Dr Andrew Greenland: 0:00

Welcome back to Voices in Health and Wellness. This is the podcast where we connect with forward-thinking practitioners to explore the realities of modern healthcare from regulation and systems to leadership and long-term patient trust. Today I'm joined by Dr. Cian McLaughlin, Medical Director at OSO Clinic, a doctor-led boutique in London blending medical aesthetics, IV therapy, and longevity-focused wellness. Cian, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 0:26

Thank you for having me.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 0:28

Perhaps we could start at the top with your journey. What led you into aesthetics and ultimately into becoming the medical director at Ozo?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 0:36

Sure. So I guess firstly talking about what led me into aesthetics. I did my undergraduate medical degree in Ireland and then came over to London. And I had a really big interest in working with patients. And I think the idea didn't translate to the reality in that with the NHS, as we all know, it's a very stretched system by times. So there's actually very little patient interaction beyond just providing kind of sometimes emergency medical care. And I think also I found that I was almost apologizing or making excuses for a system that I had absolutely no control over. And at the same time, a friend of mine was working in sort of the aesthetics world. And a lot of the things that were bothering me were not a feature of that world or of that provision. So I think that's how I started to drift over towards there. And then the more I did it, the more I enjoyed it, and the more I wanted to become masterful in it. So that's where I decided to focus on that entirely.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 1:44

Lovely. Thank you for that. Always good to hear about the journey of the person I'm speaking to. So how would you describe the Ozo model in your own words? What's what's that for patients? What does it look like?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 1:54

So with the OZO model, so I've worked with a couple of different aesthetic clinics along the way. And essentially, we I was approached by some kind of non-medics about potentially setting up a clinic. So we've got marketing director, we've got the clinic director, and then we've got our sort of software and business development as well. And essentially, we we had worked previously together in other clinic settings, and we all had our annoyances or that around the way certain things were run or the way certain things were done. So I think with Oso Clinic, what we focused on is essentially getting the recipe right before looking at anything like scale or growth or anything like that. So essentially, whereas some clinics certainly that I've seen or worked with, they're very much focused on kind of rapid growth, the bottom line, that kind of thing, and not looking maybe at how things should be done or not looking at how sustainable it is coming into the future with the sort of changing environment and that as well.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 2:52

And what does it look like from a clinical perspective in terms of your offering and what it would look like to a patient coming through your doors?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 2:59

Yeah, so we're very keen at OSO Clinic to give the patients a very uh complete offering. So we have aesthetics, which comprises of kind of your traditional anti-wrinkle, dermal filler, uh skin boosters, all of that. And then we have our longevity and diagnostics as well. So we do things like uh vitamin supplementation, IV drips, and then we'll also look at blood work as well. So kind of gives the whole 360 picture for anyone that's coming through the door and has any concern. We've got a really good offering for them. And we work closely with other clinics as well when it comes to things like ultrasound diagnostics and that as well. So we're really able to guide the patient on their journey and what would be the most appropriate thing for them.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 3:44

And you describe it as doctor-led and boutique. I mean, what does that mean practically? I know you kind of kind of um covered it a little bit just now, but it'll be useful to get a bit more understanding of that.

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 3:54

Absolutely. So, doctor-led essentially is putting a clinical mind behind any decisions that are made in clinic or in the offerings of our clinic. So I think in the world of aesthetics and longevity, there's a lot of um, you know, from the suppliers, even a lot of marketing, a lot of claims that may not actually stack up in reality. So I think having a clinical mind behind that where you can um determine what's appropriate, inappropriate, and kind of help guide patients is always best. And then when it comes to kind of the boutique offering, so a main focus of ours is basically patient retention. So we're not looking for someone to come in, see us, order a treatment off menu, see someone that didn't know they were seeing the first day versus the second day, and sort of that sort of maybe high street clinic experience where we're more focused on boutique and providing excellent clinical results, but also backing that up with excellent customer service and giving them a more boutique personalized experience as well.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 5:01

Thank you. Um sorry if this sounds like an obvious question, but why combine medical aesthetics, IV therapy, and longevity medicine under one roof?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 5:08

So essentially it's just to give the best offerings that you can for the for the clients coming in. So, for example, someone coming in with look if they feel like they they look tired and they want to do something for the skin to help boost maybe looking fatigued, then you start chatting to them and you realize that they're just as an example not taking any vitamin D supplementation, and they're living in the UK where I think 60-70% of people are somewhat deficient in vitamin D. And you can address their original concern, but you can also say to them, Oh, we could do some vitamin D supplementation for you, and that may actually make you feel less fatigued, as well as some of our other offerings, making you look less fatigued. And I think it's basically offering kind of from the inside out, beauty, is that if it's worse, so being able to kind of treat some root causes as well as address the um physical manifestations of those as well.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 6:03

Thank you. I guess you've been in the space for a little while now. So, what are you noticing in terms of um client expectations, perhaps you know, compared to when you started, as to how they've evolved and what are patients turning up to expect in 2026?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 6:18

So I've seen a real development with this. And I think what I've seen is earlier on in my career, I think patients would come in and almost like order a treatment off a menu, as it were. So they might come in and they might have a we'll just say a smile line or that, and they're kind of singing, I want filler for my smile line. I think fast forward to 2026, you'll still get a little bit of that, but I think more and more patients are coming in more educated and more aware that it's not a quick fix, it's uh looking at why this is happening and looking at going forward as well. So, more and more I have patients coming in and saying to me, this is my concern. I'm happy to hear anything of the suggestions you have. And they want to build a one to five year plan essentially, rather than just doing one treatment and never seeing them again. So I think that's the main difference I'm noticing. And I think whilst there is a lot of misinformation out there, I do think in general, like social media and that there are some really good informative videos and that surrounding that. And I think that's really translating to kind of clinical practice now.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 7:29

Thank you. And what are you noticing in the wider aesthetics and longevity medicine space? What are you keeping your eye on? What's hot out there? And how is there anything that you're anxious to get your hands on or what you're looking to do with it in the future?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 7:42

So I think in general, and again, this is why we've combined, I think the world of aesthetics is focusing on sort of these buzzwords of kind of rejuvenation, biostimulators, basically getting your body to do the work to improve the outcomes. So I think there's some fantastic products out there that we've already been using. In terms of what I'm looking to get my hands on, I think even though it's been on the market for a while, I think the next product that, and I have a few friends screaming out for it, is probably uh Sonicos. I'd be quite keen to use uh some Sonicos in clinic, and I think that's going to be the next one that we we trial here. And I think the thing with again going back to the doctor led and that sort of boutique experience, I don't typically bring any treatments on board until I have either tried them myself or tried them with some trusted friends or that, and actually seen for myself the firsthand results, the first hand side effects, expectations, journey, so that when I actually present it to the clients, that all of that has been worked out, if that makes sense.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 8:47

Very helpful. And thinking about um the models you've experienced before that you were slightly less than happy with and what you've created now, what is the biggest gap between what you've done with your model and what's still out there that's not sort of performing to the level that you would um like?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 9:04

I think the gap is probably where certainly with these clinics and even with our own, you know, we have non-medics or non-clinical directors and executives and that, which is incredibly important because you know we're not taught all of these things like marketing, etc., in in med school. But I think if you don't have a clinical oversight, um the goals can get a bit confused. So I think in in some other settings, I've seen that the money, the income, the profitability is almost seen as the most important factor. Whereas for me, the most important factor is providing the best treatment for the person that's sitting in front of me. And that can also mean providing them with no treatment. So I think that's where I see the biggest deviation in what we're doing versus what I've seen in some other clinics. Amazing.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 9:57

And what are the biggest misconceptions that there are in aesthetic medicine, cosmetic medicine, longevity medicine that you see, or perhaps not just with clients that come through, but also the wider medical world that don't have the understanding?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 10:10

So I think there's a couple of things. I think one would be, for example, if there's 20 people on the street and they've all done some form of dermal filler, biostimulator, anti-wrinkle injection, etc., if you see one person that has had kind of bad work done and they they they look like they've had bad work done, the sometimes clients assume that that is the only person that has done any injectable. So it's kind of the education around that people can do these treatments, look perfectly natural and rejuvenated, but they see that one person that's maybe had some bad work or is chasing, you know, we'll just say massive lips or something like this, and that translates to them thinking that every lip looks like that. So I think that's one part of the education, and I think the other one, and it's been interesting, is surrounding dermal filler. So I think maybe about 10 or 12 months ago now, there was this kind of MRI release that showed that there was residual dermal filler in this lady's face, and that turned into a little bit of a viral topic of filler never goes away, you have it forever, it's and and basically a lot of negative connotations around dermal filler. I think that's coming around again as people are actually seeing the points of that case, and with discussion, clients are more filler-friendly again, and definitely filler still has a really important uh in place in rejuvenation and if used appropriately, gives fantastic results. But it's interesting to see kind of the yeah, the public opinion as these different articles or these different videos come out.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 11:47

Now you mentioned on a previous chat that we had about regulation, and you're obviously working in a tightly scrutinized and highly competitive space. How does regulation impact the way that you have to approach business and um the clinic?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 12:00

Yes, I think regulation is a really interesting one, especially in the UK, because I think there's a huge amount of grey areas. And at OSO Clinic, like I said at the start, we're wanting to build a sustainable model with you know patient safety and everything at the forefront. So we are you know all GMC registered doctors, CQC registered, MHRA compliant, and all of that. But I do think, and even seeking you know expert advice on this and and with different consultants, and that there is a space to not do that in the UK at the moment, unfortunately. And obviously, all of these things lead to more work, more money, more um administration tasks and everything. So I think there's certainly clinics that don't bother doing it essentially. Um, and I would hope that as the years go on, the patient education will be more so that they will seek out the clinics that are more reputable from the point of view of regulation, and more so that the regulation will become more mandatory in this country as well.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 13:09

So are you kind of advocating for tighter regulation because of what you just said?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 13:15

I am advocating for rather than tighter regulation, it can be, but also I think fairer regulation, because I think at the moment it's almost left up to the sort of clinic or the doctor's um judgment as to how much they decide to regulate themselves or not. So I think it would be better to have clearer guidance and ultimately, yes, better oversight and better regulation so that there's more of a complete blanket for when patients attend these clinics. Yeah.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 13:50

You said something interesting before that um patient acquisition is a byproduct of trust and systems. Can you unpack that a bit for us?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 13:57

Yeah, so I think our one of our main focuses from the start wasn't to essentially have a patient come in, try to, you know, sell them as much as we can in one episode and never see them again. So for us, it was all about similar to what I was saying earlier, it's about the ultimate plan for them and what's what we find best for them and meeting their goals and what we can offer. So I think patient retention is a massive thing of uh a massive part of what we do here. And I see it as with patient retention, if you've got um a patient that's coming back to you, you know, for a year, year and a half, then that actually leads to patient acquisition because they will inevitably tell some people that they trust you, that if they are getting compliments or if they're feeling better and that, and saying it to their friends. So certainly I think patient acquisition is important and the various traditional models that exist around that, but I think it has to be backed up with really solid patient experience and as a side effect patient retention as well.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 15:00

Any sort of ethical boundaries around um referrals and loyalty um that you have to kind of navigate through?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 15:07

Um not hugely, no. I don't you I think the main one would be patient confidentiality. So if um if someone's friend comes in and they said I was referred by patient A, they were soup happy with their treatments, I was thinking of getting the same thing, what have they done? So, in that respect, I won't disclose the treatments that patient A may have done because that is patient confidentiality. But if patient B comes in and says, Oh, my friend patient A had anti-wrinkle toxin, she she showed me the results, she was really happy with it. Could I do the same treatment and they're already aware of it, then that way we can then I can say oh we can do that treatment for you, yeah. So I think it's I think the main ethical one will be surrounding patient confidentiality and not just assuming because someone has referred someone that they're happy for them to be informed as to what they're doing in clinic or that.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 16:03

Thank you. So obviously, Ozo is a business business, it's a clinical practice, but just keen to know because a lot of people listening to this will be building their own practices. What's going particularly well for the business in 2026?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 16:16

So, what is going well for us? I think we have done extremely well in the um development of a trustworthy clinic image. So we will have some people come in and they've been searching for a certain treatment on Google or that, and they'll find our clinic. And when once they come in, I you know we'll say to them, How did you decide to go with the Oso Clinic? Because as you've said, it's a highly competitive space, um, especially in London, there's a clinic every five minutes. Um, and increasingly what we hear is, oh, well, I looked at your website, it was very professional. I looked at your Instagram, I looked at your Google reviews, and they they're the the patients create this full picture of trust in the in the clinic, I suppose. So I think what we've done really well is across multiple platforms and modes presented that image of professionalism and and trustworthiness and clinician-led treatment, and I think that's really important.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 17:18

Amazing. So you obviously got some very good business assets. I was going to ask you what the magic ingredients are in your assets to do that, but I think you've given us a really good clue. So thank you. Um, on the other side of the coin, what are the some of the challenges that you're currently having to navigate as the business, or maybe some challenges you've had to overcome along the way that you'd be happy to share?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 17:36

Yeah, so I think um initially one of our big challenges was um the regulation. So the CQC registration, the sourcing of MHRA compliant products, and that was definitely a steep learning curve. Now, I think at the moment that because of what we have done in that space, it hasn't uh translated to an ongoing um challenge or concern. And at the moment, main challenges I would say sometimes it's patient expectations. Even though patients are becoming really well informed, I think there's also sometimes with social media, with celebrities and this kind of thing, people sometimes expect more out of treatments than is um than is appropriate. But I suppose that's all going back to the consultation and patient education as well. But certainly that can be a little bit of a theme by times.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 18:32

Now I guess you're the medical director, so you probably wear lots of hats, or at least many hats at different times. What does your week look like as a medical director in the clinic? And I guess there's no typical week, but just give us some sense of what you do.

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 18:45

So I suppose the primary um focus of my time is on um you know practice. So patient consultations, patient treatments, follow-ups, um reviewing results, and that outside of that, there is the uh dreaded social media monster, so uh social media content is a big part as well. Um I also do as medical director quite a bit of education or training. So we work, um, we have another doctor and some nurses as well that we work with. So kind of uh doing training with them, updating clinical protocols and that as well. And I think as medical director, I'm also continuously looking for you know the next thing or keeping myself updated with products, with offerings and that as well. So there's often quite a bit of reaching out to various companies, meeting with reps and getting and and just getting au fay with everything that's out there.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 19:47

And out of that portfolio, which is your biggest time drain or the thing you least enjoy doing?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 19:52

I'm perhaps you enjoy all of it, but just wondered what least enjoy doing. I I think probably the administration side of things. So I think, yeah, when you have a consultation, you do the treatment, everyone's happy, and then having to sit down for 15 or 20 minutes afterwards and document everything, I think that's the bit that I would like to skip, but it's super important to do. But yeah, I think that that would be the main headache.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 20:21

And if you were starting Ozo again tomorrow from scratch, would you do anything differently um with the benefit of hindsight, which is obviously a wonderful thing?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 20:29

Ooh, that's a really good question. I think with our so so with the team we have at the moment, I think I very fortunately managed to avoid a lot of the um pitfalls that a lot of clinics make when they're being set up, because a lot of clinics will essentially be a doctor that wants to set up a clinic. And as I was kind of saying earlier, we're not very well versed in the world of business, marketing, government regulations, um, you know, all the all the administration that goes to setting up a business. So I think with my with my team that I have, we did really fantastically on that. Even things like contract leases and everything, where I would have had to do a lot of education and probably had some stumbling blocks, that was I had the support and everything there from my team to to help overcome those. And perhaps one thing when it comes to the day-to-day practice is I think as a young clinic, when you are you know trying to fill your fill your calendar and everything, there's we didn't uh employ the cancellation policy. And I think with our early clients that come and they um kind of got used to that, I think as that's gone on in the future, it's it's harder to change that relationship when they suddenly decide they don't want to come or they're half an hour late or whatever, and you're and your day is completely full. So I think that might be one thing I would have. That's actually very good advice.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 22:04

I think that's a universal for um clinics. So thank you for that.

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 22:07

Yeah.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 22:08

Have you ever experimented or looked into scalable models? So memberships, digital education, remote consults, or does that not fit in with your ethos?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 22:16

Looked into what, sorry?

Dr Andrew Greenland: 22:18

Um scalable, more scalable things like memberships, digital education, remote consults, that kind of thing.

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 22:24

Yeah, so when it comes to scalability, um we are primarily focused on, I suppose, having the model really kind of solid before we do anything like that. Um I do offer remote consultations because we do have uh clients that will travel quite far. We've clients that come from Wales and Scotland and that. Um so yes, I do offer remote consultations. Um, subscriptions. I haven't looked into the subscription model that much yet. I know a lot of clinics do offer it, um, but it's not something that I've particularly focused on at the moment. And yeah, I don't know how that translates to in practice.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 23:02

Have you had a lot of other clinics that use a subscription model or in functional medicine space it's becoming a little bit more common because I suppose people want some idea of what the budget is going to be for their case, and it's helps them to see and helps them to be able to spread the payment and understand a little bit more rather than fragmented ad hoc consultations testing. But I I think it's a very difficult thing to navigate because every patient is so different. We have we don't really have a sort of set offering, so I I can see why other clinics try to do it. I've struggled with it myself.

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 23:35

Yeah, I think that's yeah, in such a personalized area, I think it's difficult to have a blanket subscription or a blanket rule for everyone, isn't it? Absolutely.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 23:46

So, what is the future looking like for Ozo? Anything big on the cards? What are you looking to achieve in 2026 and beyond?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 23:53

So I think 2026 and beyond is going to be about growth, essentially. So I think we've gotten to a point, thankfully, where my calendar is pretty chocker, and um we can now look to kind of expand our offerings that we have our other doctor on board now at the moment, and essentially just kind of scale now that we've gotten it to a point that we're happy with the offering and that as well, whilst keeping the original ethos and everything in mind. So I think that's going to be the main thing, probably just growth to basically feed the demand, which would be great.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 24:29

And within growth, is there anything that you are deliberately choosing not to grow or not to scale because it doesn't fit with you know you, your team, the model, the clinic?

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 24:39

I think at the moment there are, for example, when it comes to devices, I think a pretty common um clinic model is that the devices can be sometimes therapist-run, which um they do a fantastic job at. But I think whilst we're still focusing on this kind of doctor-led boutique experience, I don't think I want to get into the area of um, for example, laser hair removal or something like that, where perhaps it doesn't require a you know very expert consultation. It can be a little bit more of a an easier treatment and kind of more applicable to everyone. And often when it turns to those sorts of treatments where there's huge competition from you know high street clinics that are offering incredible discounts, it turns into a numbers game rather than a rather, yeah, like a numbers game trying to do X amount of treatments a day in order to fuel that. So I think that's maybe the space that I don't want to see myself growing into.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 25:43

And again, on the subject of growth, if you had 50 new client referrals next week or 50 people showing up on your doorstep wanting treating before you'd grown and expanded, what would happen? Hopefully, nothing would break, and hopefully not you.

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 25:56

Well, there's only so many hours in the day, right? So, yeah, we we can uh meet a certain amount of demand, and then we have various platforms that people can book through. So we have our kind of online platform, we have Instagram, uh, WhatsApp, WeChat, there's probably others that I'm forgetting, but the customer service team are fantastic. So I think with that, we can always kind of find a way to um stratify, I guess, the demand. So if someone is, for example, coming back for a two-week review and I want to see them at a two-week review, if there's any no availability online, the customer service team can liaise with them and kind of find that availability there. But um, yes, I suppose there's only so many hours in the day as well.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 26:42

And finally, if I was to give you an a magic wand, empower you with a magic wand, is there anything that you'd like to be able to fix overnight in the business? Ooh.

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 26:55

With a bit of an unsatisfactory answer, I don't think so. There's nothing, yeah, there's nothing particular keeping me up at night at the moment. No, I think it's running, it's running quite well. Yeah. Um I think probably good measure of success. Well, I don't know. But I think um one thing I'll mention actually that um has worked really well for us is one of our partners has developed a stock system for the clinic. And essentially it's it's worked really well because it's a combination of my kind of clinical demands when it comes to stock and stocking out, and it's also with their kind of business history knowing what's needed in the stock system. And I think that's something that's worked really well with us, especially when it comes to, for example, doing an IV drip that might have 10-15 different ingredients. And if you were to be manually writing down lot expiry numbers and everything for every um episode, either it's a huge amount of admin work, or either things get just don't get done, essentially. So they've put in a fantastic system where all of that can be kind of automated. There's notifications for low stock, there's notifications for expires, there's um notifications for when you'd like them to when you'd like the uh patient to return and everything. And I think that's taken a huge amount of admin work and probably a huge amount of headache out of the day-to-day running as well. Sounds amazing.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 28:32

With that, um, Cian, I'd like to thank you so much for joining us today. It's such been such a grounded conversation hearing about you, your model, the practice, what you do within the clinic, where you're looking to take things, but also um really grounded in the sense of emphasizing ethics over hype, which I think is so important in this space. So thank you very much for joining us.

Dr Cian McLoughlin: 28:50

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.