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Dr. Bisanga - The Role of a Patient Advisor

Raphael84

Raphael84

Valued member
After extensive research of clinics and submitting several online consultations, you will generally have a gut feeling over who is the right surgeon for you. Naturally it is the surgeon and his/her results and reputation of patient care that will have originally attracted you to them. Ultimately, we as patients begin this process with the single motivation of excellent surgical results. But it is also true that there is often a lengthy and thorough process from your original contact with the clinic until you final result at 12+ months post op. Such steps include your online or in person consultation and receiving and understanding the Doctors recommendations, many questions and further education before scheduling and then eventually undergoing surgery, and the anxious wait post surgery before your growth begins.

With this in mind, your patient advisor also plays a vital role. A patient advisor extends the philosophy of the surgeon and will support their patient from the first point of contact, until the final result and beyond.

Here is a brief video explaining the role and responsibility of a patient advisor.

 
T

Todd

member
What happens if a patient doesn’t achieve the optimal outcome of their hair transplant surgery?
 
M

mania

member
The informaiton about the bisange is very uesful for the patient to get the best possible aspect of thing that could be easily done for the treatment ..
 
Raphael84

Raphael84

Valued member
Hi Todd

Thats a great question.

To be able to evaluate if a patient's result is optimal, we first need to understand what can realistically be achieved by surgery with each patient. This is unique for every patient due to many factors such as amount of hair loss, age, donor density and hair groupings, size and shape of your head (bone structure), future loss etc... What one patient is able to achieve with 2500 grafts, will be different to another patient.
Therefore expectations and limitations must be clearly communicated and it is also important to understand that if patient's do not have prior consultation with their doctor before scheduling surgery, then their donor density and overall quality of donor is unknown.
Of course, attending consultation can be a challenge for international patients. This is why at BHR, Dr. Bisanga is constantly travelling and offering consultation in many international cities, several times per year to meet prospective patient's and discuss the most appropriate approach and treatment plan for them.

One thing that seems to be of concern for patient's today is early growth, or lack there of it. Many patient's compare their 4 or 5 months growth to other patient's who were impressive "early growers". Whilst all patients naturally want to be in that early growth category, this mindset adds a lot of anxiety for patient's who do grow slower than average. Patient's proceed with hair transplantation surgery to achieve a result. Their final result. Patience is essential and patient's do not achieve their final result until 12 - 15 months post surgery.

Dr. Bisanga welcomes all patients for a follow-up consultation to evaluate and discuss their final result. At the 12 - 15 months stage, if a patient has concerns regarding their yield and feel that their result is not optimal, then we would schedule a follow-up consultation with Dr. Bisanga. This could be done at any of Dr. Bisangas travelling consultation dates, or preferably in Brussels or Athens, where Dr. Bisanga has the appropriate equipment to accurately measure growth rates.

The definition of poor growth varies among surgeons. Some define it as less than 85% of expected growth while others as low as 70% as the cut off.
Dr Bisanga determines acceptable growth rates as between 94% - 98% of expected growth at 12 moths post procedure. Poor growth would be determined as less than 90% of expected graft growth at 12 months post procedure.

Whilst poor growth with a quality physician is uncommon, it can happen. In the case of poor growth, before using further grafts of a patient, one needs to understand why it happened. Are there any undiagnosed underlying skin issues, any other physiological factors such as potential illness, if the patient experienced any complications with healing or care post procedure?

Dr. Bisanga is extremely patient orientated and stands by his patient's. Upon ruling out any physiological cause where poor growth may again be a risk and further grafts wasted, Dr. Bisanga always endeavours for his patients to achieve the very best result, and it is his pleasure to offer "touch-up" surgeries as necessary.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
A good patient advisor will help and support a patient all the way through their journey. Nice video Ian.
 
R

Risingforehead

member
Do patient advisors and Doctors ever disagree or have a difference of opinion on what's best for a patient and if so how does this usually play out?
 
Raphael84

Raphael84

Valued member
Risingforehead

I can only speak in regards to ourselves at BHR Clinic, but with any inquiry that we may receive or when an individual may provide us with their photographs for evaluation, these are presented and discussed directly with Dr Bisanga who will then offer his personal recommendations.
Along with photographs, we provide specific details about the individual and what they are looking to achieve and any other factors that may have an influence on Dr Bisangas recommendations. As advisors, we do not personally offer consultation or specific graft counts. Other clinics may work differently, but we find this the most appropriate and ethical approach. BHR advisors provide the education and reasoning based on and to support the doctors recommendations.

At BHR we are very fortunate in the respect that we work with one of the most respected and experienced doctors in the field of hair restoration and a large part of our understanding and knowledge is down to the education that Dr Bisanga has and continues to provide to us. This means that in most cases, Dr Bisangas recommendations are inline with our initial thinking.

Ultimately individuals make contact with the clinic based on the results and reputation of the doctor. A quality doctor will know what is best for his patient based on their objectives and will plan surgery accordingly.
 
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