A Letter From Dr. Lewellis

There's a kind of dermatology experience I know is possible.

It's not new, but powerful forces beyond our control have suppressed it for so long that when you finally get a taste, it feels new, and it feels right.

It's patient, personal, proactive, thoughtful, integrative, transparent, trustworthy, and hospitable.

It feels different, and it sees you. It respects your time, your attention, your intelligence, your curiosity, your values, your goals, your family, your budget, and your one-of-a-kind lived experience.

It meets you where you are without judgment and helps you get where you want to go, whether that's to a version of yourself you used to know before things fell apart or to a version you've only dreamed of.

Many patients have shared with me some version of the same old story.

Their appointment finally arrives after waiting months. They take time off work. They rearrange their day. They wait in line and then sit in a sterile waiting room. Maybe there's a cup of bad coffee. But let's be honest the hospital admins probably nixed that.

They finally meet a doctor — or all too often a nurse practitioner or physician assistant even if they thought they were going to meet a doctor — who may be kind, capable, and caring but always feels rushed. They get a few minutes of attention and a cursory exam. A prescription gets sent. Perhaps tests are ordered, procedures performed. Confusion and condescension reign.

They're not quite sure what just happened, what to do next, what matters most, what to watch for, what to use, what to stop using, whether the plan fits their actual life, who to contact for guidance and coaching along between appointments, or how much it's all going to cost. And to add insult to injury, a big ol' bill that doesn't feel at all in line with what they experienced arrives a few months later because they haven't yet met their $6,000 deductible.

This is life on the insurance-dependent healthcare assembly line.

This is 2-minute dermatology.

This is a symptom of a system in which doctors and patients have both lost control and are suffering the consequences while Big Hospital and insurance companies reap the rewards.

I've yet to meet a doctor who went into medicine wanting to practice this way. I certainly didn't.

I didn't train for years in medicine, science, and dermatology so I could become a cog in an assembly line, but I've been there.

I didn't start Above & Beyond Dermatology to recreate the rushed, reactive, impersonal experience that leaves patients feeling processed and taken advantage of and doctors and their teams feeling burnt out, cynical, and morally injured.

And I know you don't want that for yourself or your family.

You don't want to feel like a row on a spreadsheet, and I don't want to feel like United Healthcare's b*tch.

You don't want to wait months while losing sleep over that rash that's ruining your life or the thought of having melanoma just like your mom did.

You don't want to waste hundreds or thousands of dollars on skincare products, supplements, procedures, prescriptions, or online trends without a personalized, expert-guided, integrative strategy that makes sense and feels right.

You don't want to bounce between urgent care, primary care, 2-minute dermatology, med spas, pharmacies, influencers, and insurance insanity, trying to piece together a plan on your own.

You don't want a rushed, algorithmic, narrow-minded experience that makes you feel as if skin and hair have nothing to do with confidence, identity, aging, stress, hormones, gut health, nutrition, environmental exposures, relationships, self-expression, and how you feel navigating an already tough enough world day in and day out.

You're not searching for lies or miracles, but you are searching for something better.

That makes two of us, and that's why we created Above & Beyond Dermatology's Integrative Skin Health Membership.

This membership is our first major step toward practicing dermatology in a more direct, personal, sustainable, hospitable, and human way.

The idea is simple: Top-notch dermatology care should help you understand your skin. It should help you prevent problems when possible. It should help you know what deserves attention and what you can free from your mental load. It should enable you to make well-informed, shared decisions about treatments, procedures, supplements, peptides, skincare routines, prevention, aging, chronic skin disease, and overall health.

It should feel like you have a dependable, curious, and compassionate dermatologist and team in your corner all year long, not just when something goes wrong.

As a member, you're not buying access. You're committing to a more proactive and integrative skin health relationship because you value it.

You get time to think through and share your skin story, your risks, your fears, your goals, your current routines, your medications, your family history, your lifestyle, and your next best steps.

You get structure and coaching for staying on track.

You get community, education, transparency, and preferred member pricing on many of the products, services, and tools we rely on to deliver an exceptional integrative dermatology experience.

You get a direct, balanced relationship with an independent, physician-owned dermatology practice that is intentionally choosing a different path.

Above & Beyond Dermatology isn't owned or controlled by hospital systems or private equity interests. It's not designed to maximize volume at all costs because that's "just how it is" these days with the current state of insurance reimbursements.

The ugly truth is that our current insurance-dependent healthcare system often rewards the opposite of what I believe in and what you're searching for.

It rewards speed, volume, size, fragmentation, specialization, and "billable" procedures.

Those of you who have been "frozen" with liquid nitrogen before the doc even asked your permission are all too familiar with that last one.

It does not reward an independent, integrative, proactive, preventive, transparent, root cause-oriented, physician-led approach to care.

The future I want is more proactive. More transparent. More educational. More integrative. More relational. More independent. More aligned.

A future where dermatology isn't just about fixing the crisis in front of us; it's also about helping you live more confidently and comfortably in your own skin.

We're launching the Integrative Skin Health Membership with a limited group of 50 Founding Members because we want to build a community that has a shared sense of purpose and value.

People who understand that access, clarity, prevention, and relationship are worth investing in.

People who want to be part of an independent practice that's doing something different.

People who believe, as I do, that healthcare can be better than rushed, reactive, algorithmic, assembly-line medicine that somehow still ends up being so expensive.

As the community grows and flourishes, members will be able to help each other. It's comforting and valuable to have a caring doctor at the helm, but sometimes the best medicine is simply sharing a story with someone who shares your struggle. Who says that can't be part of a thriving dermatology practice?

Founding Members will receive the lowest membership price we'll ever offer — locked in for the lifetime of their membership — along with exclusive Founding Member bonuses and the opportunity to be there from the beginning.

This is the maiden voyage.

We'll screw up. We'll learn. We'll refine. We'll improve. We'll keep listening.

But the mission is clear. We're building a community for people who value dermatology care that goes above and beyond the status quo. If that resonates, I'm honored to invite you to become one of our Founding Members.

Thank you for trusting us with your skin, your health, your story, your money, and your family. We don't take that lightly. And we're just getting started. I'm excited to welcome you aboard.