Artikel
Skype serving the purposes of aesthetic plastic surgery consultation – a two year retrospective study
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Veröffentlicht: | 3. September 2014 |
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Gliederung
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Aim: To clarify the value of Skype as a consultation tool for aesthetic plastic surgery patients.
Methods: From January 2012 till today we offered patients the opportunity to contact us via a Skype consultation. These consultations concerned aesthetic plastic surgery cases. Patients were able to contact us from all over the world in German and English language. We reviewed all cases that contacted us from January 2012 till December 2013 in order to clarify the importance of this marketing tool. Therefore, a standardized questioner was sent to the patients. The duration of consultations, diagnosis and conversion rates for surgery were analyzed retrospectively.
Results: Patients using Skype consultations presented with diagnosis related to the entire spectrum of aesthetic plastic surgery. Half of all patients (54 percent) decided to make a second appointment while only 29 percent of patients who decided to use this tool for first contact were operated in our Department.The mean time duration of the consultation was 29,4 minutes lasting from with 4,5 up to 68 minutes bein the longest one.
Discussion: The question remains – is it worth? Using Skype for aesthetic plastic surgery is a special tool that offers the patients another type of first contact with their potential futur surgeon. Furthermore, it is a flexible form, independent from common office times, infrastructure and patient’s home distances. Therefore, we recommend Aestehtic Plastic Surgeons to use this tool as a furhter opportunity to reach new patients.