From the January 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


Diverse buyer options
As treatments evolve, so have the platforms from which buyers can negotiate purchases. Since 2008, MedResults Network has taken the benefits of a traditional GPO, (lower costs for products and services) and brought them to the end users. Jamie Parrott, president of the company, explains how it works.

“Our business model is to negotiate with major aesthetic vendors for rebates and discounts for our members,” says Parrott. Currently, the MedResults Network contains 2100 members and works with 45 vendors, but if things continue in the direction they’re heading, that 45 may start to go down.
“Everyone is consolidating,” says Parrott, who mentions big aesthetic companies like Allergen, Merz Aesthetics, and Galderma, “These big players are trying to be a onestop shop for the aesthetic provider.” Much like other facets of the health care industry, cosmetic companies are going through a defragmenting process through mergers and acquisitions. Parrott says in the last few years, Valeant Pharmaceuticals has acquired Solta, Medicis, and Obagi.

While there may be fewer brands in the industry, there has been an increase in thirdparty options. When Hemphill was looking for her first laser, the third-party market was a relatively uncharted frontier where brokers selling lasers often had less-than-glowing reputations. Better business practices have improved that market segment. Meanwhile, manufacturers like Alma and Syneron, are marketing their own certified pre-owned devices.

Pre-owned reputation gets a facelift
A doctor will find that “a five- or ten-year-old laser that’s been maintained in good working condition and still meets manufacture specs will give the same clinical results as the newest ones off the production line,” says Tony Kokjohn, president of The Laser Agent Inc. “Does it do it as fast or painlessly? Maybe not. But it’s the same effectiveness.”

In terms of what brings clients to the treatment facility, Kokjohn says it’s essentially the same procedures it’s always been; hair removal, ILP, and vascular treatment. Skin tightening, cellulite treatment, and tattoo removal are less frequently sought out. The necessary tools for those popular services are readily available on the used market and, from an end user perspective, Kokjohn believes the benefits of newer lasers don’t always fit the price tag.

Hemphill’s first laser came from the manufacturer, but that experience did not impress her. “I once paid $13,000 to have my machine repaired and in three months, I called the service guy again, who I had known for years, and he informed me it would be an additional $5,000 for that repair,” says Hemphill, “And $2,400 just to have them walk in the door on top of that.”

January 2015 Magazine

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