| The $2 Graft and Discounted Graft |
Sword Medical Center |
| Their group typically recommends a minimum of 2,000 grafts whether you need it or not so they can get a minimum of $4000. |
We have no minimum, recommend what you need and where you need it, and work within your budget. We take pride in an ethical approach. |
| Their independent contractor or counselor sells the concept of the procedure, say that the doctor doesn't make the difference, you don't need to meet or know the doctor. |
Patients are fully educated on their options and offered different treatment plans. The doctor does make all the difference. Most of the time the patient gets to meet and have a personal assessment with the doctor prior to the procedure. |
| The doctor is paid 20-25 percent of the gross. It is not his office, not his equipment, not his practice or even his patients. The buck doesn't stop with him, he's gone. |
SMC has been incorporated for over 18 years. It is my office, my equipment, my employees, my medical practice. And the buck stops with me! |
| The techs are per-diem, they're paid per case regardless of how much time the case takes. Their attitude is to do the case as fast as they can. What kind of quality are you getting? |
The techs are full-time employees with full benefits and loyalty. Most have worked with SMC for many years. |
| Techs are independent contractors from different offices looking for additional work. They never have worked together as a team or even known each other. No pride of ownership. |
All techs are full-time employees and do not work at other practices. They take pride of ownership and have ongoing training with quality control. They treat you like family. |
| No constant supervision or quality control. |
Two senior techs are permanently assigned to check each graft and are responsible for quality control to Dr. Sword. |
| These offices are rented for the day, so there's no uniformity of equipment or supplies. Most offices are not specifically set up for hair transplants but are used for general surgery and dermatology. |
We have operating rooms designed only for hair transplants with specialized chairs, lighting, and equipment. Same location for 18 years with ergonomic workstations. |
| Equipment, medicine and supplies are brought in the day of surgery for that procedure by the independent contractor (there's no backup or extra supplies). Because of this, there is a potential for contamination and sterility problems. |
We keep a 1-2 week supply of equipment and a continually running inventory so we never run out and have uniformity. Quality control and sterilization are an optimum. |
| The counselor is an independent contractor, advertises himself, gets the leades, and sets appointments and contracts with various doctors and technicians. You end up paying him instead of the doctor. The counselor does not have a license to practice medicine. |
Our consultants are salaried employees and do not get a percentage since "fee splitting" is illegal. |
| Their group takes natural groupings (follicular units) and splits them into single hairs so they end up charging you $2 each. If you take a group of three hairs, split into 3 groups of one hair each, that's $6 per group. |
Our practice takes the natural groupings (follicular units) and leaves them intact so our groups are 1-3 hairs each and average 2.5 hairs. In addtion, there is less damage and loss by not splitting groupings apart. |
