Dr. Jonathan Kaplan, a board-certified plastic surgeon originally from Alexandria, LA is proud to call San Francisco home. After completing his plastic surgery fellowship at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic where he was trained by the same team that performed the first US face transplant, he practiced in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for six years.

Dr. Kaplan has wanted to be a plastic surgeon since he was 16 years old. But it wasn’t a glamorous breast augmentation or facelift that first stoked his interest in plastic surgery. He was observing a plastic surgeon in his hometown and the patient was having a skin cancer removed from their leg. The defect that was left after the skin cancer removal was too large to close directly, so the plastic surgeon took a piece of skin from the patient’s neck crease, thus hiding the incision, and placed the skin graft onto the leg wound. While not the stuff plastic surgery reality TV is made of, it was still fascinating and ultimately the experience that motivated Dr. Kaplan to pursue a career in plastic surgery.

While in Baton Rouge during his first 6 years in practice, Dr. Kaplan built a busy cosmetic practice. His area of focus ranged from facial to body cosmetic surgery, as well as cosmetic medicine, including injectables such as BOTOX for wrinkles and fillers for smile lines. Dr. Kaplan’s brother-in-law, Mark Hausmann MD, is a weight loss surgeon in Baton Rouge and this resulted in Dr. Kaplan gaining a great deal of experience in body contouring after massive weight loss.

Also during this first 6 years of practice, Dr. Kaplan noticed that patients were coming to consultations without an appreciation for the different costs associated with plastic surgery. He found that most patients couldn’t find an estimate for plastic surgery on the internet and when they would call the doctor’s office, they would hear the same explanation, that “the doctor can’t give estimates over the phone since surgical needs are different for everyone.” While it is true that everyone is unique and have unique needs, there’s nothing wrong with giving an estimate online so the patient can know if surgery is out of their budget.

From that realization, BuildMyHealth was born. BuildMyHealth is a website and iPhone/iPad app with a Price Estimator that Dr. Kaplan developed. It allows patients to find doctors in their area and peruse the various procedures the doctor offers and get itemized estimates on those procedures. In the process, the doctor and patient are connected through an email “wishlist” that the patient submits for full estimated costs. If the price is within the patient’s budget, this could lead to a consultation that is now more-informed and without the typical “sticker shock” that so many patients experience with their plastic surgeon.

So if you’re ready to experience a knowledge-centered, price aware consultation with Dr. Kaplan, click here to learn more about procedures and pricing.