And 2020 is now coming to an end. In these last days of the year I always like to take some time to reflect upon the last 12 months.
First of all, I hope everyone had a safe and Merry Christmas, within what was possible. If not physically together with your loved ones, at least in spirit and making use of technology to make things just a bit easier.
As I look to 2021, I go back to this past year to decide our direction moving forward. It’s no secret that I always want us to do better, to be better, to achieve even better results, to give more to our patients and to improve in all aspects. Evolution and progress is a big part of my enjoyment of this field.
Of course, it’s hard to not address the elephant in the room: COVID-19. That really threw a spanner into our gears and caused us to stop all clinic activity for a few months. Of course we still kept working from home. We kept moving, studying, offering online consultations to patients, better understanding how we can reach and help more patients. It did help me catch my breath for a bit, but then when lockdowns were lifted came an avalanche of requests. Consultations, online consultations, surgeries, etc, etc. I am so so grateful for how much our patients and prospective patients enjoy our results, our work, our philosophy (and our hospitality for that matter :)). It’s really nice to feel not only their unequivocal preference to have me as their doctor, but to see how hard they work to simply get to our clinic in a time when traveling is not as straightforward as it was even only 12 months ago.
This time we spent in lockdown, combined with the sheer number of patient requests we receive, did make our waiting lists (for consultations and for surgery) longer than what I’d like. I now have an overwhelming backlog of online consultation requests. I do answer each and every patient personally in a very detailed manner. The current situation and how much our waiting times slipped makes me believe that I have to rethink our online consultation model. I don’t want to sacrifice quality, so I am actively brainstorming ideas (together with Alexandra, our patient manager) to improve waiting time. We may for instance, introduce a paid “fast track” system for patients who need to have a quicker answer and don’t wish to spend sometimes months waiting for an answer.
Online consultations as you know are with no cost to the patient. So we do get some requests from people who are either just curious or not in a rush to get surgery. They may be thinking about it, but only in a year or so. Which is totally fine. I’m happy to help those patients the same way that I’m happy to help patients who want surgery “yesterday". But for each of those patients for whom I spend (quite some time) writing up an analysis, there is another who really wants to get an answer ASAP. So the goal is to give those patients a chance to get a quicker turnaround. The ones who are not in a rush still get they analysis, but in a wider timeframe.
This is just an idea of course. I may also temporarily give a shorter format consultation analysis (still answering to all important details) in order to make back some ground and not have such a long waiting list. I’d like to get some feedback from the readers on this. We’re always looking for ways to improve.
As for what happens inside the OR, we’re continuously upgrading it. Bringing in new equipment or upgrading the current one. I’m always testing out all sorts of weird ideas or gadgets I come up with [and the nurses keep accidentally destroying my instruments, which breaks my heart! (just kidding though. They’re all incredible! :)]
The team has been doing a great job and I’ve watched them evolve over these months. We did encounter some challenges, some COVID related. But I’d like to congratulate the nurses Catarina, Liliana, Neuza and Ricardo as well as Alexandra, our patient manager on their evolution and progress. I’d also like to thank them for their hard work, dedication and for how they wear the BF jersey. It makes me proud to see what we’ve achieved and to see them caring so selflessly for our patients. They’re all so ethical, professional and well intentioned that I really have to pat myself on the back for bringing together such a great group of people. :)
We’ve also been receiving a steady stream of excellent results photos, so expect to seem some new case results soon. ;)
So, for 2021, my biggest goal is to improve our efficiency in terms of online consultations and to be even closer to our patients who are post-op. It’s really important for me that patients feel that we’re with them throughout the whole process. From first contact to their end-result consultation.
We’re also working on improving our website and making it more useful for patients. More results, more FAQs, more information. I also intend to make a big investment in our YouTube presence. So expect to see more of me on camera in the near future. I also have been receiving requests from patients to write more frequently in the blog and to post in forums. I only have so much time, but I promise to try.
So, once again. Thank you very much to everyone! You are the reason we exist. I wish you all an amazing 2021 and may we all be able to again do the things we love, together with the ones we love.
I wish you all the best,