Can My Plastic Surgery Procedures Be Discounted If I Don’t Finance Them?

Q:  Hello, I recently had a consultation with a plastic surgeon in Indianapolis for rhinoplasty and breast augmentation. The doctor told me that I could have both procedures for a low price as long as I did not finance it. I felt the Doctor was not personable. I have looked at your before & after photos and wanted to know if you would discount the procedures if I paid without financing.

A: Financing of elective cosmetic surgery procedures today is extremely common. While once accounting for about 5% of cosmetic surgeries in the United States in 2000, that number is approximating near 40% in 2010 based on my practice experience. While financing has been a boon to plastic surgeons in general, there is a surcharge from the financing company to do it and some of that comes out of the plastic surgeon’s fee. A similar issue applies to credit cards which extracts about a 3% surcharge.

For these reasons, there is always a financial benefit in most plastic surgeon’s offices if a patient can handle paying for their cosmetic surgery without financing. That would be true for just about any other business as well so this not unique to plastic surgery.

When combined cosmetic procedures are done, it is also common practice to provide some discount over what those procedures would be if they were done separately. For this reason, it is always best to combine as many procedures as you desire in a single surgery. This is not only more efficient from a  recovery standpoint but financially as well.   

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana