A Patient Care Coordinator or “PCC” is a very important factor in your consultation/surgery process. When you go to a consultation with the plastic surgeon you want to make sure that you have a PCC available to you. Why you ask? Well, a PCC is a liaison between you and your doctor to ensure that all of your I’s are dotted and t’s are crossed prior to surgery.
It’s essential that you have a PCC available to help you through the process of surgery and here are a few reasons why:
Consulting
A consultation can sometimes be confusing and overwhelming. Between the examinations, having all of your numerous questions answered and trying to pay attention to the medical jargon. You can sometimes walk out of your consultation with your head spinning! If your surgeon is doing his/her job then you should be retaining a lot of information during this consultation. Your PCC is there to help you step by step. Even though you’ve gotten a massive amount of information during your consultation, your PCC will help you narrow down your steps from what’s most important to focus on first…all the way to the last step on your surgery day.
Budgeting
Your surgical budget is probably the most important thing that you will need to focus on. After all, if you don’t have a budget set aside for surgery, you can’t reach your surgical goals. After speaking with your surgeon to find out what procedures will be best for you; your PCC will help you either narrow down your procedures based on your budget or help you apply for financing through one of the financing companies such as Care Credit. Once you chat with your PCC about the cost of surgery and how much you can afford without “breaking the bank,” you can move on to the next step.
Committing
Booking surgery is a commitment and usually you have to put down a 20%-30% deposit if you want to save the date. That can be scary to most patients…it’s a lot of money at once and most patients have mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness. This is probably one of the best reasons to have a good patient care coordinator on your side. Your PCC shouldn’t just be strictly business all the time; they should be patient and kind. One of the best qualities of a PCC is listening and understanding how the patients are feeling, they are there for you after all. There is no one that will get more patient feedback than your PCC…they hear it all. Patients’ sometimes feel more comfortable opening up to their PCC even more then they will the doctor. You PCC will know exactly how you’re going to feel before and after surgery and even all the little things in between so don’t hesitate to ask questions, even if you think they are silly. In the cosmetic surgery field there is no silly question; all questions are valid and important.
All in all, if you’re choosing to have cosmetic surgery of any kind, make sure that you feel a connection with your doctor of your patient care coordinator. You will be creating a long term relationship with them during your surgery process. When you’re 1 month to 1 week before to surgery, your PCC should be the first person you call. They are trained in patient satisfaction, full of knowledge about surgery and are great listeners. PCC’s know all of the little aspects of surgery that can seem scary at first but once you chat with them, you can be certain they will put you at ease.
