# Enhanced Patient Retention With Formal, Structured Facial Assessment and Treatment Planning: A Multi‐Clinic Real‐World Analysis

## TL;DR

This study finds that using a formal facial assessment and treatment planning system significantly improves patient retention in cosmetic clinics.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a large-scale, multi-clinic analysis demonstrating that structured assessment and planning improves patient retention in aesthetic medicine.

## Key findings

- Post-implementation of structured assessment plans, patient retention increased by 2.5-fold.
- Retention improvements were consistent across different treatment types like neuromodulators and fillers.
- Multi-clinic databases offer a novel platform for quality improvement in aesthetic medicine.

## Abstract

Practitioner trust and satisfaction drive patient retention. The impact of structured consultation frameworks, including formal facial assessment and treatment planning, remains underexplored and has not been systematically evaluated at scale.

Determine whether formal assessment and treatment planning improves patient retention.

Retrospective, non‐interventional cohort analysis of de‐identified records from 17 clinics sharing a unified backend customer relationship management database. Eligible patients were aged ≥ 18 years, had their first cosmetic injectable treatment between April 2019 and January 2025, had received at least two treatments and had consented to the use of their data. Patients were categorized as pre‐ or post‐implementation of the clinic's structured assessment plan, introduced in March 2022. Six‐month retention, as a surrogate for patient satisfaction, was estimated using Kaplan–Meier methods. Time‐dependent Cox proportional hazards models with start–stop structure were fitted to evaluate the impact of post‐plan exposure, adjusting for age, sex, and assessment frequency.

The analysis population comprised 14 916 patients. Most (93.82%) were female, mean age at first visit was 42.5 years (range 18–89) and mean time retained in clinic was 2.11 years (range 0–5.79). Overall six‐month retention rates were high in both groups (Pre‐plan: 84.72%; Post‐plan: 70.81%). Post‐plan initiation was associated with a 2.5‐fold higher chance of six‐month retention (HR: 2.532, 95% CI: 2.426, 2.642; p < 0.0001). Treatment‐specific analyses (neuromodulator, filler, and biostimulator) each demonstrated consistent, higher retention following plan introduction.

Structured assessment and planning improved patient retention across treatment types. Large‐scale, multi‐clinic databases provide a robust and novel platform for identifying opportunities for quality improvement in aesthetic medicine.