Top Cosmetic Surgeon Shares Tips to Grow your Practice Post COVID

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Business of Aesthetics podcast. We're super excited today to have Dr. Richard Goldfarb. Dr. Richard Goldfarb is a cosmetic surgeon out in Pennsylvania, has written, I don't, Rich, I'll let you go ahead and say, but so many studies, been involved in so many different studies and research, and has been on the forefront of so many new technologies over the last couple of decades. I have always gone to Rich as a resource to find out what's kind of happening in aesthetics and what's hot and what's new. So Rich, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Thank you for having me on this podcast with you, Jeff.

It's a pleasure you've always been such a stand-up guy honest true and true and just tells it like it is and that's the only kind of people i like to deal with so you and i thank you yeah maybe that's the maybe that's the east coast attitude i got a little bit of it yes the no the no BS. So tonight, I mean, I want to take some time and you've been, it's funny, we just dropped a podcast entitled Buying Smart, Buying Safe. And one of the things I say to new physicians is don't be a pioneer. And the reason I don't want them to be a pioneer is I don't want them to get themselves in trouble trying something new because they heard about it, you know, something anecdotal that's not repeatable or whatever. But really the reason is because, Dr. Goldfarb, we have people like you. We have people like you working with manufacturers doing this for us in a studied way. So it's exciting to have you share with our community all the things that are happening. And I've known you on the podium to just be a terrific educator. So tonight our focus is really just going to be on looking at the kind of the state of things as it is right now and chatting with you about practicing post-COVID. So, if we can start by, will you just tell us a little bit about your practice? Sure. We've enjoyed our practice, by the way, the name is the Center for Smart Lipo and Plastic Surgery.

And we started this when the smart lipo device got FDA approved back in 2007. And since that time, we've had a few colleagues as multiple specialists in our group from a facial plastic to a plastic surgeon. So we can encompass everything from A to Z. So everybody has their little niche of expertise. And in my field of being a general and vascular surgeon as my initial part and then doing a year of plastics, I felt like the bridge of those other specialties and myself was perfect for us to build our facility. And thank goodness it's continued to grow very nicely. What I like to do is do proven technologies. And by that, I like to even do the bench research on it. So I've been fortunate enough to do several FDA trials and we're able to really see what works and what doesn't work. What most of us unfortunately got into in the beginning is a good sales pitch would come across you and you'd end up buying a device that you technically can't afford. And they tell you, well, if you do this per month, this will pay for it. And you end up with what's called the laser graveyard, all these lasers and things. And some of the newer physicians out there, they get talked into this, that, and the other, and can be very, very costly mistakes.

I know you've approached me over the years to get my insight on different pieces of technology. I've noticed with you, Rich, you either like to be a part of the research or you like to wait a little bit. I do. I like the proven technologies and proven things. Although I do like to see the early initiatives that people have and I like to kind of see it and test it myself before I'll go out and basically endorse it or try to tell my colleagues about it. Because if you're the one proving it, I guess, then you trust the proof. If you're doing a lot of the studies, which you can maybe talk about some of the studies, but I know at least on the body side of things, it seems like you've done a lot of work with non-invasive technologies. Yes. And some invasive technologies as well, but the non-invasive technologies to me is always complementary to the minimally invasive procedures. And combination therapy, i.e. the new buzzword, is really something that we're seeing more and more of because that combination gives you the ultimate result.

because that combination gives you the ultimate result. And thank God that our patient base and our reviews have been so outstanding that kept our practice very lively and going forward. But I do like proven technology. I like the science behind it. And if it doesn't work, we would not have that device or that technology in this facility. So such as we wrote a paper about fat. Now fat always dissipates after time. So it's going to need a new blood supply. So we did a study about adding some platelet rich fiber matrix called cell fill with fat and publish that paper. And we continue to do that every time we do a fat transfer. So that just gives you a better chance of the fat surviving. Those are the type of things that I like to see and continue to prove. I think that's where we first met was with around cell fill that that PRFM product. And I remember traveling with you, You came to the Northwest and we worked you kind of hard because so many physicians were so excited to have you and be able to learn from you injection techniques. And I'll tell you, I was certainly smarter after that trip.

Well, thank you for that nice compliment. But we try to do things the right way. And it's all about that. A happy patient is one thing. And I always tell my patients, if I wouldn't do this to my own family or my wife or anybody, I wouldn't certainly do it to you. And if you stick by those principles, I think you'll always practice ethical, good medicine, and the rewards will follow. It's interesting to hear someone I think of as a pioneer saying or having this focus on reproducible results. But I guess in a study standpoint, there's an understanding with those enrollees that something may or may not work. Yes. That's true. And, you know, a lot of people say there's more than one way to skin a cat and there is. And my way may not be the only way, but we know that that proven way would be certainly a very cost effective, effective way. And I quote effective there. So we really like to duplicate that to our patients. Then, you know, the non-invasive, we hear about this kind of spike in plastic surgery.

I've assumed that that's, there's a lot of prepaid. There were a lot of backup surgeries that were never done because of COVID. And then maybe people have downtime, so they have the chance to go do the surgeries. But what's your experience been post-COVID? Is it busier? What are you seeing with your colleagues as well? Yeah, I think it's significantly busier. I think patients that were not going to get a procedure, for example, that were maybe going to do a cruise or spend that money that way, now are not going on a cruise cruise and they'll come in and want to get procedures done for themselves. I think it mirrors the car industry where people are doing road trips. They're not on planes as much. So our numbers have ginormously increased post COVID. And during COVID, we did a lot of, my associate, myself, we did a lot of Zoom calls with potential patients because we obviously couldn't do those in person. And then once COVID hit at its peak and then came down a little bit and Pennsylvania, where I am, allowed us to then reopen since we were down about eight weeks, we then had a barrage of patients coming in and this still continues today. Are you still utilizing the online digital consultation piece in the practice?

We are. We are. If they request it. If not, they can come in. And obviously, when they come in the office, they have to be going through all the COVID preventions, and they get right into the office. They don't sit out in a, you know, a cluster of patients in a waiting room that, that has not been something that we have adapted to at all. So it's very individualized. Like one patient at a time individualized? Yes. And we don't want patients to necessarily bring family members in to sit in the waiting room and that type of thing. So when you have four, you have more than four providers, but you have four physicians over there. Are they, is each group kind of seeing their own one patient at a time? Yes. It's been very separate, you know, and the staff has really adapted very well. With that, everybody comes in in a mask, and, you know, we obviously have hand sensitizers, sanitizers, rather, over, you know, every corner of the office, and we clean after every patient is here. So, we try to take the maximum precautions, and obviously, when they fill out their COVID history before they enter the office and even on our zoom calls or, you know, our consultations, the, we want to be sure that they're healthy.

We're going to be very sure of that. We haven't gotten to a point of seeing that we need to do a COVID test before we do a procedure, although that's been discussed. It's, in terms of procedures, are you seeing the same types of procedures you were before COVID, or are you seeing an increase in certain ones? I see an increase actually in the facial aesthetic world. I think that's probably because a lot of these people are doing Zoom type of calls, even though they have a mask on, they're, you know, they're worried with their forehead with, you know, needing some neurotoxin, and they're looking at themselves significantly more. And I think people are more aware of those things. And that's why I think the facial aesthetic market has really increased. You know, it's funny, I, on the business of aesthetics, Facebook group, which if you're listening to this podcast, and you're not a member, please go to the group and, and join, if you're a provider or industry executive. I posted something about being more effective on Zoom during meetings.

And it said to turn the camera off because when we look at ourselves on the camera, we're so much more self-conscious that we don't necessarily do the same job that we would do if we weren't looking at ourselves. I thought that was just an interesting comment. That's an absolute fact, I can tell you. And patients and people that we've had Zoom calls with and those type of things say the same thing. They go, oh my God, look how terrible I look. I'm embarrassed. They apologize. And, you know, it's a reality check for everyone. It's funny. It's, you know, you've heard it a million times, I'm sure. And we, we all do with, uh, I hate my neck, you know, I hate my neck. And now we all see our own necks. I used to look at my father's neck and think, geez, I don't want to get there. And now I'm looking at my own thinking I'm already there. So I think, yes. Do you, what's, besides all the precautions that you're having to take in the office, what do you notice that's different with the industry?