Potential
plastic surgery patients are more likely to book procedures if they are
price-aware than if they are not price-aware, according to a new study. The
findings support price transparency in cosmetic practice, according to the
study’s coauthor Jonathan Kaplan, M.D., MPH, owner, Pacific Heights Plastic
Surgery, San Francisco, Calif., and developer of the lead generation-price
transparency platform, BuildMyBod Health.
Dr.
Kaplan conducted the study in his first year in private practice in a new city
by integrating the price-transparency platform, which is a cost-estimator, into
his practice website. Consumers would make wish lists of cosmetic procedures
and check to see what Dr. Kaplan would charge to perform them. Consumers got
the price estimates, while Dr. Kaplan’s practice got consumers’ contact
information for follow-up.
In the
first year and without spending money on advertising, Dr. Kaplan’s website
received 412 wish lists from 208 consumers. Nearly 18% of those consumers came
in for a consultation and 62% of the people who came in booked a procedure. The
average value of the booked procedures was more than $4,000 and the total
revenue generated from all leads from the price transparency platform was
$92,000, according to the study’s abstract.
When Dr.
Kaplan compared non–price-aware patients with price-aware patients, those who
knew price were 41% more likely to book a procedure.
The study
concludes that prudent integration of price transparency into a medical
practice can generate leads for patients who are paying out of pocket for
medically necessary procedures, as well as procedures and services not
typically covered by insurance, such as cosmetic surgery.
Cosmetic
Surgery Times asked Dr. Kaplan if physicians who put their prices online should
consider lowering prices or making sure they’re competitive in their
communities.
“The
point of price transparency, at least in cosmetic surgery, is not to have the
most competitive, lowest price. We're not trying to attract ‘price
shoppers,’" he says. “The doctor should want to provide honest pricing so
that the consults he or she sees are more likely to progress from the exam room
to the operating room.”
The key,
according to Dr. Kaplan, is that cosmetic surgeons post pricing honestly —
reflecting the true prices that patients would be quoted in the office.
“Sometimes
I overestimate the cost to be more inclusive for all body types — a tummy tuck,
for example,” Dr. Kaplan says. “That way, when most patients come in, because
they're smaller than average, the OR time is less, so their cost is less. How
many times has your actual price been less than the estimated price?! Patients
love the surprise of something being more affordable!”
PRICE
TRANSPARENCY: NOT FOR EVERYONE
Despite
the potential benefits, price transparency isn't for everyone, according to Dr.
Kaplan.
“I worked
with one doctor … that integrated this pricing estimator into his website. He
got a lead from a patient that checked pricing on a breast aug after entering
[her] contact information into his pricing estimator. The patient came in for a
consult and booked,” Dr. Kaplan says. “Instead of being thrilled that this lead
became a paying patient, he told me how disappointed he was that the patient
knew the price ahead of time because, once he saw the patient, he realized
[she] could probably afford to pay more. Aside from being unethical to
economically profile your patients, if you're this type of doctor, price
transparency may not be for you.”
While the
prices cosmetic surgeons post should be honest, they are estimates.
“If a
patient checks pricing for a mini tummy tuck and they come to the consult and
they really need a full tummy tuck, that's not an example of ‘bait and switch’
(which is illegal and unethical). That's educating the patient on realistic
expectations,” Dr. Kaplan says.
Another
important component of the online BuildMyBod platform, according to Dr. Kaplan,
is that no one can see the prices for specific procedures until they submit a
wish list of procedures and their contact information.
“So, if
there's a nosy doctor that wants to check their competitor’s prices, then that
nosy doctor will be receiving a call from the price transparent doctor's
office, trying to book them for a consult,” Dr. Kaplan says.
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