Decision based on price

[yourcoach]

I haven't found this question, so I thought I would ask it. All of the doctors on this site have been reviewed and determined to be excellent options for hair transplant surgery. Assuming I only consider doctor on this website and that all of them are reasonably easy to communicate with, why not simply choose based on your net price, including traveling expenses? I never considered price to be the primary concern with this sort of decision. But once everything else is relatively equal, why not? Has anyone actually checked the fees of each doctor and ranked them for everyone? There may be very good reasons not to that I haven't considered, so I am very open to hearing that too.

[yourcoach]

I haven't found this question, so I thought I would ask it. All of the doctors on this site have been reviewed and determined to be excellent options for hair transplant surgery. Assuming I only consider doctor on this website and that all of them are reasonably easy to communicate with, why not simply choose based on your net price, including traveling expenses? I never considered price to be the primary concern with this sort of decision. But once everything else is relatively equal, why not? Has anyone actually checked the fees of each doctor and ranked them for everyone? There may be very good reasons not to that I haven't considered, so I am very open to hearing that too.

[kman]

I suppose it's like any service you buy, be it legal advice, your car insurance or the person who renovates your home. You definately don't want to do it based on price alone. Rather, you want to feel comfortable with the person and that they understand your concerns and goals. You may like their work or had a recommendation. It's all very subjective in my opinion, but price should be at the bottom half of your list. I don't recommend nor like overpaying, but I always feel that you get what you pay for. I, for one, would be concerned that I was offered a good deal on an upcoming heart bypass operation lol.

[Dewayne]

Originally posted by yourcoach:

I haven't found this question, so I thought I would ask it. All of the doctors on this site have been reviewed and determined to be excellent options for hair transplant surgery. Assuming I only consider doctor on this website and that all of them are reasonably easy to communicate with, why not simply choose based on your net price, including traveling expenses? I never considered price to be the primary concern with this sort of decision. But once everything else is relatively equal, why not? Has anyone actually checked the fees of each doctor and ranked them for everyone? There may be very good reasons not to that I haven't considered, so I am very open to hearing that too.

 

Hello yourcoach,

 

First of all, welcome fellow Georgian. I'm actually about 30 miles from you right up I75.

You aren't Mark Richt are you? I think your post makes sense, as I did a similar exercise.

 

When talking about price, generally you'll find the physicians recommended on here are all withing $1,000 +/- of each other so it's not like we're talking about whether to pay $50,000 for a new Escalade or $15,000 for a Kia Sportage. They are all relatively close.

 

Another thing is distance. While I wanted to make the trip to Arizona or Canada, I found a physician who was doing world class transplants within driving distance (4 hours), and was one of the least expensive. So, that did factor in heavily in my decision AFTER I'd narrowed it down to five or six of the best. Again, it was only a few hundred dollars difference so this debate isn't about a lot of money, in my opinion.

 

Lastly, there are clinics doing $1.50 grafts so there I'd say you definitely get what you pay for, and that's what it means to say price doesn't matter.

[Bill - Seemiller]

yourcoach,

 

Welcome to our forum community.

 

In my opinion, price should be the last consideration.

 

Pat and I put a lot of hard work in ensuring that all physicians recommended on the Hair Transplant Network meet and maintain our high levels of standards. Those that don't will be promptly removed.

 

That said, you are responsible for your own research. I feel it's always in the best interest of seeking patients to research all physicians they are considering and select the one that impresses you the most. You can do this by looking at patient photos on and offline, consulting with each surgeon you are considering, and possibly even meeting with real patients.

 

As others have indicated, there is a lot to learn about hair transplant surgery and the differing philosophies out there. Some philosophies are downright outdated while others are current and just differ one surgeon to another.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[wantego]

I think price pays a role in many people's decisions as well as location, reputation, etc.

[yourcoach]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. One of the reason that I posed the question is, after listening to to the various doctor interviews, reading a bunch of forum posts, visiting Dr. Griffin here in Atlanta, and talking to a couple of other doctors' representatives from a couple of other clinics on this website and one not on this website, I am seeing much more that is the same, and very little that differentiates one doctor from another. Have there been any prior threads that do a lot of this comparing and contrasting different sugeon's strengths, weaknesses, and differences?

 

Carl

[TheEmperor]

I really disagree with this. when you've researched this long enough -- in the 2 year range -- you will start to notice differences in style, even between docs who trained other docs.

 

Frankly, there are a wide range of hairline designs and approach, differnces in long term strategy (or unfortunate absense of strategy), how the work will be spread across procedures, realative density, angles of plantation, blade vs needle, dense packing ohilosophy, shave philosophy, lateral vs saggital, etc. Then you get into other factos such as size and quality of staff, consistency of results, etc. You will notice that all these things influence the results you see in the finished product.

 

Then when you look at the results more you will see subte differences in the finished product, ease of styling, layering, etc. Its really a dynamic product because hair is not static, it moves, is styled, and reacts to the environment.

 

When I chose a doctor, it was after 10 years of research. I chose my doctor because of reputation, abilty to do large session sizes, and largely because his showcase patients had loss and characteristics similar to mine and I noticed a "trend" in his results that seems to make sense for me. (And this did not mean I chose a doc who went with the lowest or most remarkable hairlines -- you will start to detect faults with those kinds of hairlines when you see enough pics. )

 

I'm between 7-8 months in results and they have slowly improved. While my HT is not perfect, I see other results that I do not like stylistically and realize I could have been stuck with a result that was much worse, even from another top doc. (I cringe to think what my result would be if I had gone to a doc who can only move 2500-3000 in one session. Also I see some docs place with a more "relaxed" angulation which almost suggests the hair needs to be combed backwards -- which I did NOT WANT! (Some guys like this look, or maybe they are stuck with it.)

 

I hate to say it, but IMO, you really should go to a doc with 10+ years of experience, There are some "rising stars" who I might consider, but only docs with a long time tracking patient results and seeing what works can a doctor incorporate that feedback into his art and make the most of every patient. Most of the "rising stars" seem to focus on technical aspect of dense packing the front but resource allocation is something subtle which is more important, IMO.

 

Good luck in your choice.

 

 

 

Originally posted by yourcoach:

.. . I am seeing much more that is the same, and very little that differentiates one doctor from another. Have there been any prior threads that do a lot of this comparing and contrasting different sugeon's strengths, weaknesses, and differences?

 

Carl

[richie48]

hey coach

 

For me price did make a difference , after researching for 18 months and having five consultations I chose Dr Feller based on his merit , skill and his cost .

 

I know you read over and over again geography and cost should not play a role but i think in this current economic climate it has to .

 

Hear me out guys ......

 

I live in "rip off Britain " and was quoted ??1750 for 500 grafts thats $3500 US dollars ..... and yes i did just say only 500 !

 

However due to the favourable exchange rates in nov 2007 I had 2100 grafts with one of the worlds best HT surgeons , Dr Feller and it only cost me appox ??3700 or $7850 US dollars .

 

The same number of grafts in the UK would have cost me over ??7000 , over $14000 US dollars !

 

Outragious isn't it ?

 

So in conlusion I went to one of the best HT surgeons in the world for 2100 grafts and with flights and accomodation it only cost me ??4800 , $9600 US dollars .

 

surley that makes sence ?

 

Well worth it , and the price was a consideration , realistically price world class HT or an average over priced UK job ......

 

Ehat would you do ?

 

richie