iConsultAesthetic & Steve Jobs

If by now you hadn't guessed, we here at RCS Towers are BIG fans of Steve Jobs era Apple products. The iMac, MacBook, iPod, iPhone, iPad - all great iconic products with well designed software and they are beautiful to look at. We have banged on for a while now about Apple and Steve Jobs, so this will be our last related blog.

For a while anyway.

So with our geekish devotion to all things Steve, it stands to reason that when I created iConsult Software and designed iConsultAesthetic, I would try to harness some of this creative genius and embed it in our product. I see big parallels between what Jobs called "Industry Disruption" in his assault on the music business with the iPod and the current state of affairs in the Medical Aesthetics Industry.

As an outside consultant looking at Medical Aesthetics, I see a classic example of competing priorities and conflicting agendas, with different groups and organisations jockeying and trying to position themselves as the saviours of the industry and bastions of righteousness. A new focus on product safety and putting the Consumer/Client/Patient relationship at the heart of the process should be applauded by all, and would be called "Combining humanities with the sciences" in the Jobsian World.

This is a good thing, but its a little chaotic, confusing, self serving and and the implementation is random.

Let me explain.

Piracy is stealing, this we all know this and yet Napster was allowed to grow and thrive because it was a very difficult thing to stop, why? Because the Consumer decreed that MP3 was a better format than CD and wanting music content in this format, the fact it was free was a bonus. The Music Industry missed this point completely and attempted to kill MP3 by shutting down Napster, Jobs saw the conflict but he also saw the clear truth; the consumer would pay to download music digitally onto an MP3 player.

All hail iTunes. All Hail the iPod.

Lets take the Remote Prescribing consultation model as an example, it was not the ideal way of enabling the treatment of Botulinum Toxin injections but the Consumer decreed that they were happy being treated in this way so it was able to thrive. The Medical Aesthetic industry missed the point that making it safer was the way forward, by helping to transition the nurses over to the NIP model and ensured that the GMC reacted a BBC report and banned the practice entirely.

There is always a 3rd way, and thats what we need to look for. It's what Steve would have wanted.

The tenets of how one company managed to change so many unrelated industries.

There are ways in which we can learn from Jobs, and apply his logic to reimagining the Medical Aesthetics Industry. It's not to complicated, so lets explore.

Here is an excerpt from the Review of the regulations of Cosmetic Interventions Summary of the Responses to the Call for Evidence.

"Respondents felt that the review was timely and an important part of restoring public trust in the cosmetic interventions sector following the issues with PIP breast implants

Many felt that the current regulatory framework was inconsistent and did not reflect the many changes and innovations in such a fast-growing and dynamic sector

Training requirements were felt by many to be disproportionately weak compared to the potential risks of a procedure and more specialised training was welcomed

Dermal fillers and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and laser procedures were highlighted by many as an area where there was insufficient legislation to protect the public

Respondents were concerned about the lack of data being collected on implants, procedures, adverse incidents and outcomes

There were essential components of any new regulatory system. These were also some consistent themes or principles that respondents highlighted as being; 

• Information and advice
• Safety and quality
• Transparency and accountability"

These are great ideas and responses, but ultimately they are changes that will give short term fixes and don't address the real cultural issue that needs addressing;

Profit is put first. Always 

This the real issue, this is what is drove the PIP Implants issue.

So, if we apply these 12 rules according to Apple, what changes can we make to the Medical Aesthetics industry?

Focus - choose the highest priority actions and implement with excellence.

What are these? Implants register? Fillers as POM? Laser regulation? Information? Regulatory?

Simplicity - Identify how the Consumer can simply get access to the information and advice needed.

Take responsibility - We need a cultural shift towards putting the Consumer/Client/Patient relationship at the heart of the process, and a mechanism of ensuring that those who choose not to comply are held accountable. 

When behind, leapfrog - Use this time to create a model that could be reused to effect change in other areas of healthcare

Put products before profit - This is key. Not just the consumables, but everyone in this industry must do this;

1. What is my "Product"?
2. What is more important,  profit or product?
3. If you said profit you need to come on the Practice Transformations Course!

Don't be a slave to focus groups - caring about what a patient wants is not the same as continually asking them. Be intuitive, ask "What would my Mum say?"

Bend reality - Steve Jobs had a famous ability to push people to do the impossible, dubbed "The Reality Distortion Field", use yours to drive focus.

Impute - add tactile experiences the product or services used in Medical Aesthetics to create the best patient experience possible.

Push for perfection - do we care as much about what happens post treatments as before or during? Are we the best we can be? Real artists sign their work. Be proud.

Tolerate only A players - If something is wrong, say something. If you have really good staff you don't need to baby them. Set the standard for "A grade, and enforce it. Training issue solved

Engage face to face - creativity lives in spontaneity, don't be afraid to have freewheeling discussions with people about how to improve.

Stay hungry, stay foolish - people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do.

But this is just my view, what is yours? 

What is your favourite tenet and how would you apply it?