What's On The Menu At a Medical Spa?

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast, with the LJC chief community officer, Monique Ramsey.

Monique Ramsey (00:13):
I wanted to welcome everyone to our episode with Ms. Charity, the patient care coordinator in our medical spa. She's going to be here to talk about what's in the med spa. If you've never been there, we want you to visualize the experience of coming to the med spa, talking about the treatments and procedures you can get, go over a little bit how much these things cost and what kinds of things that we do here at La Jolla Cosmetic to reward our patients for coming back. Welcome, Charity. It's good to have you.

Charity (00:46):
Thank you so much. It's so exciting to be here and to talk about our medical spa that we love so much, because I know we all know about our surgical center and how amazing our surgeons are. It's so unique to be able to offer our medical spa as a whole different office and experience.

Monique Ramsey (01:03):
Yeah. Tell us a little bit about you. When did you start?

Charity (01:06):
Yeah. I've been with the company for three years. I started at the front desk in the medical spa, just eased my way in and met everyone, learned the flow with the patients and just really learned what LJCSC was about and their brand. I fell in love right away, because it was so obvious that everything is so patient-orientated. Everything is about patient care, doing it the right way, doing everything the safe way, and really being there for patient outcome experiences, as well as employees.
Just being an employee has been such an amazing experience because we're treated the same way that the patients are. That brand carries all the way through.

Monique Ramsey (01:49):
You're so fun to talk to because for anybody who hasn't met Charity, she just jumps right in. Like, if you need assistance with anything, she'll just be like, "I'll help." Off she trots. She'll throw a camera in her hand, "Oh, I'll record this." Or whatever it is, she's just happy to help. Help hold the ... What's the thing in the laser room? When they're doing a laser, there's like a smoke evacuator almost. You can hold the little blower. She'll do anything. She's so sweet.
It's actually great because you get to experience everything from all different points of view, but we love having you. Give me a little idea of what your day consists of right now with patient care coordinator. What does that mean?

Charity (02:34):
Yeah. Yeah. I mentioned I started at the front desk and now I have the unique opportunity, I've expanded and do a lot of the patient coordinating role, which we call ourselves patient care coordinators, because that's truly what we do. We're there to care for our patients and coordinate. That takes a lot sometimes. We have treatments from A to Z and they go anywhere from 15 minutes up to two to three-hour treatments in the office.
So we consider our PCs and myself to truly be that person that's there to hold your hand and walk you through everything. Whether it's a pricing question, whether it's a question of how you're going to look, or downtime question, or anything in those realms that maybe a provider or a surgeon isn't available for right away, we're there to be that person for you and bridge that gap of communication.

Monique Ramsey (03:23):
Yeah. Sort of like the buddy system.

Charity (03:25):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Monique Ramsey (03:26):
Help you get through no matter what the issue is as far as financing. You guys are so good at all that, and figuring out how to make it happen for patients. Our brand promise is making dreams become real, and so really, I think the patient care coordinator is a really key point in that brand promise and a person to help you figure out, "Okay. Here's my dream. I want my body to look this way, or I want my face to look this way and how do I get there?"

Charity (03:54):
Absolutely. I've always thought it's such a unique position because you don't have your medical provider or your surgeon available all the time. You really lean on a patient care coordinator to be able to answer these questions about medical treatments and everything. One thing I think is so fun is explaining to patients treatments I've had myself, because I can really truly speak from a place of experience and being the patient myself, having experienced the provider's bedside manner.
All of those things, really, really being able to explain that, how it's going to be, and help the patient visualize everything is a key point for me too, and really helps. I know when I go into a medical treatment or something, it can really help if somebody's been there, done that and can explain from experience. That's also been a really fun part too.

Monique Ramsey (04:42):
Yeah. Okay. We're talking about La Jolla Cosmetic's spa division, our medical spa. If you could help us explain what is a medical spa and how is it different from a day spa, let's say, or a spa spa, the foo-foo spa.

Charity (04:59):
I actually love answering that question whenever I tell my friends or family what I do for work. When I say medical spa, I always start more on the defense where yes we offer facials and everything, but we are unique. A medical spa is unique because just in the name, it's a medical spa. Meaning, if you have the appropriate providers that are allowed to do these treatments, they're medical-grade treatments.
That means that they're going to make a difference. They're going to do something, what you're receiving. With the right provider and the right treatment plan that means that you'll have the right recommendation for you. Really even like I mentioned, our facials, the way you would find at a regular day spa, they're medical-grade facials. It's not a froofy one.
You can have that if you want, that's an option, but we have the ones that really get deep and make a difference with the skincare and everything. I just think that's a really important part, but even though they're medical treatments and medical-grade treatments, they're still not surgical. You don't go under. You don't need anesthesia. Depending on the treatment, there's not that much downtime.
It's still an in-between, which makes it really fun, from my opinion. It's very unique because you're going to come in and have a treatment that's really going to do something for you, but it doesn't necessarily have to be as dramatic as surgery.

Monique Ramsey (06:23):
I think that's really something that's unique. What makes La Jolla Cosmetic unique is the fact that we are all under one roof, meaning that we can help you make that dream real. If you're thinking, "Oh gosh, my neck, I'm on these Zoom calls and I hate looking at my neck. How do I fix it?" Well, there might be a few surgical options to fix it. Whether you're having a neck lift, you're having some lipo under your neck, mini lower face something.
There's also probably six or seven ways in our med spa to treat that. We want what's best for the patient and I think that's where you come in to really say, "Okay. There's Kybella. There's CoolMini. There's Ultherapy. There's thread lifts." There are lots of different ways to get you to the goal and it's up to the patient, whether they would rather ... Maybe they don't need surgical intervention.
They really can start in the med spa and maybe can stave off Mother Nature and look at surgical options later. Or do you have times where they think, "Okay. I need CoolMini." Then the provider might say, "Well, actually, maybe you need to see one of the plastic surgeons." Do you run into that?

Charity (07:44):
We do. Actually, that's funny you're talking about the neck too. I was just talking with one of my colleagues about an example of a patient I was speaking with, and in these unique times we've been doing Zoom consultations and virtual consults. We've been having patients send photos over. This particular patient wanted something done for his neck. In the initial conversation, our patient care coordinators are amazing at really getting to know you as a person and what you're comfortable with.
Just like you mentioned, maybe surgery isn't the first step, or maybe surgery just isn't right for you. Some people aren't ready for that just themselves, or it's just off the table altogether for different reasons. That has been such a unique ability to be able to say, "We have something, no matter what, across the med spa or the surgery center, we can help this person with something."
That's so, so great for me and to have that knowledge and just that comfortability to really present that to patients and know that I have that confidence that we can help them no matter what.

Monique Ramsey (08:47):
Yeah. Give us a rundown of what you can get in the med spa.

Charity (08:53):
I know I joke with patients that, "Careful because it's dangerous out there." It's a fun place to get started in. Well, we have everything available. I like to say sometimes when I'm in consults with patients is, we have such a unique ability to really research what's out there, the new technology and everything. We have everything that works. Our providers are so, so on top of all the new technology coming out, everything like that, that they bring it to the right people here to research it. Let's test it. Let's see what works.
From facials and peels down to the most aggressive laser treatment that's available on the market, we have it. Botox injectables. We have all the different brands of filler. I don't think a lot of people really realize how many options there are out in the world. It gets hard to know what technically is the best and what looks the best.
That's where you can trust someone that's been there, tested all these products, had that unique ability to just really go through all the options and pick the top of the top. That's what we have. If it's out there and it works, we have it, or we have something comparable that works better. You know?

Monique Ramsey (10:03):
Right. Right. Like you said, whether you're doing lip injections or you're doing Botox or skincare or facials, but then we also have energy-based treatments. Can you talk about what does that mean and what do we have to offer?

Charity (10:19):
Yeah. Like I just was talking about, technology has come such a long way. You can do a lot of different things with lasers just to put them all in a group, like you said, different wavelengths without getting too technical with it. When you have a skin condition, whether it's something that you want fixed, whether if it's not something that is being recommended with a filler or injectable treatment, if we are going the laser route, what your issue is, came from somewhere is what I was getting at.
With these technologies and everything, they're pretty much for the most part using heat and different wavelengths and things to use a controlled way to damage the skin tissue in a way to revert it back to what it was, back to the beginning. Reverse sun damage, reverse the skin, tightening, the falling that we have happening, the aging. All these amazing devices that they've put out really make a difference, and they're powerful.
That's what I was saying. It's not surgery, but it's still going to do something because these treatments are still medical-grade and everything like that.

Monique Ramsey (11:23):
An example, I know that one of our really popular laser treatments is Halo, and now we have a new add-on to the Halo called MOXI. Can you explain what that means?

Charity (11:35):
Yeah. Unique thing about the Halo is that the MOXI is actually an attachment of the Halo. They come together. The MOXI is a brand new addition to something we already have, updated technology always, like I said, getting that new technology on board. It's a new treatment that can now treat skin conditions that we have to really tiptoe around, like melasma and different skin types that may not respond very well to some of the other lasers and the aggression that they have.
This new treatment just adds another level of us truly being able to treat any kind of condition and any kind of skin tone and those underlying conditions that we've been a little nervous to make worse.

Monique Ramsey (12:22):
Just for the audience, if you have maybe a little bit darker skin, certain lasers could actually damage, or you're just not a candidate. The MOXI sort of gives it where you have a bigger potential audience, let's say, for that treatment.

Charity (12:38):
Yeah. Yeah. Then to start from the beginning, basically the MOXI is like a light laser treatment if we want to put it like that. Some people have been comparing it to a microneedling treatment as far as the downtime and the look and how you look after. Your skin is a little rough after the treatment. It's a pretty quick 30-minute treatment, pretty comfortable, but it's really targeting the texture and some of the pigment and everything in your skin tone, but there's not too much downtime as well. It's not very aggressive, so you can maybe do more of them.

Monique Ramsey (13:09):
Exactly. That's really sometimes the trade-off you would talk to your provider about, is, do you want it to be once only and accomplish everything, but you're going to have the downtime to go with that, or is it something that you want to just do once a month for six months to get to the same place? Also, I think another energy-based treatment, and not a lot of people know about, is miraDry.
I mean, we're coming up on four years within about a month of offering miraDry. miraDry is for permanent odor and sweat reduction in the armpits.

Charity (13:48):
miraDry has been one of our most life-changing treatments. I tell patients that. I say not to put this in a corny way or anything because we do a lot of fun stuff in the medical spa. This one though really pulled my heartstrings because after we started to do several after that first year of providing the treatment and everything, patients were pulling us aside and telling us how this truly changed their lives.
They weren't able to go out in public for certain events, depending on the weather, or they couldn't wear a certain color of clothing or just all different things that affected their life and made them insecure and just a complete turnaround from that. That's been a really special treatment for me to talk to patients about because I didn't realize how much of an issue that this must be for people their whole lives.
Not only the sweating. I think one thing that's a huge, huge deal with miraDry is the odor. It actually doesn't just stop the sweating, it also really helps odor issues, which a lot of people probably don't talk about because it can be embarrassing, but-

Monique Ramsey (14:51):
That's true.

Charity (14:52):
... this has been a really nice permanent solution for that.

Monique Ramsey (14:55):
There's a group of people, I don't know the percentage in that population, who have hyperhidrosis, which means that you're hyper, over, hidrosis is that like overhydrating, sweating. Where you're afraid to take your jacket off, especially for guys, or you can't, like you say, wear certain kinds of clothing because that's going to show the staining. That's one group of people that miraDry it's great for because it's one or maybe for hyperhidrosis patients, two treatments, possibly three.
Usually I think, we'll just say that's an automatic two. Let's say you wanted to do it for a lifestyle reason. You want to have a chemical-free lifestyle. You don't want to have to wear antiperspirant, and some of the natural alternatives to antiperspirant don't really work.

Charity (15:42):
Absolutely.

Monique Ramsey (15:43):
Lifestyle reasons or just your clothes don't have to go to the cleaners as often, or your clothes stay better longer.

Charity (15:50):
Absolutely.

Monique Ramsey (15:51):
You're just not worried about you come from the gym and you don't smell awful and look all sweaty. It's very interesting. Some of the other things that we do, and I think we were just named top practice for thread lifts.

Charity (16:05):
Ooh, that's what I was hoping you were going to mention next.

Monique Ramsey (16:09):
Tell us about that.

Charity (16:10):
Yeah. That's been I think the most exciting added procedure for myself personally. I'm always so, so excited about any treatment we offer that truly makes a difference and we can just stand behind right away. LJCSC was named top provider in San Diego for ... We use the brand NovaThread but we call it a thread lift treatment. To put it simply, really what the treatment is, is we're inserting a thread into the skin tissue, and the most common area of the body that we treat is the face.
We insert it and then we pull the thread through and it pulls the skin tissue up as you pull it out of the skin tissue. What it does is it keeps that suture or that thread pulling your skin tissue up. What we're doing is you're tricking your collagen. Instead of the aging process, we're all going downwards, our skin tissue is falling, and with this thread, holding it up, your collagen naturally stimulates upwards now in this direction. The thread will naturally dissolve over time, just like a suture.
They've used these in the hospital in the 1990s for these reasons. We just haven't seen them in a med spa setting as popular as we have recently. They dissolve underneath the skin tissue naturally. They're gone in about six months, but your result, your skin tissue, the lifting effect, all of that is still there. It's, in my opinion, pretty natural.
We did have the help of the thread going in and lifting the skin tissue, but versus some filler, we inject filler and it dissolves time. Then we go and we add some more for touch-ups, this treatment in combination with some filler has made our results almost near perfect.

Monique Ramsey (17:59):
Wow.

Charity (18:00):
For certain things. Yeah.

Monique Ramsey (18:01):
That's almost an instant benefit, right?

Charity (18:01):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Monique Ramsey (18:04):
We have some things like Ultherapy which lifts and tightens and stimulates collagen, and that's one of the energy-based treatments, but that takes time, right? It could be in combination with a thread lift. You could do your Ultherapy and a month later do your thread, but say you have a big event coming up in a week and you want to have an instant mini facelift, wouldn't you say this is the way to go?

Charity (18:27):
Absolutely. We have treated all ages. It's something that could benefit anyone. The way that the treatment works just by stimulating your collagen and just getting that natural lifting effect, it can be beneficial to anyone really, no matter what. One of the really unique things is that we can really treat a lot of areas of the body, not just the face.

Monique Ramsey (18:27):
Oh, really?

Charity (18:51):
We treat the full neck. We can do a little small breast lift.

Monique Ramsey (18:54):
What?

Charity (18:55):
We can treat the knees. We can treat the legs. We've done arms. We've done a lot in the office. Yeah. Our providers are so creative. They know exactly what would work and what wouldn't, and they know what steps to take. It's something not only for an instant gratification for the face, but for the body too.

Monique Ramsey (19:12):
I think we're going to do an episode on that with Khanh. Not only were we the NovaThread best office, but he is the top provider of NovaThreads. He's really an expert and we'll get him on. I think for most people, what would be the difference between what you would get at La Jolla Cosmetic and something like maybe a spa that you would see in a strip mall? I don't want to name any names, but we've all been there. We've all seen them. I don't want to get us in trouble. Really, for most people it's like, they don't know. What's the difference?

Charity (19:47):
It's true. It's really so hard with ... You go on Google and you've got all your options right at your fingertips and so truly, how do you distinguish and pick? What I can say is from my experience being a patient and not only being a patient, but having my friends and family come in and be patients, I would say the one key thing that has stood out for me is LJCSC will guarantee patient satisfaction, whatever that means.
We understand when you come to us, you have a concern and we're there to hear you and be there for you and listen and do whatever we can with all the things we just mentioned, whether you come into the medical spa or the surgery center. In little small situations or examples, I've been proven that even something as simple as you come in for a Botox appointment, and it usually takes about, we say the rule of thumb, it takes about two weeks for your body to really, really take everything in and settle.
We've had patients call back at that two weeks and say, "Something just seems a little off." Sometimes. We bring them in right away. We make sure everything is perfect on their end and our end. We want you very happy. I've seen the same situation in other practices or other offices and they won't answer the phone when you call them back if you aren't completely happy and everything.
We want to reassure you that we are here for you, and that you're going to have a good experience, no matter what you're doing. Whether you come in just for a consultation, you have a treatment. If it's a one-time visit, you're just in the city of San Diego. We're going to follow through the whole way and make sure whatever you came to us for that we're doing our best to really satisfy that.

Monique Ramsey (21:27):
What people might not realize is you really want to have those credentialed providers, whether it's an RN, whether it's a nurse practitioner, NP, or a physician assistant, a PA, and we have an onsite medical director.

Charity (21:42):
Absolutely.

Monique Ramsey (21:42):
Which is one of our MDs. I think a place in a little strip mall might not have the providers be as credentialed. I mean, I've honestly talked to somebody who said, "Oh yeah, I learned how to do injections watching YouTube videos." That's terrifying. They're not going to tell you that but I was stunned. I was like, "Okay." You want to be in the safest place and you want to have whoever has that needle in their hand or the laser wand in their hand to know. We even have, I think more than one.
I think we've got national trainers where Lauren, for example, is a national trainer for Allergan and for Galderma. Brittany's a national trainer I believe for Sciton. They go and teach other providers how to use the tools. We have them all here at La Jolla Cosmetic.

Charity (22:35):
Yeah. I was going to say that's such a good point. I don't know if people listening have seen the TikToks recently of the botched Botox. There's two very popular ones that are circling around of girls warning other girls of Botox injections gone wrong. One has her eyelid almost completely shut and the other's open. I just was curious reading the comments and everything. The main consensus and the common thing is that it's not the Botox. It's the injector.
Like I said before, it's still a medical-grade procedure. It's not something simple. It can go wrong.

Monique Ramsey (23:10):
Really, seriously, how do you pick a provider? People don't necessarily ... You assume Botox is Botox. Well, no it isn't. Some of these things ... I mean, the girl with the droopy eyelid, she just has to wait, right?

Charity (23:10):
Exactly.

Monique Ramsey (23:24):
For it to wear off.

Charity (23:25):
Months.

Monique Ramsey (23:25):
Months.

Charity (23:25):
Just for it to go away.

Monique Ramsey (23:28):
There's no reversing that. Or even people who ... Like laser hair removal, that's something else. It can damage the skin if the provider does know what they're doing.

Charity (23:38):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. We don't want to discourage you from them because they're all so beneficial, but they have to be in the hands of the right person. After you do it for so long and you see so much, it can seem simple and it can seem like almost anyone can do it, but it's not true. Because if you have someone that doesn't know how to control those injectables or the laser that they have, then it definitely can go wrong. That's the opposite of what anybody wants happening.

Monique Ramsey (24:05):
Right. Safety is super important. We get that. It is something that should be in the forefront of your mind as you search for a team, what to look for. Some of the things that we want to make sure we're doing is listening to our patients, giving them time. We're a busy practice, but we're not too busy to take time with you during that appointment. Something you mentioned, Charity, that we stand behind our work is really that's part of building relationships, because we want to help you with your goals for the long haul.
We have patients who've come for years who really want us to be there for every life stage. Maybe it was they had just had kids and now they want a mommy makeover and now it's like, "Oh gosh, I've got too much sun damage. I got to focus on that and do some microneedling and some lasers, or do some Ultherapy or ..." There're so many different things. ThermiVa, that's another one. We're going to have an episode on vaginal rejuvenation.
There's things you can do in surgery. There's things you can do in the med spa. Taking the time to listen to what you want, see what your goals are and then let's figure out the best way to get you to them. Another differentiator is we survey our patients and so you're every day seeing reviews come back from patients. Talk to us a little bit about that.

Charity (25:31):
Yeah. That's really unique too. I was going to say, how do you know you're choosing the right place for yourself? For me, when it's something that I'm not completely familiar with, reviews is the number one thing I go and look at for proof, word of mouth, but from people that we don't necessarily know. I think that it is a key factor to have great reviews and to show all of them, but I think it's so unique with real patient ratings.
Our patients are emailed an option to fill out a review link after their appointments and they have full disclosure and full anonymity.

Monique Ramsey (26:08):
Anonymity?

Charity (26:08):
Yeah. Anonymity.

Monique Ramsey (26:09):
It's an anonymous survey, right?

Charity (26:11):
Thank you. Yes.

Monique Ramsey (26:12):
It's a third party. Third party.

Charity (26:14):
Third-party survey. They don't necessarily have to say who they are or ... They only can fill out what they want to. It's feedback for our office to know right away if there was something we could have done better, if there was something we did right, all across the board. It truly shows us what's working and what doesn't. It builds this trust of being able to show those reviews on our website. Having such a high quantity for all of our providers has been a huge addition to making us successful and proving to patients. Yeah.

Monique Ramsey (26:47):
Yeah. It's really heartwarming to read about things that are life-changing for people and to be able to read through the reviews about each provider, or about the procedure you're thinking of having. The way that some practices they might have to do Groupons because they don't have patients and because people might go there once and never come back. We really want that relationship for the long-term.
We try to be very, very transparent by ... All our pricing is on the website, including all the med spa pricing. You can get information about each provider. You can see the reviews for that provider. You can see information about every procedure. Really it's all about that transparency and helping the patient feel safe. Talk about pricings for the procedures that you do. You have all the costs on the website.

Charity (27:37):
Absolutely. Yeah. I love that too. I love the transparency. We really truly want you to have all the information you need to make the best decision for yourself and what's the right thing for you. You can easily look up all of our prices on our website one way or another. There's different drop-downs and tabs. You can categorize it by going to just med spa treatments, or there's even just this little magnifying glass at the top to search.
You can type in a keyword of whatever treatment you're maybe interested in and that should bring up all different information, including some pricing options. It makes it really easy to navigate.

Monique Ramsey (28:11):
Are there a few procedures where ... Like Botox, you could say how many dollars per unit, but certain procedures, is it a little more tricky when you're trying to price it out?

Charity (28:21):
It is. That's where we really appreciate patients understanding that the website is price ranges. Everybody is so unique, but that's a good thing.

Monique Ramsey (28:30):
Then as far as ways to save money, if you could walk us through a few of the ways that you either ... With financing or with loyalty programs.

Charity (28:41):
Yeah. Absolutely. My favorite is our GLAMfam membership, our loyalty program. It's proven to be one of the best options all the way around, for patients, for employees. It's our way that makes sure no matter what, when you walk into the office, you're going to receive a discount. Our membership is $120 and you pay that, enroll into our membership. Then for a year, every time you come into the medical spa, pretty much everything is discounted by 15%. Skincare products, all treatments.
Then along with that, there's different perks and different terms. We have a plump package for injectable fillers. If you're receiving three syringes, the filler, at one sitting, you actually receive an extra 5% off to receive a 20% discount, which is a huge savings at the end of the day-

Monique Ramsey (28:41):
Oh, yeah.

Charity (29:30):
... when you take that off.

Monique Ramsey (29:31):
Or a series of facials or DiamondGlow treatments, where you know you want to do it once a month for the next few months.

Charity (29:38):
Exactly.

Monique Ramsey (29:39):
Prepaying and getting that 20%. Then there's Alle, that's Allergan's program. That family of products is everything from Botox and Juvedérm, the whole Juvedérm collection of fillers. Latisse.

Charity (29:53):
Latisse. I just surprised a patient by saying SkinMedica. She said, "SkinMedica is out here?" I was like, "Yeah." CoolSculpting, really you get money back for coming in for these treatments. We as an office. We do white glove service here. We make sure you're getting your points that you earn and that they also get applied to your next invoice because there're so many things that those points are applicable to. Makes it really nice to get that 40 to $80 coupon taken off of your invoice. It really makes a difference.

Monique Ramsey (30:23):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Then we have a GLAMfam episode podcast on the membership, so you can listen to that for more details. Tell me about financing. That's something that I think people don't necessarily think about that. Monthly payment for my CoolSculpting plan or for my Ultherapy treatment or my thread lifts. Tell us about the kinds of financing that are offered.

Charity (30:48):
Yeah. I love having those options because, again, it's a way for us to reach and make sure we can try and help everyone, even if we want to break this down into monthly payments. I'm glad you mentioned CoolSculpting, because that's a really great example. With CoolSculpting, usually it's not just a one and done treatment. We want you to treat to complete. It usually takes a couple sessions for us to get the best result with CoolSculpting specifically. We know coming into the office multiple times means that the ticket price gets higher.
A lot of times our CoolSculpting patients will use financing to pay for that. Usually we can go as high as 0% interest for 12 months and we have several options as far as programs that we offer. It's really up to our patient coordinators to talk and have a conversation with a patient to really figure out if we want to go the financing route, what is the best option for them and their credit score? Or just in general, what is going to be the best outcome for their situation?

Monique Ramsey (31:49):
Because these are treatments that will last a long time and they're not inconsequential sometimes. It's a great tool for people to really ... And like you said, treat to complete, it might take you a few different treatments to get you to the ultimate goal. We want you to leave happy and we're going to try to help you get to that place. Part of getting you to that place would be maybe using financing. Obviously that GLAMfam discount doesn't hurt.

Charity (32:17):
Right? Everything combined. Usually, we can always figure out something with our options.

Monique Ramsey (32:23):
You have a couple of different companies you work with, right?

Charity (32:25):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Monique Ramsey (32:26):
Depending on ... And I'm sure this is where you come in, Charity, my financial situation, what's my ticket price? What's my credit? What's going to be the best way for me to break it out? Or you could use your credit card too and get your miles.

Charity (32:39):
Get your points. Yeah. Exactly.

Monique Ramsey (32:41):
Yeah. What's the best way? If people are thinking about having a consultation, who do I talk to? How do I get in touch with you?

Charity (32:48):
Yeah. That's been the new normal. I mentioned before, we've been doing virtual consultations over Zoom and we always want to make sure the experience is completely tailored, but for the most part, that's truly how we've been adjusting. The first step now is having you wherever we have you call in from, or if you're just calling in for some information, if you're interested in learning more and talking with the provider and getting a very customized treatment plan.
We've been having, you fill out some online medical history forms, sending in some photos of the areas you're wanting treated. I got to say, I am so pleasantly surprised at our patients and the photos they've been able to send in. I didn't think that they could take as good of photos as we do in the office, but they really do. Our providers are so phenomenal that they can look at just these pictures and really know what they're looking at and really know what to recommend.
Then from there, we have been setting up about an hour-long Zoom consultation over video with the patient coordinator along listening silently in the background. You can just have an open, honest conversation. It's been amazing because the patients are at home in the privacy of their own homes for the most part. Our providers are at home on those days. They're not in the office. You're having an even more comfortable conversation.
You can truly let each other know what you're feeling and what your goals are. Then the provider comes up with a customized plan if they think that you're a candidate for the treatments we offer, and the patient coordinators right there at the very end go through everything with you.

Monique Ramsey (34:22):
The pricing or financing, that kind of thing.

Charity (34:24):
Scheduling.

Monique Ramsey (34:25):
Then they would come in the office and have the treatment. I'm sure it can be adjusted if they come in the office and you mentioned, "Oh gosh, I forgot to talk about whatever."

Charity (34:35):
Absolutely.

Monique Ramsey (34:36):
My brows. You can add something on, right? Or modify it. You touched on pain. You didn't say that word, but you touched on that earlier. You were saying if people don't want to go under anesthesia, but something that we've added in the last year, which people might not know about, we do a lot of things to help decrease pain. In the past, maybe you take some Aleve or you would take a pain medicine. If you take a pain medicine, you'd need a driver to take you home, right?
If you had, let's say a bigger laser treatment or Ultherapy, if you wanted pain management, then you've got to have a friend drive you home. Tell us about the latest and greatest thing that we have for pain management.

Charity (35:20):
Yes. I'm so excited because we do run into that situation. We want to make sure, A, you're completely comfortable for your treatment, and then, B, we don't want the provider to have to hold back on anything because they think you're in any discomfort. We want to fully give the full experience possible and get the best outcome possible on both ends. We offer all that stuff, topical numbing cream always is an option for everything.
We'll make sure you always have that first step. Then now we can offer Pro-Nox, which is a laughing gas. Is that what you were talking about? Right?

Monique Ramsey (35:20):
Yes. Exactly.

Charity (35:56):
I saw your face. Okay. It's really nice because you don't have to have a driver come pick you up. The effects, they go away very quickly. I just scheduled a Halo laser for a patient and I asked her ... She was familiar. She's done it before and she knows the process. I asked her if she wanted pain medication, because she would have to have a driver organized to come pick her up and she said, "No. I did completely fine with the Pro-Nox and then the topical numbing cream last time."
That made me really happy, but it is really nice. It's distracting a little bit and it just takes your mind off of the treatment happening right then and there, and really works. It's been a really nice addition to-

Monique Ramsey (36:32):
I think for people who, if they have severe anxiety, even with just having Botox or a filler, depending on what you need, it's available. You can always ask. Well, I wanted to thank you for joining us today, Charity.

Charity (36:32):
Oh, cool.

Monique Ramsey (36:45):
And your beautiful smiles.

Charity (36:47):
Thank you.

Monique Ramsey (36:49):
Hopefully you'll have a chance to meet her in person, either on a Zoom consult or in the office. Thanks for giving us a little mini tour and intro to what the medical spa is all about and the things we can do there. I don't think we touched on a third one.

Charity (37:07):
Right?

Monique Ramsey (37:08):
That's where you go to the website and you can poke all around and see before and after pictures and meet the providers. We really have a good group of very talented injectors and laser specialists. That's something else that differentiates us.

Charity (37:22):
Absolutely. I know our team and our call center and just our schedulers, they all know we try to keep our patients consistent and you make a relationship with the provider you start with, but life happens and sometimes you just got to come in for that Botox treatment and next time you'll see your provider the next time. I truly agree. I could talk all day about how amazing our providers are and how flexible and how it doesn't matter who you saw or anything.
They're there to give you a phenomenal experience, a great outcome. They're going to treat you just as if it was day one.

Monique Ramsey (37:55):
I think they also will refer to each other. If Khanh is really the thread specialist and you see another provider who says, "You know what? I don't use them as much as he does. I want you to see him."

Charity (37:55):
Absolutely.

Monique Ramsey (38:07):
"Or see so-and-so for your laser treatment." I mean, most of our providers do everything and they do a great job, but there could be a certain time where it's okay. We want you to be happy, so whether you're seeing a surgeon in the surgical facility or another provider in the med spa, that's just one more thing that we offer that good experience no matter who it is.

Charity (38:30):
Yep. Absolutely.

Monique Ramsey (38:32):
All right. Well, thanks for joining us. It was really fun talking to you and we'll see you all next time.

Charity (38:38):
Bye.

Monique Ramsey (38:40):
There's multiple ways to get in touch and we'll put all the links in the show notes, but you can call us at (858) 452-2066. You can text us at (858) 203-2944. You can email us lookgreat@ljcsc.com. Like I said, I'll put all those links in the show notes for you.

Speaker 1 (39:10):
Take a screenshot of this podcast episode with your phone and show it at your consultation or appointment or mention the promo code, podcast, to receive $25 off any service or product of $50 or more at La Jolla Cosmetic. La Jolla Cosmetic is located just off the I-5 San Diego Freeway in the XiMED Building on the Scripps Memorial Hospital Campus. To learn more, go to ljcsc.com or follow the team on Instagram @LJCSC. The La Jolla Cosmetic podcast is a production of The Axis. TheAxis.io