-the-art Cosmetic Medicine Center at The Institute for Advanced Skin Care and Optimal Health. The Institute integrates the most innovative western technology with a broad understanding of Eastern Asian principles of healing. "I understand that these different approaches to skincare and wellness are complimentary and not exclusive in our constant search to achieve the best results for each of our valued clients"

Dr Patel, born in Nairobi, Kenya received her medical degree from The Ohio State University before completing medical residency at The University of Illinois. While serving as an attending at Temple University in Philadelphia, she returned to prestigious The University of Michigan, her undergraduate institution, to complete her Masters degree in Public Health with an emphasis on Healthcare Administration.

She is co-founder of The Institute for Advanced Skincare and Optimal Health. An innovative concept, this facility offers advanced skin care and wellness in an Asian influenced spa environment. She is regionally and nationally known as an expert in the field of Age Management Medicine and is affiliated with the prestigious Cenegenics Institute. She has promotes a philosophy of "Inner Health and Outer Beauty" which underscores the importance of complimenting our best advanced skin care diagnostic and treatment options with a complete understanding of a client’s diet, nutrition, exercise and overall health status. This novel concept, although intuitive, has not previously been practiced widely. She is a highly sought after speaker on this innovative topic.

Dr Patel understands the unique differences of Indian skin. For example, the relatively high content of pigments make the development of discoloration with age and sun-damage more likely. We invite you to register to receive her monthly newsletter, or if you have specifics questions, you may want to participate in a one on one consultation. Whatever your needs are, she will have helpful advice to help you Look Good and Feel Great.

Dr Patel has previously resided in Mumbai and is currently in discussions to develop a Mumbai Advanced Skin Care and Wellness Center.