Board-certified plastic surgeons are held to the highest standards in their field, making them the only option when it comes to ensuring safe treatment and natural-looking results.  Seeking a board-certified plastic surgeon for any and all cosmetic treatments should be priority number one, now more than ever given the COVID pandemic.  Patients want to be in the safest possible clinical setting with only the most knowledgeable practitioners.  It is simply not worth the risk to do anything different from this.  This is not the time to sacrifice safety for a discount or discount provider.  Medical school, internships, 6 to 10 years of residency and fellowship training virtually assures an expert in infection control and the surgical setting.

Basic protocols required in every practice include temperature checks, masks, limiting patient numbers, eliminating waiting rooms and head count on site, and frequent cleaning and disinfecting. However, a heightened familiarity with infection-control protocols has led board-certified physicians to go above and beyond what is required to ensure the safety of both their staff and patients.

From providing full protective personal equipment for staff, frequent and thorough sterilization for all equipment, and adjusting patient flow, the aim is to make all patients and staff feel safe and remain healthy.  Dr. Kenneth Hughes also has air purifiers and ultraviolet lighting to virtually eliminate and eradicate COVID.  Limiting person to person contact and contamination from a multidisciplinary approach requires intellect, training, implementation, and quality control.

Plastic surgery can be performed safely in a hospital, a surgical center or an office-based surgical facility, and because board-certified surgeons are required to operate in accredited, state-licensed or Medicare-certified facilities, if their practice includes an office-based operating rooms, it is also required to be fully accredited, so patients know that these are safe.   The American Board of Plastic Surgery has established guidelines, task forces and protocols to help doctors reopen their practices and offer safe treatment to their patients.

To determine if a doctor is board certified, visit certificationmatters.org.  More specifically, make sure that your plastic surgeon is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.