Renee Moschitto is a well-educated, successful business owner. As an RN and BSN, she launched DermaTouch RN more than 10 years ago, and the establishment is still going strong—clients come from throughout the US to enter its doors.
We thought it would be interesting to ask Renee some questions about
Renee Moschitto, DermaTouch RN Founderhow she got started as an entrepreneur and what’s important to her about patient care at DermaTouch RN. Read on to find answers to some of the questions for which we were intrigued to hear the answers!
Q. Why did you start DermaTouch RN?
A. I knew I wasn’t going to work as a nurse in the hospital for rest of my life mainly because I knew I didn’t want to work in an intensive situation as I got older. I had had small businesses in the past, and I knew I was going to open some type of small business in the future but wasn’t sure what it would be when I first became a nurse.
I looked into different business options and met people along the way that influenced me. A couple I knew, the Turners, had just bought a company called Extreme Lashes, which intrigued me. I also met a few people already injecting cosmetic Botox (2002), and it was the beginning of the period when people outside of plastics and dermatology started injecting. I had friends injecting Botox, and they were doing well, also.
Eventually, my mother got sick, and it was a time for me to research and reflect as to what I’d be doing in the future. I went to a couple of courses, and after having worked at the university, I felt that there was a lot lacking in Botox and dermal filler training—it was not as thorough as I thought it should be when I attended training for such services.
I decided to launch my own cosmetic services company—coming onto the Botox scene three to four years after it had become well-known. Part of my mission was to ensure that I educate my practitioners and patients each step of the way on the services and procedures we would offer. I’m thrilled to say that we’ve been going strong for more than 10 years now, with no signs of stopping.
Q. What are the top two to three concerns patients have when they come to DermaTouch RN?
A. First, I find that patients want to ensure that we are familiar with the services, such as dermal fillers, that we offer, which is very wise on their part. Cosmetically, wrinkles and lines around the eyes and mouth are some of the top concerns of patients, along with sagging of the nasolabial folds and the neck area.
Q. When it comes to anti-aging cosmetic and skin care to maintain a “youthful” appearance, what do you believe is most important to consider?
A. The condition of the skin will tell your age, so maintaining a youthful appearance starts with taking care of the skin and using sunscreen. The eye area is another area that tends to tell a person’s age—the laxity of skin around their eyes, tear troughs forming, lack of brightness, and how open or not the eyes tend to be.
Q. What do you believe you do differently than your competitors that sets you apart and keeps patients coming back for more?
A. We listen to our patients and what their concerns are first and foremost without trying to impose everything we can do for them on them all at once. We also thoroughly educate our patients about the two to three things that would support them in getting the solution they desire.
Q. What are you biggest concerns about the industry and how patients can be negatively impacted?
A. People who are not skilled at the cosmetic treatments they are put the patient at risk. This can range from the wrong product being used—including illegal products, like silicone under the eyes—to how each product is supposed to be used. Each product has a niche or specific area where it will do the best job, and many are not experienced or understand how the product they are using works.
As a side note, to understand products, it’s important for a practitioner to work with someone with experience—at least 6 months of an internship should be the minimum focus, with up to two years being used to build true competence. A practitioner who is serious about how he or she serves the patient will have a mentor or a specialist to whom to ask questions. There are so many facial types, and it takes time to learn how to work with each one. There are solutions for each patient that’s related to the skill level and knowledge base of the injector or provider. Lasers, Botox, Fillers, and even topical skin care all take time to understand how they each work and for what concerns they work best.
Q. What do you attribute your ability to be able to keep you doors open for more than 10 years with a successful track record? How are you able to keep your costs so low at DermaTouch RN?
A. Instead of how much we can make, I look at how efficient we can be and pass the savings on to the patients. Everything from how we use our needles to who we buy from for savings to constantly revisiting where we can buy the materials we need to work with. We are constantly looking at cost and what we’re making per hour. We are a big practice, so we receive savings from the companies we buy from, and we choose to keep the companies we work with to a minimum so we don’t spread the wealth to the point that we can’t pass the savings on to our patients. This is especially true for neurotoxins like Botox and Dysport, which is why we stick with only these two vs. adding the new products on the market to our list of offerings.
Q. In what ways do you educate your patients? Why do you believe this is important?
A. I want patients to understand what the product is actually doing to their skin and body. Take Botox, for example; we are changing the nerve endings, so the treatment amount often doesn’t stay the same from the very first time they have a treatment—the very first treatment is the strongest response. Also, how the dermal fillers function in our bodies is important to understand. Some hydrophilic products draw a lot of water to them, while others don’t, impacting the result for the patient.
We tend to stay away from certain types of products that can cause problems for patients, as well. For example, I had a patient that had talked to someone about silicone under the eyes, which is not safe and can move, so I’m glad she came in, because I had the opportunity to educate her on these issues.
So educating patients on the sorts of results they can achieve is essential. Also making sure they understand there are no FDA approved products for under the eyes, so it’s essential to have a skilled practitioner handle such injections. We have a lot of success with certain HA products under the eyes.
Q. Anything else you’d like to add?
A. I like to avoid snake oil. In other words, I avoid anything that’s not scientifically proven and backed by results.
DermaTouch RN offers minimally invasive and non-invasive treatments for men and women in Houston, San Antonio, Spring and Cypress, as well as the surrounding areas of Texas. We are the largest aesthetic practice in the Houston area, and all of our medical spa treatments are performed by a team of nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and aestheticians who receive continuing education to remain abreast of emerging treatments that benefit our patients. We invite you to learn more about our office before your consultation.
