As consultants, we work with medical spas, day spas, and medical practices across the country. One of the questions we are most often asked is, “how do I know it is time to hire another provider?”

This seems to be a loaded question, as so many variables go into the answer. Do they mean another aesthetician, a physician, or a midlevel provider? What’s right for one office isn’t always right for another.

Is your schedule so packed that you can’t bring in another client for weeks or even months? How long does it take to get an appointment to see you or your current team? If the answer is several months, then it may be the correct time to add additional staff, since the prospective or current client may seek the treatment of your competitor, otherwise.

Examine why it takes a couple of months to get an appointment with you.

1. If you only have office hours a few days a week in your current location, increase the number of hours you offer to see clients and allow another provider to treat them with expanded services. You can also increase the number of days for appointments if you do not personally want to work more hours. This can increase your profitability, while not having to personally do all of the work. Proper training and trust can eliminate discomfort.
2. If you are currently doing all of the procedures yourself, an additional provider can take the workload off you to have more time for yourself out of the office or to work on projects you don’t have time to accomplish, such as clinical research, writing and lecturing at various meetings and conferences or simply getting your books in order. Adding a new provider may also give you the time to present services at community seminars.
3. If you are currently doing too many procedures and cannot find the time to see your regular clients for follow-ups, an additional provider may be the solution. Another provider can and will take the burden off your shoulders, while still allowing you to see your clients. You may only have to spend a short amount of time checking in on them and they will still feel as if you are there for them.
4. If you are doing all of the follow up appointments and never have the time to see new clients for additional or upsell opportunities, it may be the time to hire another provider. Having another aesthetician, massage therapist, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or a new specialist in your practice can allow you to see additional clients. Having other providers treating clients also allows more opportunities for staff to promote you as an expert in your field. There is no way you can possibly boast about yourself like another staff member can. Having another provider treating the client and being unavailable can make your value much higher when it does come time for you to treat the client. When it takes a while for the client to get an appointment to see you, it can often increase your value and credibility. You may also be able to charge higher fees for your services.
5. If you are a provider who is currently handling many of the operational, administrative, and financial decisions yourself, you are quite ineffective. Remember, you are trained in order to treat clients. Allow your staff to handle the non-medical functions of your practice and then you can macro-manage and not micromanage. Of course, you want to make the final decisions on serious issues, but allow your staff to be your ambassador(s) and bring you the details, in order to make a more informed decision. You cannot make a good decision without all of the facts. Consider hiring an administrator who is a higher-level staff member.
6. If you want to perform specialized or new procedures, do it. Another option is to hire an additional provider who is already experienced or specializes in the newest trend and can put your practice out in front of competitors almost immediately. Do not wait; before you know it, that trend will not be so trendy or every other spa will be performing that treatment, decreasing its demand as the market becomes flooded with equipment and providers. Make yourself known by being the first out there. Even if you have another provider performing services, your practice and your name will be associated with it.

Mara Shorr, BS, CAC II-XIV serves as a partner, as well as the vice president of marketing and business development for Shorr Solutions, assisting medical practices with the operational, financial, and administrative health of their business. She is a level II - XIV certified aesthetic consultant and program advisor, utilizing knowledge and experience to help clients achieve their potential. A national speaker and writer, she can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Jay A. ShorrBA, MBM-C, CAC I-XIV is the founder and managing partner of Shorr Solutions. He is also a professional motivational speaker, an advisor to the certified aesthetic consultant program, and a certified medical business manager from Florida Atlantic University. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.More information on the awarding practice management consulting company Shorr Solutions can be found at shorrsolutions.com.