9 minute read
Antibiotic Use May Now Be Linked to An Increased Risk of Colorectal Cancer
ECRETS #1
Training for Profitability
Let's dive in deeper into training for profitability - which is ultimately the primary goal of any successful business. Ross' proven track record of turning around all the businesses she’s handled has rightfully earned her a spot as one of the top aesthetic industry leaders. A great example of her exemplary powers is when she transformed an underperforming medical spa in Beverly Hills by growing its revenue to over half a million dollars in one year. The practice doubled the space, she grew the team from two to eleven, and she reduced debt by 75%. But that's just the beginning. She started her aesthetics career as the Sales Director for Medicis, now Galderma, then was recruited to Zeltiq as the Regional Sales Director. Ross launched Coolsculpting on the West Coast and in Canada, which generated $5 million in sales.
How did she do all of this, you might ask? What lies at the heart of all these professional successes is quality training for every hire and a proven program in which staff can maximize sales opportunities. One of APX's most unique resources that businesses have used to achieve massive growth (even during a pandemic) is the foundational sales and finance courses for each aesthetics practice team member. From the beginning, the onboarding process includes high-level training to operate with profitability in mind for the company. Ross ingrains these words in every client she works with, "Be smart with the treatments that you plan to offer, understand the profitability of those treatments, invest in knowing the numbers, and invest in training your team and creating a culture of leaders. That's my advice. "
ECRETS #2
Know Your Benchmarks
Ross has a deep understanding of industry benchmarks and competitive trends. To get into the business, one must know “WHY” they are getting into the aesthetics market in the first place, and if in business for several years, knowing what your UVP is, your unique value proposition. In addition, what services they can offer, who their ideal clients are, and how much money they should be making for their services. Unfortunately, many doctors or business owners are still not aware of the concept, and they go into the business unprepared. This sets up failure for their practice, but luckily for them, Ross and APX are here to save the day.
One of the APX platform’s core components is called GAUGE, which gives businesses up-todate access to industry benchmarks and competitive trends. “We teach them what services generate the most profit, what your rooms need to generate per hour, what your services need to generate per hour, and what your providers need to generate per hour. When they understand these metrics, it's actionable data that allows them to make informed decisions that affect growth and profitability, ” The power in knowing this information allowed one of our practices to grow 2800% in 2020 Ross explains.
ECRETS #3
Setting Up Chart of Accounts Accurately
Another not-so-secret piece of advice to running a successful aesthetics practice is having the right financial analysis. "People think setting up your P&L is a daunting thing, and it can be - but if it's set up correctly where you have your service revenue, your cost of goods, and provider cost of labor, you can accurately measure your net profit. Unfortunately, some people have their P&L all messed up, " Ross points out the usual case scenario she runs into with her clients. But, with APX's ABACUS, clients get six financial calculators that translate raw data from practice management software into actionable insights such as profit per treatment or revenue per hour. These financial calculators and analytics give you actual information that tells you what your gross profit is, which should be well over 50%, if not you are losing money. What your weighted revenue per hour is by service category and by provider. If you are not hitting industry benchmarks then you have the ability and information to coach to improve the process or team and the overall practice. It takes the guesswork out for the medical professionals who often struggle in the area of data. In addition, Ross also highlights the correlation between business efficacy and profitability. "Profitability lies in making an effort to be efficient. " And what does that mean? You're efficient in your cost of goods, your practice productivity, you're efficient in your processes, you're efficient in your protocols, you're efficient in running your software systems, you understand what KPIs to measure. More importantly, what to do with those KPIs to make an informed decision that's going to increase or decrease something?" says Ross. Having an expert by your side to help you with training, education and analytics has proven to provide practices with on-demand training, knowledge, resources, and coaching they need to run and sustain a profitable practice.
The Future of Aesthetics
Ross notes that demographic shifts are going to play a significant role in changing industry trends. While baby boomers have more disposable income or purchasing power, millennials are becoming more interested in aesthetics treatment, anti-aging, and wellness. Treatments such as facial injections and body contouring are still popular, but sexual health, new laser developments, hormonal treatments, supplements, and holistic wellness are definitely rising. With the continued growth in the aesthetic market, millennials, and males, it’s critical to stay on top of industry trends; moreover ensuring it makes financial sense. APX has a built-in network called LUCID, which monitors over 50+ marketing analytics in real-time on one dashboard. The company also has a weekly live coaching session called COMMUNITY, where Ross and her team interact with practices worldwide. This live weekly session allows companies and clients to get real-time coaching in a wildly changing and competitive marketplace and have access to the support and accountability they need.
ANTIBIOTIC USE:
RISKS & ALTERNATIVES
Antibiotic Use May Now Be Linked to An Increased Risk of Colorectal Cancer
By Louisa Emhof
upposes you've ever gone to the doctor's office with a persistent cold, the flu, or a myriad of other common illnesses affecting your life. In that case, you're probably familiar with antibiotic prescriptions. To be fair, they get the job done! They have been widely used in Western medicine for decades to treat and heal illnesses caused by bacterial infections. However, there are some downsides to excessive antibiotic use. The whole point of antibiotics is to kill illnesscausing bacteria growing in your body. But don't forget that there are trillions of good bacteria growing in your microbiome, whose absence makes human life impossible! Unfortunately, antibiotic overuse has some serious adverse effects: one of the most pressing ones is the possible increased risk of colorectal cancer. Commonly known as colon cancer, this disease is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States for both men and women. New studies show that there could be a connection between antibiotic use and an increase in your risk of colon cancer.
The Uses and Misuses of Antibiotics
Since ancient times, civilizations have been using forms of antibiotics to heal and treat infections. Although these people did not yet understand what bacteria was or even what the cause of some illnesses was, civilizations like the ancient Egyptians developed ways to heal through primitive antibiotic use. In the 1920s, scientists discovered penicillin, the first mass-produced antibiotic, which saved countless lives. However, despite the amazing things that the study and use of antibiotics have done for humans, this doesn't mean there aren't any downsides or dangers.
Antibiotics can’t choose between what we like to call "good" and "bad" bacteria. So when you're taking antibiotics for a common bacterial infection, the "good" bacteria in your microbiome are affected just like that "bad" bacteria causing the sickness. This feature of antibiotics can have some pretty severe drawbacks.
The prevalent use of antibiotics in the current medical world has led to many unintended consequences affecting the body's "good" bacteria in the microbiome. Increasing studies show that there may be a link between this attack on the microbiome and the start or progression of colorectal cancer. For that reason, many researchers are beginning to warn against the overuse of antibiotics.
Excessive Use of Antibiotics
Although antibiotics can be beneficial and have done a lot of good throughout history, there can be too much of a good thing. Both the rates of antibiotic use and colon cancer diagnoses have skyrocketed across the globe since the 1980s. The coexistence of these rates caused some researchers and medical professionals to begin questioning whether the overconsumption of antibiotics was causing the increased rate of cancer.
Since then, researchers have conducted numerous studies to see whether they could figure out the link here and hopefully begin cautioning people against the overuse of antibiotics. Unfortunately, despite the findings of many studies showing that there does seem to be a clear link, prescriptions for antibiotics continue to be one of the first reactions to bacterial infections. Therefore, it is essential to know how these medications could impact your risk of cancer.
Increased Risk of Colorectal Cancer
Colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the United States. It is also the third most common cancer diagnosis in America. The American Cancer Society estimated that in 2017 alone, there were 136,830 people diagnosed with the disease and 50,310 deaths. Based on recent research, these chilling numbers are linked with antibiotic overuse.
One study's findings suggested that antibiotic use potentially played a direct role in tumor growths in the colon. This same study also noted that these findings were especially true of people younger than 50 years old. Such conclusions raise even bigger red flags since most cancers are found in older patients. Additionally, another relevant study found that the link between antibiotics and colon cancer was predominantly in a “dosedependent fashion. ” This means that the number of antibiotics and even the specific kind of antibiotics you take may impact your increased risk.
Preventative Healthcare is the Best Healthcare
Other, more commonly known risk factors are also associated with colon cancer, such as tobacco use, obesity, and genetic disposition. However, especially with the increased use of antibiotics in America since the 1980s, awareness of the link between antibiotics use and an increased risk of colon cancer is helpful for prevention. Knowing that this link affects younger people more often is also an important thing to note. Medical providers are beginning to push for colon cancer screening among younger people to help with prevention. As always: the best kind of healthcare is preventative healthcare.
Our Top Doctor Magazine hopes you will take this newfound knowledge of the risk factors of antibiotics and make choices that are best suited for you and your healthcare journey. Asking your doctor for early screening for colon cancer or alternative options to antibiotics when prescribed are great places to get started!
