The Power of One: Why More Isn't Better When Picking A Plastic Surgeon Or Aesthetic Provider

Doreen Wu (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of Park Avenue Plastic Surgery Class, the podcast where we explore controversies and breaking issues in plastic surgery. I'm your co-host Doreen Wu and joining me is Dr. Lawrence Bass Park Avenue plastic surgeon, educator, and technology innovator. Today's episode title is "The Power of One: Why More Isn't Better When Picking Your Plastic Surgeon Or Aesthetic Provider." Dr. Bass, tell me and our listeners, what do you mean by the power of one?

Dr. Lawrence Bass (00:31):
Well, Doreen, we talked about this a little bit in the last episode. Um, some patients have a Botox doctor and a filler doctor and a laser doctor and a facelift doctor. All of these doctors work someplace different. They don't talk to each other. The power of one is about having one talented experience provider, who you have a long term relationship with to create and evolve your beauty plan. If you have too many doctors, you have too many different directions at once. You know, the example I gave was spicing the soup, you have four or five people spicing the soup. Nobody's really tasting what the other person is doing. You're not going to get to anything that's coordinated. You get all different opinions, but nothing is integrated. So it's not the most efficient on time. It's not the most efficient on money. And most of all, it's not the most refined on optimizing your beauty.

Doreen Wu (01:43):
That all makes sense, but it makes me wonder don't I want the one person who is the best at the procedure I need.

Dr. Lawrence Bass (01:51):
Well, we'd like to think there's one best provider, but in reality, there are a lot of providers who are very talented, uh, but it's a combination of not just technical skills, but also experience in the relationship with you to partner in planning what's needed. Unfortunately, life is never simple. There's not one best treatment, but it's really a progression of interventions. So a long term relationship with a single team can bring efficiency and the best results with the fewest and least invasive treatments.

Doreen Wu (02:31):
I like this idea of having a long term relationship with a single comprehensive team of providers. Are there other advantages to this approach? How can it benefit me

Dr. Lawrence Bass (02:43):
When you have an experienced overall provider, all options are on the table. Your plastic surgeon can bring invasive options and noninvasive treatments, but it's being done with a coordinated plan. It's a plan that evolves over time. There are no black holes. So the provider knows what what's being done. There isn't some other provider offering and an undefined laser treatment. Which laser is it? When was it last done? They're not even aware it's going on, but even if they know, they don't know the details sufficiently to factor it into their plan in the power of one you're, you can also apply planning tools and assessment tools of the results that you're getting with your treatments, because you know everything about what's being done with different providers. There are just too many moving parts, and again, it's not coordinated in any way. And rather than just having a cookie cutter plan or a basic plan, uh, or individual attributes that are being worked on at different rates, by different providers, you are getting an optimized plan with feedback based on how you respond to each treatment. So you either maximize a given modality, if it's particularly helpful, or you dial that modality down and switch to an alternate. If you're not getting the results you hoped for.

Doreen Wu (04:22):
Ah, I understand the title now, the power of one, a coordinated team that thoroughly understands my individualized care plan and is able to watch my progress over time and really follow it through adjusting when needed. That makes me wonder how do I know when I found the right one?

Dr. Lawrence Bass (04:42):
Well, again, Doreen, that's a loaded question. One of the hardest things in life, in any relationship the significant other or spouse, your job relationships, friends and doctors is, is finding the right people to be around. Speaking for myself. I always live in fear that my amazing doctors, my dentist are going to retire or move to another part of the country. Once I found somebody who I like working with, I want to hold onto them forever. If I'm able to. So you'll know when you find the right person, you want expertise, you want professionalism, not theater. A lot of what's happening in aesthetic care nowadays has become very theatrical and not about providing professional service. And, you know, entertainment is okay, but probably not with your medical care, because this is still medical care. You want a provider who's going to partner with you. Who's going to listen to you. And of course, someone who's kind and kind in words in being soothing and encouraging, but also more importantly kind in action. A provider who's really doing things that buoy and safeguard you from harm, much more than anything else.

Doreen Wu (06:14):
Okay. So I want one overall provider who I trust to coordinate my beauty care, but can they do everything

Dr. Lawrence Bass (06:24):
Well, it's not really about doing everything, but almost everything that's typically needed after 10 plus years of training and 25 years of experience and cutting edge development. Um, I can, I'm really not just best at one treatment or procedure, there are two or three different major areas of expertise where I can cover the spread of what's needed almost all the time. And this is going to be true of most experienced plastic surgeons. They'll have the ability to bring the range of treatments that are current or state of the art.

Doreen Wu (07:04):
Are there any exceptions to this?

Dr. Lawrence Bass (07:06):
There are exceptions and a really quality provider will send you out if you really need something unusual. That's simply beyond their skillset to deliver at a high level, uh, in institutional healthcare, not aesthetic healthcare, that's more of a closed system increasingly, but in private advice based care, like aesthetic healthcare, the ability to pull in the best providers or refer you out to the best providers for an individual aesthetic issue is something that's really an important part of that process. And that one who's coordinating everything will do that for you.

Doreen Wu (07:54):
That was very insightful before we close. What are some key ideas that our listeners should remember from today's episode?

Dr. Lawrence Bass (08:02):
Well, again, the power of one is about having a relationship with a provider, outstanding knowledge and technical skills. That's always important. They should be able to offer you nonsurgical options and surgical options, whatever it takes or whatever you're up for to solve your beauty challenges. The one provider can make a plan that changes over time as needs evolve, and can take advantage of the feedback, the results of treatments you do have, uh, knowing what worked and what didn't let you know how much to plan going forward. And always remember beauty is a process. It's not an event.

Doreen Wu (08:52):
So Dr. Bass, I think it's time to pop the big question. Who is the one that is the right one for someone's aesthetic care?

Dr. Lawrence Bass (09:02):
Well, there is a one for everyone, but not a universal one for everyone. Find the one who's right for you. This is about a long term relationship for your lifetime beauty needs. It may be continuous or sporadic, but either way you need someone who has incredible capability and breadth, but who also connects with you and your feelings still, your beauty one is not a friend, although they are more on your side than most of your friends, they need to be someone who's a realist with you about what plastic surgery and aesthetic treatments can accomplish or not someone who tells you the truth, even if it's sometimes uncomfortable, but this is being done in the privacy of the medical relationship to help you feel your most confident when you're in the outside world with everyone else.

Doreen Wu (09:57):
It sounds like a very tough but worthwhile search to find the right one for your medical beauty needs. Thank you Dr. Bass for taking us on this journey for each of us to find our power of one. This is Doreen Wu thanking you for joining Dr. Bass and me for this discussion of the power of one. Be sure to join us next time for our episode, comparing and contrasting Park Avenue and Rodeo Drive, two iconic plastic surgery sites stream the episode to find out how the plastic surgeons in these storied places are bringing the cutting edge in plastic surgery, to their patients in their own unique ways.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
Thank you for joining us in this episode of the park avenue, plastic surgery class podcast with Dr. Lawrence Bass Park Avenue plastic surgeon, educator, and technology innovator. The commentary in this podcast represents opinion. This podcast does not present medical advice, but rather general information about plastic surgery that does not necessarily relate to the specific conditions of any individual patient. No doctor-patient relationship is established by listening to or participating in this podcast, consult your physician to advise you about your individual healthcare. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends and be sure to subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.