By credentialing medical doctors for us, eradicating the customary gatekeepers (receptionists, medical assistants), and shrinking wait instances, Persana lets aesthetic treatment-seekers skip straight to the great half: the session.
The vetting course of
If I’m being sincere, after I first heard about Persana and the heavy hitters concerned—Drs. Ben Talei, Mike Nayak, Rod Rohrich, Kami Parsa, Man Massry, Mary Lupo, Michelle Henry, Doris Day—it felt slightly cliquey in a cool-kids’ desk, you-can’t-sit-with-us kind of method. All pretty people, in my expertise, however as a collective? Formidable.
When influential medical doctors refer sufferers to their equally influential friends, are they offering a useful medical service, pumping up every others’ practices—or slightly little bit of each? In equity, a few of these medical doctors do have private relationships offline. And it’s commonplace for them to refer sufferers forwards and backwards. Dr. Henry maintains that suggestions from revered medical doctors are “splendid,” and believes that Persana can “assist sufferers lower via the misleading social-media advertising that usually steers them within the flawed route when making choices about aesthetic physicians.”
After I ask Dr. Azizzadeh about Persana’s vetting standards, he intuitively addresses the elephant within the room: “We didn’t need this to simply be a gaggle of pals [vouching for each other], so the vetting course of has a whole lot of objectivity.”
Earlier than inviting a doctor into the community, the Persana advisory board, which incorporates among the names listed above, authenticates their medical license and board-certification standing. (Medical doctors need to be board licensed in a related specialty: dermatology, cosmetic surgery, otolaryngology with fellowship coaching in facial cosmetic surgery, or ophthalmology with fellowship coaching in oculoplastic surgical procedure. Hair restoration surgeons have to be boarded in one of many aforementioned core specialties and belong to both the Worldwide or American Society of Hair Restoration Surgical procedure.) Persana’s board additionally assesses every physician’s on-line fame (through their web site, affected person critiques, and social platforms) and “confirms they’re in good standing, with none latest or main malpractice actions,” Dr. Azizzadeh provides.
Whereas there may be arguably some inherent bias on this—and each vetting system carried out by people—the background verify goals to save lots of us some legwork. In any case, who higher than a physician (or panel of them) to identify the cracks in one other MD’s facade? They know the subtleties of coaching, licensing, certification, analysis, and outcomes. They know the place to search for potential skeletons. (Nonetheless, it’s sensible to do your individual homework earlier than absolutely committing to a doctor.)