As many of you know, Medicare reimbursement to physicians is currently being cut by 20%.  Medicare is already one of the poorest paying insurances that physicians deal with and the “hassle factor” is extremely high.  The reimbursements rates have not been increased since I have been in practice despite rising overhead costs.  These changes will force many doctors (including myself) to stop accepting Medicare patients.  Government cannot expect physicians to continue to provide care under these conditions.  I would encourage you to contact your representative and encourage them to fix this problem.

Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things to do and many of our patients struggle with quitting.  We frequently ask our patients to quit smoking before and after surgery to help them get the best results with the least potential complications.  Smoking causes a decrease in blood flow to the blood vessels involved in the healing of surgical wounds.  This can lead to inadequate oxygen getting to the tissues and ultimately death of the tissue.  Additional surgery is often required to remove the dead tissue.

Arizona has a hotline and website designed to help you quit smoking.  The phone number is 1-800-55-66-222 and the website is ashline.org/refer.

Hi Everybody.  The main purpose of our blog is to share information and educate our readers about Plastic Surgery.  Occasionally, I read something that I feel compelled to share with you.  I recently picked up a copy of Phoenix magazine.  It was the Best Doctors issue.  Among the doctors listed as plastic surgeons, two of these were not board-certified plastic surgeons.  This listing his supposedly voted upon by the physicians in the Valley.  I have been in Scottsdale since 1991 and have only received a ballot once.  I would hope that the general public would see this as a popularity contest and not a scientific way of ranking physicians.

 It is fairly confusing when an ad or web site says that a physician is board-certified.  It is very important for the patient or consumer to make sure that the person is board-certified in the specialty that you are interested in.  There is no board certification in cosmetic surgery, breast surgery or liposuction by the American Board of Medical Specialties.  Many people perform cosmetic surgery that are not plastic surgeons.  Some have had specific training such as facial plastic surgeons, ocular plastic surgeons some dermatologists others have done little more than take a weekend course.  One way of determining if a surgeon is board-certified is to ask them if they have hospital privileges to do the procedure you are interested in.  It is frustrating for those of us who went through the process of becoming board-certified plastic surgery to see someone a few blocks away who has very little or no surgical training doing cosmetic procedures.  I feel it is ours responsibility to educate our patients about how to choose a plastic surgeon.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this topic.

Happy New Year to everybody.  In the upcoming year, our website will be expanded to include more educational material, an expanded patient section with more online resources and a before and after gallery.  So, check back often and if you have any suggestions, please email at drjpierce@desertplasticsurgery.

The proposed 5% tax on cosmetic surgery and cosmetic procedures has been removed from the current healthcare reform bill.  Thank all of you who contacted your representatives.

I just did a short interview for bizymoms.com on the topic of abdominoplasty (tummy tuck).  Click on the link below to read the interview.  I will also post it on the website under the procedures section.

http://bizymoms.com/scottsdale/surgery/tummy-tuck-scottsdale.php

As many of you have heard, congress has proposed a 5% tax on all cosmetic surgery and procedures.  This has been introduced to help pay for the proposed health care reform.  This is a discriminatory tax aimed at the middle class (60% of people who have cosmetic surgery/procedures are considered middle class) and women.  It would be very difficult to enforce and places physicians in the roll of tax collector.  I urge all of you to contact your representatives and oppose this legislation.  You can find your elected representative by clicking here: 

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

After the loss of both of our aestheticians, we wanted to continue to provide a high quality skin care line that would be easy to use and simple.  After a lot of research, we have decided to carry the Dermesse skin care line.  Visit their site at www.dermesse.com.  I will post more information in the next few months as we get feedback from our patients.

We have been using Sculptra in our office for several years.  It was FDA approved for HIV facial atrophy but was used “off label” for cosmetic applications.  Below is the first paragraph of their press release.  I can forward the whole release if anyone is interested.  Just email me.

Sanofi-aventis U.S. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved SculptraŽAesthetic (injectable poly-L-lactic acid) for the correction of shallow to deep nasolabial fold (smile lines) contour deficiencies and other facial wrinkles which are treated with the appropriate injection technique in healthy patients.

SculptraŽAesthetic works gradually to offer natural-looking results that can last up to two years.

We are happy to announce that Artefill has been re-released.  The product was not available after the company that distributed it, Artes Medical, filed for bankrupsy.  The product has be bought by Suneva Medical and is once again available.  Artefill is a long lasting filler that we used for several years.  We had excellent results and we are glad to offer it as another tool for facial rejuvenation.  For more information, call to make an appointment or visit their website at www.artefill.com.