Am I a Candidate for Rhinoplasty

I want a rhinoplasty, step me through a basic outline of what is going to happen

1. Office consultation

All new patients will have a private consultation with Dr Roth. The time allowed will depend on the reason for the consultation and the possible surgery required. Our reception staff will ask you the reason you are seeing Dr Roth beforehand and attempt to allocate an appropriate consultation length. Sometimes more than one consultation is necessary. Not every patient is a good candidate for every surgery or procedure.

We encourage every patient to obtain as much information as possible beforehand and to ask questions freely. You must be an active partner in your health. We will make every effort to schedule an appointment as quickly as we can. Remember that we schedule only one appointment per time slot and that time is reserved for you only. We ask you to let us know if you will be unable to keep your appointment so another person can benefit.

During your consultation photographs may be taken and computer image morphing performed to help simulate the results. These help serve as a guide as to the desired cosmetic results.

Dr Roth will also discuss the risks of surgery. Do not be frightened by these, this is a necessary discussion before any surgical procedure. The commonest risks of nasal surgery are bleeding and infection. Usually these can be treated with simple measures.

2. Surgical quote

After your consultation, you will be given a quote by Dr Roth’s staff which outlines the costs involved. There are always three key components of a quote for an operation – the surgeon’s fee, the anaesthetist’s fee and the hospital fee. If you have private health insurance, the quote will indicate the amount of estimated rebate from your private health fund.

3. Location of surgery

We try to choose the most appropriate site for each patient’s surgery. Simple procedures can often be performed in our office under local anaesthesia. More involved procedures are best done in a private hospital under sedation anaesthesia or general anaesthesia. Sometimes an overnight stay is recommended.

4. The day of surgery

Anaesthesia will be delivered either by your surgeon or anaesthetist. Every effort will be made to ensure your comfort. Many patients leave hospital on the same day as their surgery whereas other patients having larger procedures will stay overnight. This will be planned before your surgery.

5. Post-operative care

For almost all procedures you will be given written post-operative care instructions before your surgery day so you have ample time to familiarise yourself with these and ask questions. After your surgery you will receive post-operative medications and the time for your follow-up appointment. If you live outside of Sydney, it is usually best to stay in Sydney until after your first post-operative visit (usually within 7 days following surgery).

Depending on the procedure performed, you should expect to return to work or other social activities one to three weeks following surgery. We will ask you to return for postoperative care appointments at regularly scheduled intervals so we can monitor your healing. Please keep these appointments as they are vital in achieving the best surgical results possible. In most cases it takes about a year for the healing to be complete.

FINANCES

Consultation

At your first visit you will be a charged a consultation fee. This fee also includes any subsequent pre-operative consultations that might be necessary. If you obtain a referral from your GP, Medicare will rebate part of this fee back to you.

Surgical fee

Your surgical fee will be quoted following the consultation. It is customary that fees for this type of surgery are paid in advance. Cosmetic procedures are generally elective and are frequently not covered by private health insurance. If the operation is performed in attempt to improve or restore nasal function or to correct an injury from trauma, both Medicare and your insurance may pay some of the cost. We hold contracts with all the Australian private health insurance companies. We can provide an estimate of your rebate as part of your quotation.

Please note your surgical fee does not include any hospital fees or fees payable to your anaesthetist.

Postoperative visits

It is our policy that patients are not charged for postoperative visits. Should a problem arise, we will want you to come in as often as necessary. If you require follow-up x-rays or tests, you may be charged these by the companies that perform these tests. You may be charged a consultation fee for a new problem that is not related to your surgery.

BOOKING IN

Once you are ready to book in, discuss this with Dr Roth’s team. It is best to let us know if there is a particular time you are thinking about having your surgery as early as possible so we can reserve you some operating time in Dr Roth’s theatre schedule. Dr Roth works at a number of private Sydney hospitals and you are welcome to take your pick of these. Theatre days all fall on a regular cycle so you may have to fit in a little with that schedule.

Continue reading – On the day of surgery