PARAMUS, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zwivel is an online platform that offers an easier and more efficient way to connect doctors with new patients seeking plastic surgery. It allows patients to check out doctors’ credentials, send photos or videos of themselves to preferred doctors, and get those doctors to answer questions about cosmetic procedures and prices. As reported in the New York Times, Plastic Surgeon Dr. Gary Breslow and his longtime friend, Craig Abramowitz, created Zwivel with the idea that if patients had a faster and easier way to see doctors’ credentials and get doctors to answer questions about surgical procedures and prices in advance, they would be better informed and more likely to sign up when they went for the in-office consultation.
Zwivel goes further than “find a doctor” search platforms or telemedicine sites like HealthTap, in which doctors give patients medical advice through online chats. Just as Match.com allows strangers to scroll through and evaluate potential dates, Zwivel allows patients and doctors to size up each other and ask questions before committing to surgery. Dr. Breslow stresses, however, that Zwivel is only a pre-consultation tool and does not replace the full, in-office consultation. “Of course you need to see the patient,” he said. “Zwivel is like Match.com. You still have to go on the date; you just want to know if the date is worth going out on.”
There are now about 1,400 doctors and more than 28,000 patients registered on Zwivel, up from 800 doctors and 6,100 patients at the end of its first year in 2015, said Scott Kera, chief operating officer at Zwivel. As more new patients discover the site, the company sees significant growth potential.
Dr. Neil Zemmel, a plastic surgeon in Richmond, Virginia, says that Zwivel has been an invaluable tool. According to Dr. Zemmel, more than 80 percent of his patients who come through Zwivel for a formal consultation wind up getting a cosmetic procedure, compared with 40 to 50 percent for other patients.
Susan Delaney, 49, of Haskell, N.J., had been looking for a doctor periodically for about two years for a tummy-tuck procedure before she came across Zwivel in 2016 through a link on a doctor’s website. Getting pricing ahead of the formal consultation was particularly helpful. “The first thing you need to know is if you can afford it so that you’re not wasting your time and the doctor’s time,” she said.
Amber Ingerman, 29, who lives in Forth Worth, Texas, found her plastic surgeon through Zwivel. “I was feeling frustrated,” said Ms. Ingerman. “I had wanted the surgery for about 10 years, but I didn’t want just anyone touching me.” Then, in early 2016, she connected with Dr. Rod Rohrich, a prominent plastic surgeon in Dallas who was on Zwivel. She immediately booked a formal consultation with him, and had the surgery a month later. She was so impressed with her experience with Zwivel that she is already considering another procedure with Dr. Rohrich, this time, rhinoplasty. She has even introduced her mother, Angel, to the site. “As people find out they can do these consults online to find out prices and doctors’ experience,” she said, “I think Zwivel will completely take over cosmetic surgery and how you shop for it.”
About Zwivel
Zwivel is transforming the way cosmetic patients search for and connect with cosmetic doctors. Through Zwivel’s easy-to-use, online platform, cosmetic patients can search for and select from multiple cosmetic doctors and start their cosmetic consultation with the selected doctors online from their computer or smartphone, getting opinions and cosmetic procedure recommendations with estimated fees, before committing to a full, in-office consultation. The entire process is completely private and secure, HIPAA-compliant, and one-to-one between each patient and each doctor. Zwivel is free for Cosmetic Patients via Zwivel.com or the Zwivel app, while Cosmetic Doctors pay a monthly subscription fee. For more information, visit Zwivel.com.
For More Information:
www.zwivel.com or Facebook.com/Zwivel or Twitter.com/Zwivel
