Relatient has introduced Dash Direct, an open scheduling API platform designed to help healthcare organizations automate patient interactions within their existing technology systems. The platform reportedly enables appointment booking, rescheduling, and cancellations without staff intervention, integrating with various patient access tools, including virtual agents, appointment reminders, and chatbots.

As the company explains, self-service scheduling adoption is growing, but many routine patient interactions—such as confirming or canceling appointments, updating insurance details, and booking referral visits—still require staff involvement. These processes often rely on call centers, faxes, and other manual workflows, leading to scheduling backlogs and administrative burdens. Dash Direct aims to streamline these tasks by allowing patients to manage appointments independently through digital platforms.

“We hear all the time from our clients that the simplest appointment and administrative tasks collectively take up most of their staff’s time,” said Jeff Gartland, CEO of Relatient. “Dash Direct opens a new toolkit, enabling healthcare organizations to solve that problem through better interoperability across every point of patient access.”

The platform supports multiple digital access points, including:

• Virtual agents: Patients can book, reschedule, and update information without staff assistance.
• AI-enabled chatbots: Scheduling can be integrated into existing chat functions.
• Referral scheduling: Third parties can schedule patients in real time, reducing manual follow-ups.
• Financial clearance: Insurance verification and updates can be automated.
• Virtual care integration: Patients can transition from triage to booked appointments seamlessly.

Marie D’Aiuto, director of patient access at Florida Orthopaedic Institute, said her organization has seen significant improvements since adopting Dash Direct. “By integrating automated scheduling logic into our phone trees, we’ve reduced the workload of three to four full-time staff members—potentially freeing up thousands of hours annually.”

Dash Direct integrates with existing healthcare technology vendors and follows provider scheduling rules to maintain accuracy and efficiency. The platform is available for custom implementations and out-of-the-box deployments.

Photo: ID 141370391 © Rido | Dreamstime.com

To learn more, Plastic Surgery Practice spoke to Alice Chang, CEO and founder of Perfect Corp. 

Plastic Surgery Practice: With many plastic surgery practices offering med spa services either within their practice or in a stand-alone location, what type of technology does Perfect Corp. offer med spas like these?

Alice Chang: Perfect Corp’s new AI Face Reshape technology is bringing a high touch experience to med spas, aestheticians, and beauticians. This technology allows providers to offer a series of previewed cosmetic treatment results through advanced AI technology. Professionals can leverage this technology as a tool for in-depth client consultations, providing clients with visual representations of a treatment in real-time. This technology acts as an excellent conversation starter for patients and providers and ultimately helps patients make more informed decisions when considering a procedure. 

Perfect Corp’s new AI Skin Diagnostic technology is also helping dermatologists and medical spa  professionals provide precise consultations and skin analysis. This technology is HIPPA-compliant and able to analyze the skin in seconds to identify 14 major concerns including wrinkles, redness, skin firmness, radiance, and acne. Additionally, in a new report by Dr Steven R. Feldman, professor of dermatology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, the technology was confirmed to be highly effective for evaluating skin characteristics in dermatology practice and medical spa settings. The report confirmed that Perfect Corp’s AI Skin Technology is as effective as physician assessments and skin imaging booths in accurately identifying core skin concerns in patients.

PSP: At the heart of your technology is artificial intelligence and augmented reality. Can you talk about how this technology lends itself to patient consults within a med spa?

Chang: Perfect Corp’s AI-powered solutions allow providers to deliver more impactful and valuable client consultations. These solutions help providers start conversations with patients about potential treatments and procedures. These innovations will reshape the future of cosmetic procedures by allowing professionals to boost client confidence and establish more trusted relationships. The ease of use and efficacy associated with Perfect Corp’s AI Face Reshape and AI Skin Analysis solutions are sure to drive positive impact for both businesses and consumers, delivering a more satisfying and fulfilling client journey that instills confidence and builds on stronger connections. 

PSP: How can med spas in plastic surgery practices utilize your AI Face Reshape Simulator?

Chang: Medical spa providers can use the AI Face Reshape Simulator as a tool to enhance client consultations. The solution will allow providers to create a more impactful patient experience. The tool will allow professionals to confidently walk patients through the process by providing AI visuals to accompany their conversations. 

PSP: As the AI Face Reshape tool can be used to show before and afters for eyebrow and eyelid lifts as well as jaw and nose reshaping, can this be a tool that can be used within the larger plastic surgery practice?

Chang: At this time, the AI Face Reshape tool is intended for use in casual consultations for non-surgical procedures.

PSP: What is the AI Face Reshape Simulator workflow? 

Chang: AI technology is quickly transforming the way businesses operate, and it has the potential to create more modern and seamless consumer experiences across industries. In the skincare and medical spa industries, Perfect Corp’s AI Skin Diagnostic solution is significantly improving the patient experience and offering providers a quick, precise, and cost-effective way to treat patients. In a recent study out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Perfect Corp’s AI Skin Diagnostic solution was proven to provide skin analysis results 20x faster than popular hardware devices commonly used in medical spa settings. The AI Skin Diagnostic software also provides medical spas with a cost-effective alternative to the skin analysis hardware devices often used in medical spa settings. Skin analysis hardware devices are frequently used for skin analysis in medical spa settings, but they often consist of bulky equipment and can be costly to operate. AI Skin Diagnostic technology provides medical spas with a seamless solution that can be accessed easily from a tablet in the patient’s hand.  

PSP: As for your AI Skin Analysis tool, how can med spas best utilize this?

Chang: Med spas can best utilize this tool during the consultation process. The technology instantly analyzes the patient’s skin to identify core skin concerns and issues. With this information, med spa providers can recommend a personalized skin care regimen to address patient skin concerns and increase customer satisfaction.  The patient can also use the AI Skin Diagnostic to simulate improvements to their skin over time and track their skin’s progress when using a specific product regimen.  

PSP: How can plastic surgeons use your tools as part of their marketing efforts?

Chang: Perfect Corp’s AI Face Reshape solution provides AI previews of cosmetic treatment results. This provides professionals with a seamless and engaging way to build patient trust, and educate patients on procedures. 

PSP: What kind of training do you offer users?

Chang: Perfect Corp’s AI solutions including the AI Face Reshape technology and AI Skin Diagnostic are intuitive software solutions, providing medical spas with a seamless, easy way to generate results in seconds. The advanced technologies do not require special equipment or training to use, and are driving digital transformation across the industry. PSP

According to a press release from the company, its leadership team is a mix of physicians, manufacturing executives, and distribution veterans. 

In unison with the company’s launch, CatchMD has acquired Optic Imaging and sole distribution rights for the Capture imaging device, formerly known as the Optic Slim. The enhanced Capture will be available for purchase on March 10, 2022, at catchmd.com. 

“Our products are designed for the changing landscape of aesthetics where performance meets beauty, we aid modern providers in capturing modern patients through easy and informative client conversations which spur sales at the point of care,” says Founder and Partner, Austin Podowski. “Our ‘show don’t tell’ approach in the patient consultation simplifies an otherwise suggestive situation,” he adds.

As the sole distributor of the Capture imaging device, CatchMD is relaunching the machine with new features which reportedly will streamline and enhance patient engagement. The device delivers real-time data ensuring easy patient conversations by revealing underlying damage and skin conditions that patients cannot see with the naked eye. The portable machine reveals more than 10 indications with LED-powered RGB, UV, and PL Filters including pore and wrinkle count, among others.  

The first of CatchMD’s software products is set to launch late 2022. An all-in-one asset for aesthetics professionals, the mobile application addresses content, compliance, and capturing. Specific features include before and after photo management, marketing tools, and patient form management.

“Ideal for high-end, high volume and high patient billable practices, we’ve created a comprehensive and affordable subscription solution including 3D imaging for body contouring, plastic surgery, and injections,” Podowski adds.

By Tonya Johnson

Even in the hands of the best plastic surgeon, patients who undergo body contouring procedures can easily regain the weight and so again become dissatisfied with their appearance.

But there’s a lot of inconsistent and unfounded messaging on social media platforms and the rest of the internet about how to lose weight, warns plastic surgeon Marguerite J. Bernett, MD, who has practiced for more than 20 years. To educate her patients properly, the medical director of Bellagio Aesthetics and Medical Spa in Irvine and Newport Coast, Calif, started offering the Virtual Health Partners (VHP) app almost two years ago.

VHP provides real-time virtual support for patients who are preparing for or have recently had an aesthetic procedure. According to VHP, 75% of patients who use the app complete more than 78% of their nutrition appointments (done virtually), versus traditional in-office nutrition appointments where adherence can be less than 30%.

VHP CEO and co-founder Jillian Bridgette Cohen says the app can be utilized as a marketing tool to drive revenue and also help practices stay connected with current and potential patients. The app launched in 2015 and Cohen says it’s more relevant today due to social distancing requirements that may hamper in-person follow-ups.

“It was developed to provide live virtual nutrition, lifestyle modification, and fitness, but the app is condition-specific,” she explains. In addition to helping people stay on track with weight loss, the VHP software has been used by breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and recovering from breast reconstruction as well.

“There’s a national network of plastic surgery centers and med spas that we work with, and we have over 60 plastic surgery practices who are live on the platform today,” says Cohen, who has more than 15 years of experience in the medical industry, with a focus on the noninvasive weight loss space. “We met a lot of the plastic surgeons when they started offering the intragastric balloon surgery for weight loss, and our relationship has continued with them because they saw the value of the app, outside of just that one procedure.”

What’s more, the VHP app—available to patients on phone, desktop computer, laptop, or tablet—provides a platform for doctors to obtain new leads and to guide patients with weight management even before liposuction or other services. “By informing patients on how to improve their nutrition, how to manage their aesthetic procedure results, and how to really feel better, VHP has been a great resource and a great partnership for me and my patients,” Bernett says. “As a practice, we’ve increased our own foundation of knowledge and learned how to best help patients understand how to guide their nutrition along with their self-care, as they are looking for self-improvement.”

Bernett began using one area of the app, then expanded her practice’s utilization of the tool over time. The VHP app enables patients to become more aware of their own habits, which may often work against their ultimate goals of maintaining proper weight, losing weight, or in some cases gaining weight, she says. “Because unless you’re someone who is into science or who actually studies nutrition, most people are learning about health and wellness through various magazines or other outlets,” Bennett says.

She typically introduces the software as a part of her patients’ treatment plan during the pre-operative exam or through a separate consultation meeting with the patient consultant and a VHP local representative.

The Virtual Health Partners app gives plastic surgery patients access to:

• an on-demand library of videos;
• group meeting sessions;
• one-on-one personalized sessions with dieticians and nutritionists;
• a fitness and personal training coach; and
• a behavioral/lifestyle management portal to address postoperative depression.

According to Cohen, more than 60% of plastic surgery patients continue with VHP beyond their recovery period because they like the recipes, meal plans, and fitness videos. “The nutrition content and component of healthy resources that we’re providing ensures that patients receive the long-term results that they need,” she says.

Setup for the VHP app is currently free. This includes staff training and marketing support to align with the specific clinical goals, content, and customization of VHP for each practice. For further information visit the Virtual Health Partners website.

Cohen says, “COVID-19 has brought us all back to valuing our relationships and communication more, and people are yearning for live touch points. That’s not going away. The virtual platform is able to continue to do that. So that’s a nice combination of in-office, and then staying in that communication mode and level of engagement with your patients.”

Tonya Johnson is associate editor of Plastic Surgery Practice. 

Apostrophe, a new startup that makes it easier to get Rx acne medications and treatments, has today announced the close of a $6 million seed round led by SignalFire, with participation from FJ Labs.

Apostrophe connects users with board-certified dermatologists, who then develop a personalized Rx treatment plan for those patients. Apostrophe has a vertically integrated mail-order pharmacy, which facilitates the distribution of those treatment plans.

Click here to view original web page at techcrunch.com

In skin cancer diagnosis, teledermatology has a sensitivity greater than 90% and a specificity greater than 80% compared with direct referral from primary care, according to a retrospective study.

“These findings are consistent with anecdotal reports by dermatologists in our setting indicating that they have a better view of the lesion with dermoscopy than with plain eyesight because of good image resolution with use of a large viewing screen,” Sangeeta S. Marwaha, MD, a dermatologist at Kaiser Permanente, Sacramento, and colleagues wrote

Click here to view original web page at www.healio.com

Ever expanding and evolving, telemedicine is most commonly a means of physician access for those living in remote areas with limited access to medical care or facilities. It provides patient-to-doctor consults to a population who otherwise might not have that opportunity.

A different application of telemedicine — the physician-to-physician teledermatology consult system — has been employed with great success by Robert R. Stavert, MD, MBA, and his colleagues, Dianne De Leon, MD, and Ahou Meydani-Korb, MD. Dr Stavert reviewed their program at a meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Click here to view original web page at www.dermatologyadvisor.com

Musely, an e-commerce marketplace and site for crowdsourced beauty tips, launched on Tuesday its own dermatology telemedicine brand called FaceRx.

Previously known as Trusper, 4-year-old Musely mimics a Reddit for beauty tips. In 2017, it launched an e-commerce component and an app; it now sees 30 million visitors a month. Its new beauty line, FaceRx, is focused on anti-aging concerns and features ingredients such as hydroquinone and tretinoin.

Click here to view original web page at www.glossy.co

Providers need only use their mobile phone to take photos through the app, which are automatically and securely saved to the AristaMD platform, then continue to process their referral order and eConsult as usual, a media release from AristaMD explains.

There are fewer practicing dermatologists in rural regions. Geographic barriers compound the issue of long wait times for specialist appointments, the release suggests. Use of AristaMD’s eConsults have proven highly effective with 81 percent of dermatology consults replacing a face-to-face visit with a dermatologist, the release suggests.

“Currently, patients are waiting anywhere from two to four months for a specialist appointment, but the reality is that a large portion of those specialist referrals are not needed,” says Brooke LeVasseur, CEO of AristaMD, in the release.

“The new AristaMD Photo App will help PCPs continue to significantly reduce unnecessary face-to-face referrals in even more cases needing visual documentation.”

[Source(s): AristaMD, PRWeb]