This week on episode ten of Clinic Talk, Dr. Sajan and Sabrina share stories from their plastic surgery clinic. Dr. Sajan starts with a story about a surgical tech who came in for a job shadow and did not seem to know proper surgical etiquette. She also claimed to have an allergic reaction to an N95 mask?! Regardless, this applicant was unlike any other who came in for a job shadow.
Sabrina then tells the story of a patient who threatened to call the police after getting charged the no show fee. Having missed two previous appointments was charged the fee for failing to cancel or reschedule their appointment according to the cancellation policy. They then called back and threaten to show up with the police.
The final story explains the importance of ensuring patient safety and the consequences it can have in the form of nasty Yelp reviews from a patient that Dr. Sajan did not perform surgery on. Listen for the conclusion of these stories. For more real plastic surgery stories, subscribe to the Plastic Surgeon Podcast and follow Dr. Sajan on Instagram @realdrseattle.
Learn more about Dr. Sajan’s plastic surgery at https://www.allureesthetic.com
Sabrina Sajan 00:00
Ever wonder what motivates people to get plastic surgery?
Dr. Javad Sajan 00:02
Do they regret it?
Sabrina Sajan 00:03
What can we learn from the weird and wild stuff that happens at our plastic surgery clinic? We're going to tell some stories, get some laughs and learn on.
Dr. Javad Sajan00:11
Clinic talk with Sabrina Sajan.
Sabrina Sajan 00:13
On the plastic surgeon podcast.
Dr. Javad Sajan 00:33
Hello, my friends. I'm Dr. Javad Sajan and of course I'm here with my lovely wife and CEO of Allure Esthetic Sabrina Sajan.
Sabrina Sajan 00:39
Welcome back and thanks for listening, please rate and review us on Apple podcast to support our channel. On clinic talk we tell real stories of fun, strange, hopeful, and educational that happened at our clinics from day to day.
Dr. Javad Sajan 00:53
We get a lot of weird and hilarious things happening at the clinic.
Sabrina Sajan 00:54
56--You can find the clinic at allureesthetic.com for more information. So, Janu, what clinic stories are we going to talk about?
Dr. Javad Sajan 01:05
Jan? I had an applicant that had to run out of the, or during her interview and she passed out.
Sabrina Sajan 01:12
Oh my God. Was that the nurse that came to shadow?
Dr. Javad Sajan 01:16
Yes, yes, no, it was the surgical tech.
Sabrina Sajan 01:19
Oh yes, yes, you're right.
Dr. Javad Sajan 01:20
We have a surgical tech you brought in for a shadow. What is a shadow?
Sabrina Sajan 01:23
So we have a few step interview process that we do. We usually will do like a phone screen or like a screen you know, with some questions first and then we'll bring them for an in-person interview. And then the third step is the-
Dr. Javad Sajan 01:39
Obviously the social distance with masks.
Sabrina Sajan 01:41
Of course, yes, six feet and all of that good stuff and then the third step of the interview process is a job shadow day where the applicant would come in for a few hours shadow the department that they're applying for. So if it's the Orr they'll shadow the, or staff, if it's accounting, they'll, you know shadow the accounting staff. So this person was a surgical tech who was invited for the third step of the interview process, which is our drop shadow day.
Dr. Javad Sajan 02:08
And doing the shadow. They're not doing patient care or anything. They're basically a fly on the wall, just observing what the team's doing. Right?
Sabrina Sajan 02:14
Correct. So they just come in and kind of watch and see what everyone's doing. You know, we get everyone's consent, we get the patient and everyone's consent to do that. And then when they agree, then we can have them shadow. You know, they're able to ask the other staff questions, they can kind of get to know the team, get to know the doctors and all of the whole process of the OR.
Dr. Javad Sajan 02:35
And guys, we do a real, like Sabrina said, we do this intensive process because we really believe our biggest asset and investment is our team. Exactly. And we don't just hire on the fly. I mean, we're really blessed that when Sabrina activates or hazard assistant activate an ad, we'll get 300 to 400 applications within a week.
Sabrina Sajan 02:56
Yeah, it's quite some time to go through those applications.
Dr. Javad Sajan 02:59
Exactly, we go through and we read everything. Then we bring people in for an interview and then, you know, it's a multi-step process. And after they get through all of that, they still have to go through contracting and credentialing, which is another whole fee.
Sabrina Sajan 03:12
Correct. so this person came in and when shadow comes in, especially for the OR we have them change into our cleansed, you know, our clean scrubs that we get washed from medical weed company. They change into our scrubs. They have to put, you know, our shoes on, they have to put on all the OR surgical items, such as a mask. N-95, they have to put a bouffant on, booties another mask on top of their N-95 with a face shield. So all of the stuff they have to do because we want to make sure they're safe while shadowing. And of course we're keeping the patient and the rest of the team safe. So this, you know, this person of course comes and then, you know, I take her to, you know, grab her stuff grab scrubs that are her size. Then I ask her, you know, what kind of N-95 do you want? And then I make sure that it's something that fits her and that she's able to wear. I give her all of her surgical items to change into. And then she's in the bathroom for like 30 minutes.
Dr. Javad Sajan 04:22
She was just changing in the bathroom 30 minutes into scrubs.
Sabrina Sajan 04:26
Yeah. It's really all weird. Cause I was like, I was literally want to knock and to make sure that she was okay because no one is ever literally taking 30 minutes to change and put on like their surgical attire. You know what I mean?
Dr. Javad Sajan 04:38
Or maybe she was sick. Did you hear any noises?
Sabrina Sajan 04:40
No, I didn't hear anything. I just, I said, "Are you okay"? She's like, "Yeah, I'm just changing". I'm like, "Okay, let me know when you're ready. I'm waiting right outside".
Dr. Javad Sajan 04:46
So no like vomiting noises or not a lot of like air gas, bubbles-
Sabrina Sajan 04:53
Nothing. I mean, of course we screen everyone, when they come into the front door, we ask them if they have symptoms, have they, you know, felt a fever and all of that. And she said no to everything. So she was cleared.
Dr. Javad Sajan 05:04
So you just waited 30 minutes. I would have knocked, Hey, everything okay in there.
Sabrina Sajan 05:07
Yeah. I just wanted to know. And then, at the end I did knock. I said, "Are you okay? Do you some help"? And she said, "No, I'm fine". I'll be right out. And I'm like, "Okay", so I'm waiting, waiting, waiting.
Dr. Javad Sajan05:18
So that's a red flag number one right there.
Sabrina Sajan 05:20
Yeah. It sounds like maybe she just takes a while to get her, you know, and get change and get herself together and be just the first time she's bringing surgical attire. We should try to figure it out.
Dr. Javad Sajan 05:28
This person was an experienced tech. There weren't a first timer.
Sabrina Sajan 05:31
Yeah. She said that she used to work in a hospital before. So she, this shouldn't be like a new thing. Yeah. That was really weird. So she changes and of course I introduce her to the team and I said, this is, you know, so-and-so and she's a surgical tech and she's going to be shadowing us. Everything goes well. And then you saw her, right?
Dr. Javad Sajan 05:48
Yeah, so then she gets handed over to me and I know and the OR so Sabrina gives everyone a brand new N-95 for their safety. We do that for every new, we invest a lot in the interview process, sometimes applicants think, and we love applicants. We love you all. Thank you. But they think it's just their time and cost but they actually it's a lot of cost for us. Cause we got to dedicate a high senior leader like Sabrina, or she dedicates one of her assistants to get that person there. Then you know, that's time and cost. And then we'd give everybody medical grade N-95. And then we fit them for that N-95. It’s not like “here is an N-95, wear it”, you know, we help them wear it, and do all that fitting stuff. Yeah. And then, so Sabrina handed her over and she's in the OR she has her fancy smancy, 3m N-95 or we're not sponsored by them. But anyway, so everything is good. And then she's in the OR, and suddenly she's like starts like our eyes become red and she starts watering a little bit and we're like, sure. I'm like, we're like, "Hey, are you okay"? He's like, "Yeah, I'm fine". And then she's doing her thing. And then we see her like pacing a little bit back and forth and we're like, "Hey, what's going on? You good"? She's like, yeah. Yeah. I'm just having an allergic reaction to your mask.
Dr. Javad Sajan 07:01
And I was like, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said". Cause I, no one's ever had a reaction to an N-95 mask. So I'm like, maybe she's an anti masker. So we're like, "Hey, you don't want to wear a mask. What's the situation here? Can you explain more? She's like, "No, this mask is making my eyes water. And I'm getting an allergic reaction and she just runs out of the OR back into her safe space, which I think is the bathroom that you explain how it makes sense. And she slams the door and then she goes in there and then, so she go slams the door, we hear the sink with she's washing her face. And then she comes back out with the same N-95. And then we're like, "Hey, are you okay"? She's like, yeah, I think I'm rushing to the mask.
Dr. Javad Sajan 07:41
Does anybody have benedrow? And we're like interviewing here, you're not a patient. Now, I'm not giving you medication for like, no, we started, we don't have any medication we can give you should be calling 911 or but, you know? Like, what's going on here really thinking is this person, okay? Is this some kind of weird booby trap? It was like a camera someone's hiding here, they gonna say, you know, so then she's like, Oh, I think I might have some my person, she runs again to her safe spot the bathroom closes, slams the door. Then she comes back off this time without the N 95 with some random home mask. Okay. Here were like, Oh, okay. She's like, I'm better now. I have my home mask or whatever. She says mask, it was orange. The orange Brown was weird.
Dr. Javad Sajan 08:26
Anyway. So then she's like, "I found manageable in my purse and I took it and I'm better now". And we were like, "Well over, sorry, thank you for coming. What? We can't have you here since you're having a medical issue and you don't have a proper PPE personal protection equipment to observe us. It's not safe for you". You know? And the virus is here. The bad virus. So I hate saying that name, but you know what I'm talking about, right? Yeah. So anyway, so we sent her out and we're like, thank you, have a nice day. And then she goes back quickly, doesn't even say bye to her safe spot. And now we're in the fourth bathroom trips slams. She keeps slamming the door. I don't know why she's doing that. You know, then she just leaves that saying bye. And she threw her scrubs on the floor.
Sabrina Sajan 09:14
Yeah. I remember because someone came and got me and they're like, "Oh, the shadow just ran out". And I'm like "What? They ran out". So then I go and I check to look for her to see where she went. And then she's nowhere to be found. She probably literally ran because I literally was like went to the elevator, looking for her. And then I went back to the bathroom to see what happened. And she threw the scrubs on the floor and all her PP that we had given to her on the floor, so disrespectfully.
Dr. Javad Sajan 09:42
So rudely. And if you're an experienced hospital or person, everybody knows you put the scrubs in the hamper. That's just courtesy. You don't throw them on the floor of the bathroom for somebody else to clean up after you. I just thank God that we had this person do a shadow because she interviewed so well, if we would have brought that person on the team, it would have been a disaster.
Sabrina Sajan 10:07
Yeah. And then it's weird how this person has the audacity to ask for an update on her application.
Dr. Javad Sajan 10:17
Get out.
Sabrina Sajan 10:17
Yes.
Dr. Javad Sajan 10:18
She asked for an update,
Sabrina Sajan 10:20
Literally. It was like probably 48 hours, like two days after she sends a message saying, "Oh, I just wanted to get an update on my application for the surgical tech position". And I'm like "What"? Yeah.
Dr. Javad Sajan 10:36
That's weird. Wow. Interview process saves another one. Right? If you bring somebody on, who's not a good fit. Everybody loses. And I'm sure this person is a wonderful person. I'm sure she's great. But we can't bring someone like that on the team because it's just not going to work out for their safety. Right? They can N-95 and you know, they have these issues. We just can't deal with it. It's not safe. And the if we saved her from losing her job that she was at, we saved us from having the pain of having someone and then not having them work anymore. And shadow process saves another one. So I can say. So Jan, I heard you guys called the police. So what was going on with, yesterday? I heard you on the phone was not you, or I heard you telling the phone person to deal with something, what was going on.
Sabrina Sajan 11:23
Yeah, so we had a patient that scheduled an appointment to see one of our providers. And, you know, we have a cancellation policy on our appointments where they have to keep a credit card on file and they have to at least let us know one business day prior to cancel their appointment. I think that's very fair. You know, providers, you know, a lot of our providers are booked out for months. So a lot of patients are waiting for months to see some providers. So it's really important that patients if they do want to schedule, reschedule or cancel their appointment, they let us know at least one business day before. This patient, of course didn't let us know one business day before canceling their appointment just didn't show up. So you know, they got charged the fee and then they call back and said, well, so-and-so happened. And all this stuff says, okay, fine. We'll refund you the fee. We, you know, we'll help make another appointment, but going forward, we have to let you know, you have to let us know at least one business day before. So then the patient, you know, is fine. They reschedule and guess what, again, they canceled the appointment after their appointment, or like, we can't cancel your appointment after your appointment time has passed. So happened again.
Dr. Javad Sajan 12:36
I had a staff member who willing in the beginning of four years ago, who told me the same grandma died five times, literally, literally. Yeah, it was another staff member. I got to save this who called out the day before for food poisoning. And then the day of this was pre virus three years ago, she called out and then the next day we all went for coffee. She said she eats bad seafood. Then the next day we all go to PF Chang's to celebrate. And then she orders shrimp. Anyway, we got clinic talks that, I think, Oh, sorry, go ahead.
Sabrina Sajan 13:14
Yeah. So this patient literally makes up excuses. It was literally the third time that we're on now. And then we're like, well, we can't, you know, go move forward with scheduling your appointment anymore because you know, you fail to let us know about, you know, reschedule a counseling appointment that gets super upset and they're demanding that we scheduled an appointment for them and refund their $50. And we're like, unfortunately we can't. This is literally the third time have given you three, you know, two other tries, this is our policy. We've made exceptions twice already for you. We're happy to, you know scheduling, but we cannot give you a refund. Like that's just our policy.
Dr. Javad Sajan 13:54
So this is like a mid-level, like actitation or nurse appointment. Okay. Was it a man or women?
Sabrina Sajan 14:01
It was a man, yeah. And this man is like, try, he's like on the phone, like yelling at the front desk staff on how, like we just taking his money and his $50 and all this stuff and that he's going to call the police on us so that he, well, first he said that he's going to show up to the office with police so that he can get us $50 back.
Dr. Javad Sajan 14:25
How were the police going to help him?
Sabrina Sajan 14:26
I don't know. I don't know. But he's like, yeah, I'm going to call the police on you guys so I can get my $50 back. You guys are keeping my money and we're like, we're not keeping your money. We gave you two other chances. We refunded your money the first time and the second time, and we said to you that going forward, we can't have this anymore. You know? And this patient was super upset and literally it was threatening us. I was going to just show up to our office and the money from us.
Dr. Javad Sajan 14:52
That's what was it? It was with the police.
Sabrina Sajan 14:56
Well, the police is not going to help him.
Dr. Javad Sajan 14:57
No, let me so funny. If you call the police, I wonder what they would say.
Sabrina Sajan 15:01
Yeah. I don't know what you would say. They would say, but he kept threatening us with different things and how he's going to show up and he's going to get his money from us basically. And the reason we have these rules in places, because like I said, you know, a lot of patients wait for weeks or months to see some of our providers. And it's the providers time that you guys have to remember, you know, it's, you know, they're waiting for appointment and this person didn't show up when another patient could have been seen during that time. So yeah, that
Dr. Javad Sajan 15:27
That's why you gotta be respectful of the rules.
Sabrina Sajan 15:31
Yeah. We get all these random calls and sometimes patients.
Dr. Javad Sajan 15:34
He made a lot of exceptions after two strikes, you know, he get three strikes.
Sabrina Sajan 15:38
Yeah. And they just could not follow the rules. And if they can't follow the rules and they probably won't follow the post procedure rules either. Correct.
Dr. Javad Sajan 15:45
You know, and the rules help really separate people who aren't a good fit for the practice. And you know this, we love our patients. We thank our patients every day for being part of us. And it's so nice where if someone's going be, so non-compliant with our cancellation policy, how are they going to follow post-treatment injections?
Sabrina Sajan 16:06
Exactly , instructions.
Dr. Javad Sajan 16:07
Yeah. Even if they get microneedling, let's just say laser, you have to do care after your procedure. And if you can't just show up first and then you're going to be so difficult, like how are you going to treat us after it? That's what I think. Sometimes people forget, you know, 99% of our patients are amazing, but you get 1% of people that no matter what you do, you can't make them happy. And sometimes the rules help those patients not come.
Sabrina Sajan 16:32
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Sometimes patients demand things. I were just like, you know, you can't meet your expectations. Maybe you're just not a good fit for you. Like that call we got on Friday yeah. So we get a call on Friday from a patient and they're trying to come in for an appointment.
Dr. Javad Sajan 16:53
That was a Botox appointment, I think.
Dr. Javad Sajan 16:55
Yeah. it was a Botox appointment and they, at first they ask have all of your staff been treated vaccinated. And of course, you know, we say, you know, it's everyone that was, everyone was offered the vaccination. But it's a personal preference. You know, we can't force staff members or anyone to get the vaccination. It's , you know, their decision at the end of the day.
Dr. Javad Sajan 17:22
We highly encourage it. We think the vaccine is great. We believe in it. We can't force a human being to get it.
Sabrina Sajan 17:28
Exactly. And this patient is demanding for the front, the phone staff to tell them if every employee at our office got the vaccine. Yeah. She says I must know every employee if they got the vaccine or not. And we'll say, unfortunately, we can't give you that information. That's HIPAA information. First of all. And second of all, that's again, a personal choice. If someone wants to get the vaccine or not, I said, we're happy to not see you if you don't feel comfortable coming here, but that's the type of information we cannot give you.
Dr. Javad Sajan 18:00
Yeah. And I think people know this, but even if you get the vaccine, okay, let's say you get COVID, you're going to get less sick, but you can still spread it. So,
Sabrina Sajan 18:09
Yeah. And then she was asking you know, have, well, when were the staff offered the vaccination, what percent of the staff have received it? Have all your providers received it, like all these detailed questions about it. I mean, I understand she may be worried and you know, she wants to know this information, but this is information we cannot give.
Dr. Javad Sajan 18:31
No. It sounds like a spy almost, maybe somebody from another office.
Sabrina Sajan 18:34
Yeah. It was very weird. She was like asking all these specific questions about the vaccine and the employees and all of that.
Dr. Javad Sajan18:41
Yeah. That's a do not that goes on your specialist do not schedule.
Sabrina Sajan 18:46
DNS.
Dr. Javad Sajan 18:46
Yeah. So we have a specialist in the office it's Sabrina's list that she manages, right. It's called DNS list. So those are all the people that aren't allowed to get appointments.
Sabrina Sajan 18:56
Yeah. yeah, they could get on the DNS list and unfortunately there's not a good fit for our practice. Yeah.
Dr. Javad Sajan 19:02
Yes. I remember this one happened. I was sitting talking to Sabrina and Sammy came, running. Sabrina we got somebody on the do not schedule this calling, something else. So guys, I got a bad Yelp review. So here's what happened. So we, I didn't do surgery on them. Okay. Thank God. So we had a patient lined up for surgery. Yes. That dodged a bullet on that one. I'll tell you, I'll tell everybody what happened. I'm not going to give any personal information here. So here's what happened guys. So I had a patient sign up for a surgery. I won't say what it is. So then this patient signs up for surgery and during their workup for surgery,
Sabrina Sajan 19:50
Because he requested medical clearance.
Dr. Javad Sajan 19:51
Yes, medical clearances and during their history and physical that the regular doctor does, there was a history of a heart murmur. So a heart murmur is just an irregular sound. Your heart can make. And for some people it's normal. They like, I had a heart murmur for many years because I was born premature. I was born a couple of pounds, spent three months in the NICU, but nevertheless, long story.
Sabrina Sajan 20:17
A big boy.
Dr. Javad Sajan 20:17
Yes, yes. Yeah. So I had a heart murmur for most of my life and is probably still there a little bit, but basically I had a hole in my heart that closed up by itself. So this person had a heart murmur and my anesthesia provider, Patrick he's super vigilant. So this person was getting a longer surgery, about five hours. And during the surgery, there would be what are called significant volume shifts. So what is that? Why does it matter? So when you're doing a longer surgery and there's a big shift in volume means fluid is going to move around a lot.
Dr. Javad Sajan 20:50
Either you're giving IV fluid or you taking a lot of fat out that puts stress on the heart. And if your heart has a hole in it or something like that, although it's been totally fine at the resting state or normal activity, when you're stressing somebody for a procedure, cause surgery, anesthesia puts stress on the body. That thing that was normal, most of the time, because can become a huge problem. And when, if you have a heart murmur, even though it might be benign or not a big deal, but during surgery, you can become a very big deal. So Patrick who's super vigilant reviews the all my patients information. He says, calls me up, Hey doc, we got a heart murmur this person because of their, the way the doctor documented it. I think we should get a echo kumbaya cardiologist. I'm like, okay, Patrick, that sounds fine. And this is happening during COVID right. Now we're gonna post pandemic in the pandemic world. So I'm like, yeah, let's get heart. Let's get an echo. And this patient already has surgery scheduled already. And because of the COVID thing, they couldn't get the echo or an echo is an ultrasound of the heart. It shows why the murmurs there, they were, they couldn't be done until only a few weeks before surgery. So they go and get the echo
Sabrina Sajan 22:10
And ours. And let me tell you, our staff worked every single day to make sure that this patient would get in to their cardiologists so that they could get this test. And I still remember till this day, the, our pre-op coordinator, she literally called that office every, almost every single hour.
Dr. Javad Sajan 22:31
We hustled for her.
Sabrina Sajan 22:32
And sent in so many letters, so many letters and so many requests trying to speed her test up because of the COVID, they didn't have that many availability. And every single day we reached out to their office, send them letters for, you know, push them. Like we have to get this in for this patient. Like were their surgery schedule. We have to get this echo in. And I remember till this day, even till the week of surgery, our pre-op coordinator was calling their office over and over and over again to get these records because, and to get the tests done because we, we needed it before surgery wanted to make sure the patient is ready to go for surgery. And we worked night, you know, timeless to get that in and get her scheduled.
Dr. Javad Sajan 23:12
Yeah. And so finally we got the echo down a week before surgery, and then
Sabrina Sajan 23:16
I remember she got the echo done and then that office wouldn't send us the records.
Dr. Javad Sajan 23:20
Exactly. And this was a whole story. So she gets the echo done. Then we got a phone call from the medical assistant at the office, love medical assistance. But you know, just randomly calling us saying, Hey patient find for surgery and they tell this to our pre-op nurse. And we're like, Whoa, what's going on here. We need, we want them all. We want the echo results. And we wanted a letter from the doctor. She thinks she's safe.
Sabrina Sajan 23:44
And then I remember she says, well that's a process and it's going to take maybe a few more days. Well the result we do have the results, but they need to be scanned into our system. Then the doctor will review those results. Then when the doctor signs off on the results, then we can send them to you. So it will take a few days and this patients get surgery scheduled in a few days.
Dr. Javad Sajan 24:05
Yeah. And so we're like one your phone call is not enough. It's not that we don't trust you, but we have to follow a process. And if you're telling us the doctor says that is okay, send us a letter and send the results, what's the big deal. And so we absolutely do multiple phone calls. Then Patrick had to call the office and be like, we need the records now. And he got a little bit vigilant excited about that. So then basically we get a one-line letter that says, patients find from surgery signed by this person's cardiologist. And we're like, no no letter just says, patients find for outpatient surgery.
Sabrina Sajan 24:38
No, so we knew the records.
Dr. Javad Sajan 24:39
And the letter, doesn't say what surgery she's having, or the results from the echo. And Patrick's like, I'm not going to accept this. So then we have to call this office back again. And now we know that my name, they were like, Hey, this letter one sentence is not enough. We need to make sure this patient's really safe.
Sabrina Sajan 24:54
And then I remember Patrick requested to speak to the cardiologist.
Dr. Javad Sajan 24:58
Correct. So then Patrick talks to the cardiologist directly and the cardiologist says, yeah, this patient has a leaking heart valve. She'll be fine for outpatient surgery. And Patrick's like, well, you do know this patient's going to get at least three to four liters of fluid during the surgery is going to be a lot of volume shifting. It's a four and a half hour surgery, four hour surgery. And the cardiologist was like, "Oh wait, let me look at those records again, the results of the echo again". And he's like, okay. And then she looks, she puts them on hold for a good 15, 20 minutes. She picks up. She's like, if you guys do this surgery, this patient will die. And Patrick's like, what? And she's like, yeah,
Sabrina Sajan 25:41
Meanwhile, a day ago the medical assistant said the patient was clear for surgery. And they sent a letter,
Dr. Javad Sajan 25:46
They sent a letter. Well, the cardiologist is like, I didn't know all the extent of her surgery, but her heart valve is what was her mitral valve y'all can look that up as leaking 60%. And if you guys give as much Cyrus, I think it was 70%. And if you guys give the fluids, you're going to give and do the surgery, this patient could potentially go into heart failure and she could die. And we were like, wow, cancel a surgery now. So that just tells you all how vigilant you have to be. So now let's come back to how this led to a negative review. So then this, so this patient obviously, you know, got all their money back. We gave them a full refund.
Sabrina Sajan 26:29
I remember we call him the same day. I apologize. We said, unfortunately, you're our first priority to keep the patient safe. The second is to do the surgery. So the patient, of course, since, you know, we discovered this, you know, health problem for this because, you know, whatever results that we got from the echo the patient was extremely upset at us. Extremely upset at the pre-op coordinator. Yelled at us over the phone. And you know, of course we told her that, you know, we understand all of this happened. We're happy to give you a full refund, even after going all this way. And you know, trying to work this out to the last minute, we, you know, it is what it is, but we'll give you a full refund. So you have your money back. But unfortunately we can't proceed with the surgery. And she was really upset, you know, and she hung up the phone on us.
Dr. Javad Sajan 27:16
Yes. And then we sent the full refund patient deposited the check and all that. And then three months later, we get a scathing one page negative review about how our practices, the devil, and we cancel this person surgery and they didn't even talk about everything we did to make sure that we're safe. Now, all of he said was basically it was a one-page letter saying how were demons? And Patrick's definitely the devil and I'm the devil's accomplice. And that don't have surgery here because they're going to cancel on you last minute. And we're like, we just saved your life.
Sabrina Sajan 27:58
And we literally tried every single day to make sure she gets the echo because we didn't want to cancel because we wanted to make sure she gets a result in time to have surgery. Now we didn't know what the results were going to say. You know,
Dr. Javad Sajan 28:12
I know, I know. And it's not like we even kept a penny I understand is sad is inconvenient. It makes life worse, you know, to cancel surgery. Nobody wants to do that, but who's going to take a risk and jeopardize that person life.
Sabrina Sajan 28:24
And our team worked so hard to, you know, do all of this for her. You know, we went out of the way, sending letters went out of the way, calling their office, you know, so many, multiple times, Patrick reviewing all the records over and over again, spending so much time and effort doing the pre-surgical workup. You know, all of that's, you know, we're not even talking about all the time span of our staff to do all of that, you know, and it's unfortunate, you know, that we had to cancel it. But like I said, first priority is to keep the patients safe.
Dr. Javad Sajan 28:55
In what we do, guys. We can't even be wrong 1% of the time because of the volume of surgeries that we're blessed to do that I love doing. If we make a mistake, 1% of the time that is a death, every one to two months, you know, we can't afford that. We would much rather cancel a surgery than risk someone's life because that person on the table is someone's wife. It's someone's mother it's someone's sister. And every time I do surgery, I remind myself of that. And that's the quality of work I do. And that's the quality of care we give that patient. And in doing that, I will never risk their life because I wouldn't risk my family's life for an elective, outpatient surgery.
Sabrina Sajan 29:39
I totally agree. I totally agree.
Dr. Javad Sajan 29:42
Well, everyone on that note, thank you for listening to clinic talk on the plastic surgeon podcast, please rate and review us on Apple podcasts or support the channel.
Sabrina Sajan 29:51
Tune in next time for more clinic talk, we have more great stories coming your way.
Dr. Javad Sajan 29:55
For my live surgeries on Snapchat, adventurous throughout the week. Catch us on all social media at @realdoctorseattle. See you next time. Bye.