[Issue]Managing the Skin Care Room as an Extension of Treatment IV

Dr. Kim Joonyong and Ms. Kim Okgyung of Event Me Clinic

“Attracting attention with unique names”

Ms. Kim Okgyung is the manager and head beautician at Event Me Clinic. She is also serving as the Assistant Director. All matters that lie outside of medical procedures fall under her authority and she is trusted for her insights that come from her long experience. Dr. Kim Joonyong of Event Me Clinic wanted to hire a manager with extensive experience in the field of aesthetic medicine to share the customer service knowhow. That is why he decided to work with Ms. Kim who has worked as a manager at famous dermatologist and plastic surgery clinics and has experience running her own aesthetic spa.

“Event Me Clinic boasts an effective collaborative system between the doctor and the head beautician. The doctor develops various programs and the head beautician manages the skin care room and employees. All decisions are made collectively at meetings. Managing customer service is very important to a successful aesthetic practice. Employees who directly interact with patients for a long time play a very important role. Ms. Kim has been working in the field of aesthetic dermatology before the enactment of the Separation of Pharmaceutical Prescription and Dispensing Law in Korea. She has witnessed firsthand the myriad changes this market has experienced in the last few decades. Trusting her experience and knowhow, I appointed her as the Assistant Director.”

Event Me Clinic has been open for barely a year but it is always crowded with patients. The staff are often unable to take a proper lunch break. Dr. Kim considered many ways to differentiate their skin care service from other aesthetic businesses.

“Many businesses such as aesthetic spas, hotel spas and massage parlors, etc. offer skin care procedures. But many customers choose to receive their skin care from a medical specialist because they have sensitive skin and have higher expectations. Most of my patients seek treatment for melasma, signs of aging, lost elasticity, and acne. I think of our skin care room as an extension of treatment. All patients receive skin care treatments as prescribed by me.”

Event Me Clinic trains their beauticians to be complete professionals. As they spend a lot of time interacting with patients during skin care procedures, they need to have expert knowledge about patient care.

- Dr. Kim Joonyong and Ms. Kim Okgyung of Event Me Clinic

The website of Event Me Clinic shows interestingly named treatments such as “Juboc Injection” or “America Injection”, etc. Dr. Kim came up with unique names for the treatment as part of his effort to stand apart from other clinics.

“We gave unique names to our treatment programs so patients could remember them easily. We grouped similar conditions together under a single program. The “Clean Skin Program (four embossing treatments)” removes small protrusions such as warts and soft fibroma, etc. We also have a program called “red face treatment” which treats erythema by addressing many factors that cause redness.”

They also view the cosmetic products used in skin care as an extension of treatment. Ms. Kim who is in charge of selecting the right cosmetic products, vet the products based on their therapeutic benefits.

“We most often choose products with therapeutic ingredients as our patients receive = skin care for the purpose of treating their condition. In particular, our patients prefer that we use medical cosmetics not available in drug stores or on the internet. Some of the brands we prefer include Encos, Neostrata and By The Doctor, etc. The price of these products range from affordable to high-end and they are chosen based on the type of program the patient receives. We offer Valmont products for high-end customers.”

The website of Event Me Clinic shows interestingly named treatments such as “Juboc Injection” or “America Injection”, etc. This unique naming strategy helps Dr. Kim to stand apart from other aesthetic clinics.

- Dr. Kim Joonyong and Ms. Kim Okgyung of Event Me Clinic

Improving Customer Satisfaction with Meticulous Staff Training

The real secret to the success of Event Me Clinic’s skin care room is efficient communications with the patients by trained employees. Training is solely led by Ms. Kim.

“I lead one or two training sessions each week. I have also developed a training program for new employees. These sessions cover consultation guidelines, management regulations, how to answer common questions from patients, nursing data, types and order of treatments, and vendor information, etc. I also test the employees regularly on their knowledge of these topics. In a written test, junior beauticians are asked to write conditions for prescribing certain treatments, information on recent complaint cases, or promotions that are currently offered at our office, etc. Our employees may find this challenging but I believe that all staff members that directly interact with the patients should have expert knowledge about important aspects of their treatment.”

The Effects of Employee Education Are Seen During Patient Consultation.

“Once PDT is prescribed, our beauticians are to provide explanations on causes of acne, mechanism of PDT, and treatment process, etc. In particular, acne is often caused by hyper-keratinization, sebum production, hormonal imbalance, family history and lifestyles, as well as other environmental and occupational factors. Therefore, it is important to spend a long time discussing these potential factors with the patient. For example, patients who are on immunosuppressive therapy after renal transplant are prone to developing acne. We should be thorough about checking all potential causal factors. The dermatologist does most of the consultation but beauticians can also help out when the specialist is busy. Patient information should always be systematically recorded in the medical chart to enable personalized customer service.”