The most important part of any plastic surgery journey is not what happens in the OR, but what is discussed and decided upon in the consultation. A great, board certified plastic surgeon is more than capable of producing outstanding results with surgical tools in hand under OR lights, but what is the result the patient is looking for? This is why hammering out a patient’s thoughts and desires, in combination with an analysis of their body, is absolutely critical to obtaining maximal results.
If this is so (and it is), then the ability to consult with patients took a big hit during the pandemic. As surgeons’ offices were initially shut down, then opened with limited access, the opportunity to have that critical consultation with a patient in-person was likewise limited. To remedy this, many surgeons turned to virtual consultations. Board certified plastic surgeons Dr. Richard Restifo of Connecticut and Dr. Mark D. Epstein of New York both leaned on virtual consultations and discovered something both interesting and valuable: virtual consults work, and patients like them.
In this PSC Media Wire, John Hammarley speaks with Dr. Restifo and Dr. Epstein to discover why virtual consults are so handy and why they may continue to employ them even after the pandemic ends and offices open fully.