Dermastyle Estimates 2 Mio EUR Turnover This Year

The current economic crisis has not been too harsh on the private medical service market and even presented some opportunities. "The private medical service market has great potential. In fact, this market is quite effervescent and has created the proper conditions for many attractive investments over the recent years. This course of events has also been favoured by the public medical system, which is facing a great deficit, under-financing and major problems," said Dr. Mihaela Leventer, Managing Director of the Dermastyle Clinic.

Little by little, private clinics and hospitals have managed to cover many medical specialities and become robust competitors of the public system. "This is the time to conquer the segment for dedicated, highly specialized services as there are still few clinics and hospitals able to cover this area... excellence centres I mean. I strongly believe in cultivating competence through medical services dedicated to a specific condition. It is only now that the Romanian market is starting to develop towards such excellence centres," Dr. Leventer told BURSA.

She confessed that she had always wanted to have her own dermatology clinic. In her view, this medical discipline is much more suitable for the private medical system, than for the public system. She opened her first dermatology practice in 1995 and has had to change location several times as the space she had became insufficient for the number of patients. The current clinic, Dermastyle, was established in the year 2000. Dr. Leventer currently works with 7 dermatology specialists and 3 dermatological surgeons. The clinic offers the full chain of dermatological services, from diagnosis to treatment.

"The increasing number of patients determined us to set up the current clinic. At first, we didn"t even think we could afford the rent, although the space was rather small. However, we had to expand quite soon afterwards, to our current location. Still, the 400 square meters we have now has also become insufficient. We have approximately 150 patients coming in every day for examination. We offer full dermatological services, namely examination, diagnosis and treatment. In terms of treatment, we have been pioneers in many cases. As an example, we were the first to apply treatment in hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), which affects 5% of the population and creates a social handicap for the patients," Dr. Leventer added.

The clinic reported to have examined and, as the case may be, treated 18,000 patients in 2008. For 2009, Managing Director Dr. Leventer estimates a turnover of 2 million EUR. Dermastyle, the only private medical clinic dedicated exclusively to dermatology, recently entered a partnership with Medlife, one the of largest private medical service companies in Romania. "This partnership brings together two important players on the private medical service market. Dermastyle will ensure dermatological expertise, while Medlife will ensure logistic support for opening a hospital, which is being built in the northern part of Bucharest," Dr. Leventer added.

Romania"s first private dermatology and plastic surgery hospital will require a total investment of 3 million EUR and comply with high medical standards. It is scheduled for opening in October 2009. "The new hospital, which will be the first private dermatology hospital in the country, will not offer mass medical services, but only services for serious skin conditions that require highly specialized treatment," Dr. Leventer added. Services performed by the future hospital will not be paid by the public health insurance system.

• Dr. Mihaela Leventer, Managing Director of the Dermastyle Clinic in Bucharest

Dr. Mihaela Leventer: "Dermastyle is the only private clinic in the country exclusively dedicated to skin conditions. Despite changes in trend and location, we have retained loyal customers, who have followed us everywhere we performed our work."