You walk in and are greeted warmly. With hot tea in hand you’re led to a room that has fluffy pillows and high thread-count sheets. Immersed in a swirl of calm music, flowers and pastels, you barely notice the exam table and gynecologic stirrups in the corner…

Spa or medical clinic? At SoBe Gyn of South Beach, Florida, the two concepts blend into what the clinic refers to as personalized boutique gynecology. Since opening in Septmeber 2006, the clinic has sought to “provide uninsured women with exceptional healthcare in a private, soothing, and beautiful environment.” To learn more about the clinic that pampers patients in an environment often associated with cold instruments, bright lights and stress, HPV News recently spoke with SoBe Gyn founder Jane Denight, M.S., ARNP. A fellow of the American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology, Ms. DeNight’s clinical expertise includes diagnosis and treatment of HPV, abnormal Pap tests, colposcopy, and cervical cancer prevention. She and George Kovacevic, MD, started SoBe GYN with the aim of providing a unique healthcare experience for young, uninsured women in South Beach, Florida.

HPV News: How do you bring a “boutique” experience to health care?

Jane DeNight: It means mixing healthcare with what women like. Women enjoy going to a spa, of course, because it's serene and tranquil. This environment is soothing and gives women a good chance to unwind and de-stress. We also took a couple concepts from shopping, which of course many women like, so our patients receive shopping bags when they come! They each get a gift with their basic exams and Pap tests. We provide a soothing environment, lots of white linen, comfy and fluffy couches, peaceful music and fresh orchids all over.

This sounds very different from a traditional gynecologic clinic setting.

Yes, clinics are usually much more sterile and not as focused on customer service. We want our patients to feel relaxed, which is why we utilize concepts from the spa. For example, our exam tables have down comforters and Hungarian down pillows, and the stirrups are covered with silk! The women wear chamois robes and spa socks, so it's a very soothing experience where the woman feels genuinely cared for.

How does the staff dress? Do they wear traditional medical scrubs?

Right now we focus on white: I wear a white lab coat and my assistant Michelle Goodall wears scrubs, but we’re thinking of going with more of a healing outfit, that’s like a Chinese jacket with buttons down the front, and of course white because that promotes cleanliness; it looks clean, feels clean.

Besides spa components, are there other differences a patient might notice with your clinic? You mentioned customer service as a focus…

The cornerstone of our practice is patient education. From the moment they walk in to a warm reception, with “hi, thank you for coming, my name is so and so, would you like some hot tea?” we give them hot tea just like they would receive in a spa. We spend at least 25 minutes doing reviewing their health history and knowledge of cervical caner, HPV, and the Pap test. We teach patients what's pertinent to their health at their stage of life. Cervical cancer affects young women and can cause loss of fertility. Since we mostly see young reproductive age women, we focus a lot of teaching on the importance of the Pap test and its role in preventing cervical cancer, as well as birth control and STD infections.

So patient teaching and education, taking very good histories from the patient and actually listening to them. That's very different from what's going on in many places where the patients are in and out in five minutes, and that takes up a lot of our time. Patient teaching takes up a lot of our time, but it's an excellent investment for us and the patient. We feel we provide better service for the patient, better diagnosis and treatment, when we take our time and teach them about what's important for their age group

Many people reading this are in practice themselves. What do you think are the one or two most important thing that can do to give a more comfortable atmosphere to their practice?

Some things don’t cost much money at all, and that’s important to remember. The number one thing is just kindness and empathy, and general good etiquette, which I think is lacking in medicine today. How the patient is received, how well the clinician listens to the patient, thanking them and telling them you appreciate that they chose your facility.

Next would be small things, like fresh flowers, a refreshing beverage when they come in, and comfortable seats. Those things don’t have to cost a lot. Women love flowers, they love the color pink, and we use very good exotic wood furniture that wasn’t too expensive but gives a polished look. The other important part is patient education, including verbal, written, and online resources such as HPV News, the ASHA website, and the NCCC website. Knowledge empowers patients and makes them feel more comfortable with their healthcare experience.

What sort of feedback have you received from your patients?

They often say “I feel like I just went shopping,” and we tell them they have, they've been shopping for their body and their health! We're quite flattered because we get a great response and many people actually ask us if we'll open clinics in other cities.

Does your practice also see males?

Yes. Sometimes partners have infections that affect the male so we welcome them, too. Once we get men in, we do some general medicine as well. Men are similar to women in that they appreciate being treated well, with respect and kindness in a soothing environment. So our male population has grown tremendously and they actually feel good about coming to the clinic, a practice that too many men shun.

Visit SoBe Gyn online at www.sobegyn.com, or contact them at 305.535.9907. For patients in South Florida the clinic offers yearly gynecology exams and Pap tests, birth control, treatment of vaginal infections, and general medicine.

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