Please also note, however, that it is our policy not to publish comments left anonymously.
I encourage and appreciate your thoughts but have found that, as a favorite old professor of surgery used to say, "When data is poor, emotions run high"... and posting comments anonymously seems to encourage a certain lack of responsibility.
Now on to today's post-
I recently came across a great book after reading about it on another blog- the book is called Quality is Free, and was written by a guy named Philip Crosby. The bottom line is that idea that doing things right (whether you are a plastic surgeon, an architect, or a plumber) the first time adds nothing to the cost of the service, while cutting corners or taking risks to save money up front always does, in terms of client dissatisfaction and the costs of repair or revision.
He also says that the major obstacle to high initial quality is the up-front cost... In other words, quality DOES cost more- but in the long run saves you money.
I meet so many women struggling with this lesson after making poor choices in their health care... I wish we were better at communicating the importance of searching for the best quality possible before proceeding (especially with elective health care like aesthetic surgery).
We've obviously been quite successful communicating to the average woman that it is acceptable to negotiate with your doctor and look for the lowest price (as evidenced by the most common question asked of my staff- "how much does it cost?"), but I'm afraid this mentality is the root cause of most of the unhappy and disfigured women out there...
By shifting the goal from achieving the most beautiful and natural outcome to achieving an acceptable one (to the surgeon) at the lowest cost, patients are unknowingly increasing their risk of being forever regretful they had surgery in the first place, as they end up in the hands of doctors untrained to safely and artfully complete their desired improvement.
And, as most of these unfortunate women would tell you (as they do me when they come to me for corrections), they would gladly spend twice what they were charged if they could just go back in time and have the procedure done right by a surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery in the first place. In fact, they often do end up spending much more than the initial procedure cost, as the procedure I need to do to correct their problems is often of a greater magnitude...
So by choosing their initial surgeon for all the wrong reasons, they saved a small amount of money... only to end up unhappy or deformed- and now needing to spend a lot more money not to be happy, but just to look normal again.
If you or someone you know is interested in aesthetic improvement, and whether or not I am one of the surgeons you consider, please share these important principles:
- In the hands of a well-trained, experienced, and ethically minded surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery, aesthetic care and surgery is extremely safe, and associated with a very high rate of patient satisfaction
- If you choose someone not described by the above, all bets are off and your chances of being safe and happy greatly reduced
- Spend your time and energy finding a surgeon you like and feel you can trust (and who can be described by the above) and who's outcomes are pleasing and natural... In other words, look for QUALITY- then consider what that quality may cost... and also consider what the alternative may cost in both the short and longer terms.
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