A cash business and an insurance business, reported as if they were one.
Plastic surgery runs an elective, consumer-facing practice next to insured reconstructive work, and the two behave nothing alike. One turns on consultation conversion, pricing, and marketing return. The other turns on authorization, coding, and payer follow-up. The monthly briefing reads them apart, then shows how they combine into practice margin and physician income.
Where the specialty stands
Plastic surgery straddles two economies: insured reconstructive work with conventional revenue-cycle dynamics, and an elective cash-pay aesthetic practice that behaves more like a luxury retail business. The best-run practices manage them on separate ledgers, with marketing CAC, consult-to-conversion, and financing mix as the aesthetic-side KPIs.
- Cash-pay aesthetics keep growing; consult-to-surgery conversion and patient financing (CareCredit, Cherry) are the real revenue levers.
- Med-spa adjacencies (injectables, devices, skincare) provide recurring revenue that smooths surgical seasonality.
- Digital marketing and reputation management now function as a primary patient-acquisition channel, with measurable CAC.
- GLP-1-driven weight loss is expanding demand for body-contouring and skin-removal procedures.
- Reconstructive payer mix and prior authorization remain the operational drag on the insured side of the practice.
What the briefing reads for a plastic surgery practice
Inquiry volume, consults booked, consults held, and cases scheduled. Conversion is the single most controllable driver of elective revenue.
Cost per inquiry and cost per booked case by source, compared with the revenue those cases produced rather than with lead counts.
Average case value, discounting behavior, deposit policy, and patient financing mix, including the fees that financing costs the practice.
Authorization turnaround, denial reasons, and days in A/R for insured work, kept separate so cash-pay volume does not mask collection problems.
Operating suite use, injectable and device services, and retail products read on their own contribution after product and staffing cost.
Illustrative reference ranges
Read the methodologyThese internally authored, industry-informed estimates provide specialty context. They are not live peer data, licensed survey medians, targets, or promises.
| Indicator | Lower reference | Central reference | Upper reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue per provider (monthly) | $100k | $135k | $175k |
| Days in A/R | 22 days | 30 days | 40 days |
| Net collection rate | 94% | 96.5% | 98.2% |
| Commercial payer mix | 30% | 45% | 62% |
| Operating expense ratio | 56% | 63% | 70% |
| Patient satisfaction | 4.3 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 | 4.8 / 5 |
| Contractual adjustment rate | 15% | 22% | 30% |
| Average reimbursement rate | 66% | 76% | 86% |
| Third next available appointment | 5 days | 10 days | 16 days |
| No-show rate | 5.5% | 8.5% | 11.5% |
| Scheduling efficiency | 73% | 81% | 89% |
| Staff per provider | 3 | 3.8 | 4.6 |
| Provider turnover | 5% | 9% | 14% |
| Training investment (% of payroll) | 1.4% | 2.2% | 3% |
| Cost per visit | $220 | $280 | $350 |
| Quality compliance rate | 86% | 91% | 95% |
Questions this briefing is built to answer
- What share of consults becomes a booked case, and where do we lose people?
- Which marketing channels produce cases, not just inquiries?
- Is discounting eroding average case value?
- Are our insured claims collecting as well as our cash work?
- What does the med spa or injectable line contribute after product and labor?
- Is the operating suite busy enough to justify what it costs to run?
What we read to stay current
See what this looks like for your practice
Send aggregate practice data for a recent period and we will show you the executive brief format: what changed, why it may matter, likely drivers, and what to watch.
AileronMD analyzes business, financial, and operational data only. Do not submit patient records or protected health information. AileronMD does not provide clinical or medical advice, and does not guarantee financial results. Guidance is advisory; practice leadership makes the decisions.