The Importance of a Treatment Plan
In this blog we discuss the importance of a treatment plan. Skincare and injectables is becoming more and more popular across the globe, from experts decoding celebrities secret “tweakments” to tell all routines on how to achieve that perfect glow.
You will find that as a practitioner you may have clients come to your clinic for a consultation and already have a treatment in mind, sometimes you will agree and sometimes you will not. Due to media and aesthetics being a hot topic conversation a lot of treatments can be misunderstood; how many times have we heard the terms “I don’t want to look like her” “I don’t want to look silly”.
It is important for you as the practitioner to keep your patients well informed, instead of focusing on the treatments, focusing on the end goal, what do they want to achieve from this? Together you can then create their bespoke treatment plan.
What should you include within a treatment plan?
You should lay your treatment plan out like a timeline for your patient and discuss each element including the breaks in between. Ensuring your patient understands the importance of the treatment plan.
For example, a lot of skincare treatments require a course of treatments which may also run into the next injectable treatment, by detailing this it helps the patient to feel prepared and understand the concept behind the plan.
We also suggest that you include skincare within your treatment plan, not only is this a great way to encourage some extra income into your practice but a good skincare routine is vital in creating long lasting results within aesthetics.
Should the patient pay upfront?
What we have found works for patients if they do not want to pay upfront is to create a payment plan with them, by agreeing an amount to be paid each month for the plan.
You can then package your treatments together, perhaps offer a complimentary facial or cream for each treatment plan to encourage patients.
How long should a treatment plan last for?
It all depends on yourself and your patient, we have found that sometimes especially for those new to treatments it is easier to start basic, book in a couple of injectables and a course of skin rejuvenation along with time to discuss skincare. You will find that the more you patient comes to see you and they can start to see the results, the more they will trust you and feel confident in asking about treatments and skincare.
Example treatment plan for a 47 year old woman with no history of treatment, currently on a basic skincare routine and wanting to reduce fine lines, feel more contoured and rejuvenate the skin:
- Consultation: discuss treatment options, agree on a plan. Talk through skincare, develop a routine she can follow easily, start basic and then add on as she gets more confident with using the products.
- First treatment: upper face botox, filler around the mouth and cheek filler to reduce fine lines and add a subtle contour to the face.
- Second treatment: injectable skincare such as rederm to help promote plumper, rejuvenated skin, use this time to catch up on how she is finding the skincare routine, see if you can add anything else to it.
- Third treatment: second set of injectable skincare treatments.
- Fourth treatment: third set of injectable skincare treatments, by this point your patient will have more ideas about their goals, they can start to see the difference and will feel confident talking to you about treatments and products, work together and agree on the plan.
Make sure you are taking pictures to document throughout the treatment plan so you can both see the difference the treatments are making, you can find out more about image consent here.
In summary, treatment plans are a great way to achieve the goals your patient is after, also allowing them to develop a greater understanding of treatments and that aesthetics is not a one size fits all industry.
The importance of a treatment plan can help you showcase your treatments and skincare whilst also bringing in more income to your clinic.
Most importantly, work together, your patient needs to trust you and feel confident in the decisions you are making together, this can be a daunting and expensive step so they need to feel safe in your hands.
