With the recent advent of non-invasive / non-surgical feminine rejuvenation therapy into the medical marketplace, physicians from many different specialties have been increasingly incorporating these new procedures into their practices. They have done so largely with a desire to augment their financial bottom line as health insurance reimbursements have decreased over the last decade.
Dermatologists though, have been less likely to add these services than those in other specialties. The reasons for this vary from statements such as, “Treating women’s common medical disorders would be a major departure for a dermatology practice,” to, “My hands are full just managing my practice day to day and I can’t imagine adding more procedures.”
We at California Dermatology Care in San Ramon, Calif., were at first skeptical about entering into this new wave of non-surgical vaginal therapy, but due to the recent surge in interest and the high number of requests from our patients, we took a leap of faith and made the decision to add vaginal therapy to our practice. A great deal of investigative work was required to find the right device for our office due to the many different kinds of products available. We found a large number of competing systems ranging from CO2 or Erbium lasers to radiofrequency (RF) and RF / ultrasound combo devices.
We made a list of preferred requirements to help narrow down our search for a device that was non-ablative, required no consumables, had minimal to no discomfort, provided the shortest possible treatment time, had no known side effects, and minimal downtime. Since the CO2 laser is and has been considered the gold standard for tissue rejuvenation for many decades we decided to select this type of device over other technologies.
Of the eight CO2 laser systems available in the U.S. for feminine therapy, the V-Lase® system by Lasering USA (San Ramon, Calif.) was the only non-ablative system with a short, 15-minute treatment time that also met all of our other requirements. As well, the MiXto laser platform (for which the V-Lase handpiece is an accessory) can also perform ablative facial fractional resurfacing on all skin types. Many of the patients we treat are of skin type IV, so having a laser that can treat these darker skin types is an added benefit to my practice.
Whether you are a male dermatologist, plastic surgeon, or of another specialty, we have found that using female staff (such as physician assistants or nurse practitioners) to do the feminine therapy treatments is more effectual as patients are more comfortable with female providers and this frees up the physician to do other things.
The addition of V-Lase has led to such a huge expansion of my medical practice that I’ve created a separate Woman’s Wellness Center. Our success is due to effective internal marketing to existing patients and educating them during the consultation. We explain the benefits of the V-Lase treatment over other devices and technologies. Our patients love the results and word-of-mouth referrals continue to grow our center.
V-Lase has been a great return on our investment. Along with our purchase of a V-Lase system, Lasering USA provided professional marketing assistance by Cosmetic Networks, which included internal and external marketing (using social media), personalized video ads, a video website landing page, patient nurturing, call tracking and monthly analytics reports.
