Why Is There a Minimum Fee for Surgery if I Just Want Touch-Ups?

Hello,

I have a unique situation, that I can’t quite seem to find an answer for. I have had one major hair transplant, and also a few small touch up procedures all from the same doctor.

I have had to go back a few times due to my right hairline being stubborn for good growth. As of right now, I have just a very small area that I am concerned with, that exposes my scalp somewhat.

My issue is that during my touch up procedures with my doctor, I no longer feel that he has the attention to detail for me to trust going back to him to get this very small area. I’m wanting to find a doctor that would be willing to help me out with a very small procedure without having me pay the minimum fee which could be thousands of dollars.

I understand the reasoning behind a minimum fee, but was wondering if there are any doctors out there that would be willing to squeeze me into their schedule, and not necessarily feel like they need to block out an appointment spot out for me.

Any information or direction that you might have would be great

Thanks

When there are small touch-ups to a procedure we did originally, we often reduce the minimum fee requirement. In your case, we would be doing work created by another doctor, so the reduced fees generally do not apply. That being said, sometimes we will reduce the fee if the work is small, even on someone like you (patient of another doctor).

But… what is a “touch-up,” exactly? I don’t really know anything about your case or what you consider to be small refinements. Questions that need to be considered include: How much of our time will it take? How many staff members do I have to commit to your case? How much time in the operating room does the procedure need? These are important to know and the fees should be made on an individual case-by-case basis once we can establish just what needs to be done.

Touch-ups can be done with follicular unit extraction (FUE), but it still requires anesthesia. All of this is costly to us. We often subsidize our former patients for small touch-ups, as they are generally rare requirements put on us.