Is It Normal to Pay for a Revision 6 Months After Breast Surgery?

Different doctors charge for revisions in a variety of ways.  Many surgeons have in the original consent that if revisions are necessary, the patient will still need to cover the cost of the operating room and anesthesia.  I try to look at things from the patient's perspective and do what I think is fair.  That is especially true if I think the result was not as good as I thought it should be.  Why should a patient have to pay extra for that?  But, on the other hand, many plastic surgeons don't think that way and I think that's wrong and not great PR for the surgeon.

  While $1800 is the amount to cover the overhead, it is a significant discount over what it would cost at another office.  This surgeon's policy seems reasonable.

Yes, it is normal in most offices to pay for revisional surgery.  There are some fees that the surgeon has no control over, (O.R. rental. Anesthesiologist, Cost of Implants, etc;).  Some will charge full price for the surgeons fee, others will discount it.  It sounds from your story that the fee is reasonable.

Hello,

I think all the doctors covered the relevant issues. It has been widely published that the simultaneous combination of breast augmentation with mastopexy has the highest rate of post operative complications, mostly those associated with result appearance, but also other issues to. Having said that, I always perform them together, and not as staged or separate procedures.  The trick is keeping the asymmetries to a minimum, and maximizing the overall improvement.  We don't have photos of either your appearance before or after, so none of us can comment on how egregious the problem is. 

Finally, I will add that chances are you have signed papers indicating that you are paying for a procedure and not a result; I know those words are in my consents.  However, despite those words your surgeon, like many of us who are highly qualified and well trained doctors who are also empathetic to our patient's needs, has chosen to limit the costs of revision surgery. 

Best of luck!

 

Getting the best results is harder in some cases than others, and a breast lift with implants is certainly one of the more challenging cases I do. 

When there is a baseline difference in the breasts, the case can be even more challenging. 

I am glad your surgeon recognizes that there is a problem, and wants to do better.  I also hope there was some discussion before surgery about revisions.  My policy is that I will operate for no charge on a revision, but the patient would have to cover the OR and anesthesia fees.

One of my (more famous) Plastic Surgeon colleague once said:  " You cannot make asymmetric breasts symmetric, only "less" asymmetric....!"

Having said that you can see it is not uncommon that one needs a revision mainly when you combine breast enlargement and breast lift. What looks perfect on the Operating Room table may look disappointing after the tissues, implants and swelling settled.  It is usually spelled out in the "cost proposal"  or consent form  for your original surgery what your financial responsibility for a revision is.It is also mentioned that we cannot "guarantee" a result as we deal with human tissues and expectations of patients.  I agree with most of the answers here that your revision fee  is reasonable and probably covers Operating Room fee, Anesthesia fee and maybe Implant cost only.

Professional fees and revision policy should be discussed in advance.  It sounds like the fees are just for the facility, staff, and implants. It does not sound like the surgeon is charging you a fee for his service( which sounds reasonable).

The pre operative paperwork should spell out financial responsibilities in the event that revisional surgery is necessary. From the amount, it appears that you are being charged for overhead, such as facility and anesthesia, only and the cost of the replacement implant. When you start with asymmetrical breasts, revision is more likely than not and your expectations need to be realistic. Best wishes.

It seems from the fee that your surgeon is charging for operating room anesthesia and an implant, but that he is not charging a surgeon's fee.  In my opinion, that seems quite fair.

The operation you had, breast enlargement and lift in the setting of uneven breasts has an enormous incidence of secondary surgical procedures being needed to touch up the outcome. It is not a simple procedure, there are many decision points, and healing is not uniform or predictable.

 At the hospitals and surgicenters at which I have practiced the OR, anesthesia and implant fees would add up to about $2100, so the the estimate you received seems reasonable. The surgeon is not charging a fee, yet he is encountering overhead fees. For the time spent, before, during, and after surgery, so he is eating another $2000 or so in overhead expenses when he charges no fee. 

I hope things go well with your revisional procedure, and that these comments from multiple surgeons explain the issues at hand. All the best. 

The issue of charging a patient for a revision is a policy issue that each office must grapple with.

Personally, sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't .  Usually, I won't charge for my fee but the anesthesia fee and hospital fee is paid by the patient.  In this case, he should get you a free implant if possible.

I am not to make of his admission.  It is honorable that he is forthright, but it doesn't solve the problem. Likely, if you go elsewhere, it will cost more.

sek