Wondering about costs..

[cody]

My uncle has a bald spot on his crown that is about 3 inches in diameter. He told me that he went to see H&W and they estimated the cost of a transplant at $20,000.. I was just wondering how this is possible. He has a theory that they may have researched him before and found out that he is a millionaire.

 

Does a 3x3" area actually cost $20,000?

[cody]

My uncle has a bald spot on his crown that is about 3 inches in diameter. He told me that he went to see H&W and they estimated the cost of a transplant at $20,000.. I was just wondering how this is possible. He has a theory that they may have researched him before and found out that he is a millionaire.

 

Does a 3x3" area actually cost $20,000?

[Vasilius]

Cody,

 

I can't tell you how much it would cost for your uncle to get the results he wants, or even if he's a good HT candidate. $20,000 seems very high to me, I'd have to know how many grafts and what techniques were to be used to say for sure. I would highly suggest though that he consult more than one HT surgeon and ask for before/after photos of each's patients. This forum has extensive blogs with before/after photos and testimonials and such. There are also a number of surgeons who have been recommended by this community. I'm sure your question with lead fellow members and probably a couple of doctors who are members to advise you better than I can on this.

 

The skill and technique used by HT surgeons vary widely. Price is NOT the best measure of quality, either. Patient testimonials and photos are by far your best tools. Best of luck.

 

-Vasilius

[Bill - Seemiller]

cody,

 

Hasson and Wong charge by the graft.

 

Based on the price, I'd say they are quoting you a price for almost 5500 grafts, which is a very large session.

 

The number of grafts is determined by the goals of the patient, available donor, size of the balding area, desired density, and risks of future hair loss.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Chuckisduck]

If its 3 inches diameter, it seems like more graphs than needed are quoted.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Just a note: I wonder if the quoted price includes grafts for other thinning areas of the scalp, and not just the crown.

 

I'll sent JoTronic a note to respond to this inquiry.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Jotronic]

Thanks to Bill for alerting me to this thread.

 

Cody, someone in your pipeline is very mistaken regarding our costs and what your Uncle may or may not have been told.

 

I'll explain a bit how our clinic works.

 

As Bill mentioned we charge by the graft and that charge is 5.00 per graft up to the first 2000 grafts in a session then 3.00 per graft for each graft over 2000 in the same session. For your uncle to have received a "quote" for 20,000 it would mean that he would have had a quote for just over 5000 grafts.

 

There are three things wrong with this scenario.

 

Problem #1. We rarely EVER come straight out and tell someone that we expect 5000 grafts. We keep the averages in mind and the average patient can get UP to 4500 grafts at most whereas of course those that get more than 5000 are above average (donor density/donor laxity). We have on occasion estimated at 5000 or even higher but it is not common. What reduces this chance even more is if your uncle submitted for an online consultation. I send them all out myself and I have maybe only twice sent out a recommendation stating that we expect to get 5000 plus grafts.

 

Problem #2. If your uncle has a roughly 3x3 area of loss in his crown then 5000 grafts is way overkill for this area.

 

Problem #3. We do not set our fee structure based on whether or not your uncle is a millionaire. We do not care if he is a millionaire and would treat him no differently than the waiter that had to take out a loan for a 1500 graft procedure. A patient is a patient is a patient no matter his status or financial position. We will do everything we can to make your uncle feel welcome, safe and secure, and that he is getting the best transplant possible regardless of his position in life. You can ask our patient that is a director in Hollywood or my buddy in Houston that is a local musician. It makes no difference because hair loss affects everyone and causes equal amounts of frustration and heart ache.

 

To be fair, there is ONE scenario where I can see this type of estimate being given. Sometimes I get consultation requests that come in, or patients come into our office, and while they may be heavily receding in the hairline as well as having a spot in the crown (NW4 or NW5) they for some reason only wish to have the crown addressed. In these cases we've recommended that the front be taken care of instead of the crown or both the hairline and crown in one session if we felt it was possible.

 

Keep in mind that my response is put forth having no idea who your uncle is, whether he came into our office or had an email consultation, his level of hair loss above and beyond the 3x3 spot in his crown, etc. so there may be extenuating circumstances that I am not aware of but the bottom line to all this is that we do not set pricing based on what we think someone's income is. That would just be sleazy and sleazy and me do NOT go hand in hand. Cheesy, maybe but not sleazy

[Chuckisduck]

most millionaires I've meet who have made their money through businesses are pretty cheap as heck.