Health Transparency, a special case in cosmetic surgery

The situation

The healthcare sector is one of the most susceptible areas where doctors and patients must show maximum transparency in the tests they conduct. Both parties need security and honesty first and foremost for the relationship to run smooth. Disagreements and complaints occur when the doctor-patient relationship is not well developed.

The case we are dealing with refers specifically to aesthetic medicine and plastic surgery.

The Challenge

“Según la Sociedad Española de Cirugía Plástica Reparadora y Estética (SECPRE), en España se realizan cada año más de 201.000 intervenciones de cirugía plástica, un concepto que incluye la cirugía reparadora y la estética.

“According to the Spanish Society of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (SECPRE), over 201,000 plastic surgery procedures are performed every year in Spain, a concept that includes reconstructive and aesthetic surgery. In the Spanish private healthcare system there are around 9,000 doctors who perform this type of operation, of which just over 1,200 have an approved qualification”. 2016 Data.

Although we know that the ordinary surgeon is not required to comply with an obligation in terms of results, the doubt arises when it is a voluntary or satisfactory intervention, since this treatment or operation is given by the demands of the patient and it is the patient who requests results that may be influencing the methodology and freedom of the professional.

This doubt is resolved in Spain by the Supreme Court in its STS 1639/2016 – ECLI: ES:TS: 2016:1639 judgement in this regard, ruled that “… the information received in which the patient is warned of the risks of the operation, which eventually materialized, despite deciding to undergo it. Cosmetic or plastic surgery does not guarantee results and although it is true that obtaining it is the main objective of any medical intervention, voluntary or not, and the one that the client expected, failure in result is not attributable to the physician, as it has been done here, without the subjective idea of guilt, to which does not comply with the judgment which places strict liability against the jurisprudence of this Chamber…”

The surgeon must warn of all risks of the operation and the impossibility of cosmetic surgery to achieve concrete results. However, things would have been different if a specific result had been guaranteed to the patient, in which case the promised result would be required.

In addition, all medical documentation and especially that related to surgery and the health sector must be encrypted to comply with the RGPD and the LOPDGDD in terms of data retention and communications with patients, staff, and providers.

It is important that both parties have the photographic evidence and the different signed documents made before the intervention.

In addition, these documents must have legal relevance, integrity, and time stamping.

The solution

Since most tests are in digital format, from our Certifydoc tool it is very easy to certify them on the spot and obtain the generated files by email. In addition, you won’t have to worry about the privacy of communications as our tool is designed for encryption in accordance with current regulations.

Thus, the physician will be the one who will forward this encrypted and certified e-mail to the patient, guaranteeing a close trust relationship.

Once the protocol period has elapsed, a new photographic test is carried out with the result of the intervention. It is precisely at this moment when conflicts and misunderstandings may arise given that results of the intervention are a delicate balance between personal expectations and the risks and unforeseen events of a cosmetic surgery.
At Certifydoc we provide the tool to contribute to the transparency of the processes and satisfaction between doctor and patient.