How come Dr. Bisanga is neither a coalition member nor even recommended?

[Lotsofhair]

Hello everybody!

 

I'm still in the process of deciding on a doctor. In Europe, I am undecided between Fedurini (coalition member, which is pretty important for me since such a membership implies accountability for results) and Dr. Bisanga who seems to produce equally good results but is not even recommended on this site, hence not a coalition member either.

 

How come?

 

No afterthoughts, just a genuine (and genuinely naive question) from a patient looking for the best doctor possible, somebody to trust and feel safe with.

 

Thanks so much!

[Mickey85]

Wish he was. His work seems awesome, especially his fue.

[ej]

I think Bhr are represented on quite a few forums , four that i know of and a few European ones , French ,Spanish , Polish , Swedish , etc so possibly dont feel the need to add any more , just a guess but seems possible .

 

I think its always best to take your time and not rush into anything , meet as many ex patients as possible, see the work close up of any Dr or clinic you consider . Meet the Drs reps, as the rep , represents the ability and work of the Dr, and will be able to answer any qs you have

 

hope this helps , all the best

 

ej

[Janna]

To be a member or be on the recommended list goes both ways - not only do the physicians have to qualify based on number of factors set by this forum, the physicians have to want to be a member and pay the sponsorship fee.

[Blake Bloxham]

To be a member or be on the recommended list goes both ways - not only do the physicians have to qualify based on number of factors set by this forum, the physicians have to want to be a member and pay the sponsorship fee.

 

While this is true, I can definitely say that from my experience working "on the other side" of the community, we get far, far more requests from physicians asking to be considered for recommendation that we cannot accommodate than we do offers to physicians that aren't considered.

 

In the past, I believe Bill has reached out to Dr. Bisanga, but the communication never really went anywhere.

 

Altogether, we don't claim to have the market on physician talent completely "wrapped up." We represent an excellent sect of physicians, but a lack of recommendation/Coalition status does not automatically imply that a physician is not talented. What I'm trying to say is that there are talented physicians out there who, for whatever reason, are not recommended by our community. If you perform diligent research, consult with a non-recommended physician, and feel confident moving forward with surgery, we (the moderators) wish you the best of luck and hope you'll share the results on our forums!

[Janna]

While this is true, I can definitely say that from my experience working "on the other side" of the community, we get far, far more requests from physicians asking to be considered for recommendation that we cannot accommodate than we do offers to physicians that aren't considered. !

 

I don't doubt you on that but Lotsofhair's question was on Dr. Bisanga.

 

Altogether, we don't claim to have the market on physician talent completely "wrapped up." We represent an excellent sect of physicians, but a lack of recommendation/Coalition status does not automatically imply that a physician is not talented.

 

This is very true and I think it needed to be said. Thanks.

[Blake Bloxham]

I don't doubt you on that but Lotsofhair's question was on Dr. Bisanga.

 

Altogether, I can't really comment on Dr. Bisanga's thought process. I do know that Bill spoke with him or tried to speak with him at some point, and it never really went anywhere. Whether that means he wasn't interested (which, like I said before, I've found to be fairly rare based upon my experience working here - though it isn't unheard of), didn't want to pay a recommendation fee, doesn't put emphasis on online PR, already has more volume than he can handle, or he just wasn't familiar with our community, I don't think any of us can know for sure.

[Blake Bloxham]

This is very true and I think it needed to be said. Thanks.

 

No problem! I think our entire moderation staff feels this way.

 

Thanks, Janna!

[agenteye]

I think Dr. B generally performs really great work on the cases I have seen from him. Although he isn't a recommended/Coalition member on these forums, I'd personally feel pretty confident having a procedure done with him, if there weren't so many other great options that are more feasible geographically to me here!

[Gandolf]

 

pay the sponsorship fee

Just out of curiosty, how much of a sponsorship fee are we talking about??

[jobber1900]

Hello everybody!

 

No afterthoughts, just a genuine (and genuinely naive question) from a patient looking for the best doctor possible, somebody to trust and feel safe with.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Now we don't know what happened for sure in Dr Bisanga's case, that's something Bill might have to advise.

Dr Bisanga is an excellent surgeon. Look at his patient's results and feedback and experience.

A lot of top doctors are already so busy that being recommended here doesn't mean anything if you understand what I mean. they might not don't care (that doesn't mean that top doctor's recommended here aren't busy already!)

 

A doctor can (and should generally) only perform 2 surgery per day (max 3 depends on the cases).

if a clinic has already more patients than that and ethically does what it should, where is the need to do more advertising and pay sponsorship fee etc? word of mouth and happy patients' results do that work

[Bill - Seemiller]

I had invited Dr. Bisanga to present examples of his work on this forum in consideration for recommendation a couple years ago. Whlie he did express interest, for one reason or another, he never took advantage of this opportunity.

 

There's no secret that physicians recommended by our community pay a sponsorship fee. This is clearly listed on our physician standards page which state:

 

"Those surgeons who are carefully reviewed and chosen for recommendation on this site contribute a monthly fee to co-sponsor this online community and display their before and after photos, videos and contact information."

 

While we only recommend those surgeons we believe are producing excellent results, our list of recommended doctors is not a definitive list of all excellent hair transplant surgeons. That's why our standards page also states:

 

"Important Note - The hair restoration physicians recommended on this site are not a definitive list of all excellent hair transplant doctors. Nor do we warranty or guaranty the results of any of the physicians presented on this site. As always, we encourage you to do your due diligence in evaluating these and all hair loss physicians."

 

Physicians are presented here strictly based on their merit. They then pay a monthly sponsorship fee that over a full year amounts to the price of about one surgery.

 

Given the dozens of patients that most physicians garner from participating in this community their sponsorship fee is a tremendous value that has enabled them to cut their advertising expenses to the bone and even lower their prices for patients. Frankly, the Internet and this community have been a tremendous windfall for the top clinics because they thrive in an enviroment where patients can measure the talk by the actual walk. The Internet has enabled many leading independent clinics to compete successfully with the national chain clinics.

 

I typically compare our community to an ivy league university. An ivy league university only admits the brightest students. In return, to attend, students agree to pay a tuition which pays for the costs of keeping the school running. Likewise, only physicians who meet our ultra high standards are approved for recommendation. Physicians who are are chosen for recommendation based on their merits then contribute a monthly sponsorship fee to pay for the cost of running this community.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Bill

[Lotsofhair]

Thank you so much everybody for your insights!

 

I should mention - from a patient perspective - that :

 

1. I do understand how the fee could put off some doctors (although the publicity generated from successful HTs displayed here probably outweigh this). I had not idea of how substantial it was.

2. I love the transparency here. Much respect to Bill for not escaping any details, including the financial ones. This inspires much confidence.

 

I would tend to go with Dr. Fedurini, rather than Dr. Bisanga and the reason is precisely that in the very unlikely event the HT would not be successful, and in the even less likely event talks with the clinic would be disappointing, I would have a community to turn to and ask for accountability.

 

However, I wonder how effective the pressure of this community on doctors can be. I've witnessed some threads in the past but I still have mixed feelings.

 

Poor results, when they occur, tend to be attributed to the patient ("have you taken minoxidil/finasteride after the ht?", "poor characteristics" and the one i love : "idiosyncratic response") ; and the offer of having a second HT under the hands of the same doctor, with the same team, in the exact same clinic (for the probably same poor results) as a form of apology should seem like a downright crazy plan to every person blessed with minimum logical skills. Refunds in the event of obviously failed HTs should be the standard or norm. If 2000 grafts were extracted and only 500 grew, it's a problem.

 

Which leads me to wonder just how many doctors ever do propose actual refunds to the patients they have failed.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Lotsofhair

[TommyLucchese]

I read not too long ago that Dr. Lorenzo is already completely fully booked for 2013 and therefore isn't interested in extra exposure as he's already in high demand domestically. This could also be a reason why someone wouldn't seek out recommendation.

 

Would be interested to find out about Bisanga though, he's always held in a high regard here.