Dr. Douglas J. Key - Key Laser Institute for Aesthetic Medicine

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Dr. Key's passion for research began at an early age, when he earned the opportunity to work with a Nobel Prize winning professor as a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley. Throughout his undergraduate education, Dr. Key travelled the country to take part in research opportunities in various aspects of biological sciences. Through this research, he became interested in the field of medicine.
Dr. Douglas Jeffrey Key Laser Institute for Aesthetic Medicine in Portland

Name: Dr. Douglas J. Key
Clinic: Key Laser Institute
Location: Portland, OR
Website: keylaserinstitute.com

That's interesting:  Dr. Key's most well-known research took place when he was a Clinical Fellow at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland. During this time, his innovative research led to the development of the drug Retin-A, which is commonly used for acne treatment and wrinkle reduction. He also spent time researching skin cancer prevention techniques and cellular methods to repair damaged skin.

Where do you see skin care moving and is there any topical treatments that have the possibility of displacing current medical technologies?

Where things are going in cosmetic medicine is a great question. Let’s begin by saying cosmetic medicine as a defined area of specialty knowledge and practice is barely a little over 10 years old. And by that I mean cosmetic medicine as a specialty medical based practice, a knowledge base deep enough to be exclusively devoted to aesthetics and separate from surgery and general dermatology. Ten years ago Thermage™ was just getting its FDA clearance, allowing us to do the unimaginable at that time - tighten skin without surgery. Fillers were just coming on board, but just used to fill lips. There were no concepts yet as to treating the aging face. There were no fractionated or pixilated resurfacing, it just hadn’t been invented yet. And the idea of using stem cells or platelet rich plasma, it was well off in the future. 

So in the first 10 years of cosmetic medicine we learned how to treat aging. In these next 10 years, we will no longer be just treating aging, we will truly be preventing aging. What a difference that will make. 

The future, which is already here, is not just what treatments we use in the office, but what is the best for your skin care program for every day use at home.

You offer lipo contouring treatments using Liposonix, LipoSelection and CoolLipo. What do you think of these devices’s efficacy? Where could it be improved? Does it have any shortcomings?

The improvement in our patients with CoolSculpting, which is totally noninvasive, are really amazing. We have had CoolSculpting now almost three years, and the results have really improved, partly because we now use overlapping chambers. We just have a better feel for how to place the cooling chambers. We also do a better job of clearly letting our patients know if it’s the best treatment for them, and how many sessions they should do - one, two or three sessions. 

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Stepping Your 'Smart Lipo' Laser Clinic Out Of The [Branding] Box

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Let's say you needed a tissue and asked a friend for a Kleenex... would you be perturbed if they handed you a Puffs instead?

Silly point, but it seems to be somewhat of an ethical conundrum that I came across at ASLMS while talking with a group of physicians who are contemplating adding laser lipo to their already successful aesthetic practices and are unsure of how to market it.

Let’s face it, there have been quite a few technological advancements since the FDA approval of the first SmartLipo in November of 2006. There’s ProLipo, Vaser Lipo, SlimLipo,... let me take a breath here... Cool Lipo, LipoLite, Lipotherme (I know I have omitted some, but you get my point).

Since SmartLipo was first to market, it has now become a household name like Band-Aid or Clorox even though we know there are more brands of those products. In fact, the same situation is going to happen once Reloxin is released.

These physicians made a valid point when they stated patients are calling in asking for “SmartLipo”. So what if the physician decided they want a different laser lipo device? How would they market it since the public is primarily only aware of “SmartLipo” and are specifically asking for it?

Ethics suggest to me to market it as “laser lipo” and that use of the name “SmartLipo” would not only be misleading, but probably even illegal for false advertising. So what’s a physician to do if he wants different technology? What’s the best marketing strategy?

  • Purchasing a used SmartLipo device on eBay, perhaps, just to say they own one?
  • Advertising your device as a “SmartLipo-like” device?
  • Co-purchasing a SmartLipo device with another practice?

It definitely proves the point that first-to-market has sustaining branding longevity.

Author: Paula D. Young RN runs internal operations and training at Young Medical Spa and is the author of the Medical Spa Aesthetics Course, Study Guide, and Advanced IPL & Laser Training course for medical estheticians and laser technicians.

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