Cosmetic plastic surgery is very unique from traditional medicine in one significant way….it is elective. The ‘problems’ treated do not absolutely need to be treated, operating on them is elective. Therefore, one of the contributing factors used in deciding whether to go with one treatment or another is the concept of value. What result am I going to get for what I am paying? That is a key question.
While not talked about in most other areas of traditional medicine (if you break your leg, you don’t debate with your doctor about the economics of one treatment option versus another), the issue of value and outcome is actually of great significance in cosmetic treatments/surgery. While it is rarely talked about, I find it to be a very significant issue in most patient’s minds and I discuss it with patients frequently in my Indianapolis plastic surgery practice.
In discussing various treatment options for any particular problem in cosmetic plastic surgery, I always compare the various treatment options in terms of outcome and cost. I have learned over the years that one of the issues that makes a contribution to a patient’s interpretation of a satisfactory result is their assessment of….did I get a good result based on what I paid? Did I get good value for my economic efforts? Patients can live with less than a perfect result if they think they got a good value. Patients tend to get unhappy, even with a reasonable result, if they feel that they ‘overpaid’.
Dr Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana