Is There a Downside Going To a Hair Transplant Clinic That Uses Travelling Technician

[frekey]

Do you perform surgeries in the Scottsdale AZ office Dr. Epstein? If only consultations...I would still consider going to AZ first instead of Florida or NY.

[Jeffrey Epstein, MD]

Frekey- Sorry- I only see in-person consults in Miami, Boca Raton, NYC, and Tampa. What many of my out of town patients do is have a live webcam consultation with me- we've been doing these for the past 2 years, and they are quite worthwhile, giving both patient and doctor the opportunity to "meet" in person.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey Epstein, MD, FACS

[John P. Cole, MD]

I think it really depends so much on the physician as to whether traveling techs are a good idea. Some physicians are far more detailed in their approach to a hair transplant or any cosmetic surgery procedure for that matter. Other physicians are less detail oriented.

If the traveling tech is less detail oriented, that tech makes a good fit for the less detailed physician. In this case I think the situation answers the question for you.

In other instances, the tech is very good and through. They want to perform up to the standard of the physician. If the physician is sloppy, the good tech can make that physician better, but they cannot make up for the physician’s lack of attention to detail.

I’ve known some very good traveling techs over the years, who met my standards, which are quite high. For the most part, however, I think they are a bad formula. The traveling tech tends to work with so many different physicians that they can get lazy. They also do not anticipate what the physician needs and intends to perform. Therefore, I think it is always better to have a physician whose staff is local.

At the end of the day, I really boils down to a physician who is dedicated to their work and a staff that is just as dedicated. A permanent staff is always the best situation, but a high quality permanent staff is really what you are after if you are a patient.

Traveling physicians and techs also lead to problems. A traveling tech will eventually burn out especially if the physician demands a high quality of service at all times. I’ve found over the years that the usual burn out time is about 3 years for a traveling tech with a traveling physician. For this reason, I quit traveling between clinics to provide hair restoration surgery some time ago. I prefer to keep my techs fresh and avoid burning them out. It is one thing for me to travel to perform consults, but it is another thing to ask my surgery team to pack up my equipment and travel out of town to provide hair restoration surgery. Of course I’m sure there are exceptions all over the world, but that is my experience.

[Jeffrey Epstein, MD]

I'm largely of the same thought as John re:techs. Personally I prefer to use the same people who are 100% committed to me and my patients- therefore I have 14 full time technicians who have worked for me exclusively for years. Just this morning, I walked in on my FUE surgery patient asking Karen my assistant how long she has been with me- and it was such a confidence-booster when she replied to the patient "7 years with Dr. E".
I do travel to NYC on a monthly basis- find it to be invigorating and exciting, and the 4 to 5 techs with whom I travel find it that way as well- plus they get paid extra to do so, and love the extra money. Now that I have a full-time NY associate- Dr. Yael Halaas- we have two full-time assistants in her office, so I have been able to assemble a nice team of assistants for both offices.
John put it perfectly- detailed physicians (a gentle way to say compulsive perfectionists) are the most important element in achieving excellent results, and set the stage for top work by the techs that complement the surgeon's work.

Jeffrey Epstein, MD, FACS
Miami and NYC