"Should I have my cosmetic surgery in a hospital?"

This is a very important question that we are frequently asked. It touches on three crucial areas that every aesthetic patient should know about.

SURGEON’S CREDENTIALS

Patients should ALWAYS double check the credentials of their doctors.
TV shows, ads, and websites of plastic surgeons are good resources, but patients should confirm the credentials of their doctor with state and national licensing boards. This is very easy to do! Patients can check whether or not their surgeon is board certified in plastic surgery by going to: www.isyourdoctorboardcertified.com Patients can check the practice history of any Florida doctor at: www.checkyoursurgeon.com

Another way to check your doctor’s credentials is to ask at which local hospital can they do your cosmetic surgery. A patient can then check with the hospital to make sure the doctor is on the Plastic Surgery staff there. Hospitals are very strict about checking each doctor’s credentials. A patient can take advantage of this strict screening process by seeing if their surgeon can operate there too. Patients should be careful with doctors who are only allowed to operate in their office. They may not have the highest level of certification. They may not even be real plastic surgeons. Although this group here in Miami never had hospital privileges or board certification in Plastic Surgery, it took the police to finally stop them from operating in their offices.

PATIENT SAFETY

The best place for a patient to have cosmetic surgery depends on the patient’s health and the complexity of the procedure. Simple procedures on a healthy patient can safely be done in an accredited operating suite in the surgeon’s office. Multiple procedures or a the patient with some medical issues may be a candidate to have surgery at an accredited ambulatory surgical center. Complex procedures should be performed in a hospital. During your consult and pre-op visits, patients should make sure that their health is fully evaluated, that pre-operative tests are performed, and that the appropriate facility is chosen.

Healthy aesthetic patients should also keep in mind that the hospital is not the safest place for elective surgery. Remember that as an aesthetic patient, you may be the healthiest person in the hospital! If the patient’s medical condition allows, an office OR or a surgery center can be the safest place to have an elective surgery so that a healthy patient can avoid catching an infection from the hospital setting. With the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria, this becomes even more important!

COST

The final issue that aesthetic patients should consider is cost. Hospital facility fees for aesthetic procedures tend to be 2 or 3 times as much as ambulatory surgery centers or office OR suites. Considering this and the higher risk of catching an infection in a hospital, you can see why patients and surgeons tend to avoid hospitals for simple elective surgery.

Although you may not ultimately have your surgery in a hospital, make sure that your surgeon has passed hospital criteria and can perform plastic surgery there!

Be sure that your whole health is evaluated before surgery and that the best and safest place is chosen for your aesthetic procedure.