Can you have a plastic surgery consultation online before traveling to Miami?

Yes, and for patients traveling from outside Florida it is the normal first step. Aliestetic coordinates a virtual consultation in which the patient submits standardized photographs, a full medical history, current medications, previous surgeries and their goals for the procedure. That information is reviewed before any surgical date is discussed, and the operation itself is performed by an allied board certified plastic surgeon. A virtual consultation cannot replace a physical examination. Skin quality, tissue laxity, fat distribution and scar behavior are assessed by touch, so an in person preoperative visit in Miami takes place before surgery. Florida law is explicit for gluteal fat grafting: the surgeon may not meet the patient for the first time on the day of the operation. Patients should treat any offer of a surgical date without a documented medical history review as a reason to ask more questions.

Is the virtual consultation with the surgeon or with a coordinator?

Both roles exist and they are not interchangeable. A coordinator gathers photos, history and logistics and answers questions about the process. The clinical assessment of whether you are a candidate, what technique is appropriate and what the risks are belongs to the operating surgeon. Ask directly which one you are speaking with, and ask when you will speak with the surgeon.

What photos do I need to send?

Standardized views in good natural light, against a plain background, in fitted underwear or a swimsuit for body procedures. Front, back, both sides and both obliques at minimum. No filters, no editing, no flattering angles. Photos that hide the concern make the assessment less accurate and the plan less realistic.

Will I get a price after the virtual consultation?

You should get a written quote that itemizes what is included and what is not, including the surgical fee, anesthesia, the facility, garments, postoperative visits and any recovery sessions. Ask specifically what happens financially if a revision or an additional night of monitoring is needed. A verbal number in a chat message is not a quote.

Do I still need an in person visit if the virtual consultation went well?

Yes. A physical examination assesses things a photograph cannot show, including tissue laxity, muscle separation, scar tissue from previous surgery and asymmetries. The preoperative visit in Miami is normally scheduled for the day before surgery or earlier, and for gluteal fat grafting Florida law does not permit a first meeting on the day of surgery.

What medical records should I gather before the call?

A current medication list including supplements, your allergy list, previous operative reports if you have had surgery before, recent lab work if available, and the contact details of your primary care physician. Patients with diabetes, hypertension, clotting history, sleep apnea or a high BMI should expect to be asked for clearance from their treating physician.

Virtual Consultation for Out of State Patients

If you live in Texas, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois or California, you are not going to fly to Miami for a first appointment and fly back. The consultation happens online. That is standard, and done properly it does most of the work of an in person visit. Done badly, it is how patients end up on an operating table with a plan that was never appropriate for them.

Aliestetic coordinates the process, including the virtual consultation and everything that follows on the ground in Miami, and the surgery is performed by an allied board certified plastic surgeon.

What happens in a virtual consultation?

Intake

You complete a medical history form covering current medications and supplements, allergies, previous surgeries and anesthesia reactions, chronic conditions, smoking status, weight history and any personal or family history of blood clots. You also describe what you want to change, in your own words.

Photographs

You submit standardized views. For body procedures that means front, back, both sides and both obliques, in fitted underwear or a swimsuit, in natural light, against a plain wall, without filters. For facial procedures it means front, both profiles, both three quarter views and, for rhinoplasty, a view from below.

Review

The submitted material is reviewed clinically before any surgical date is offered. This is the step that separates a real intake from a sales funnel.

Consultation call

You discuss goals, candidacy, the proposed approach, realistic expectations, risks and recovery. You should leave this call knowing what is being proposed, what it will not do, and what the recovery will demand of you.

Written plan and quote

An itemized document, not a number in a message thread.

What can a virtual consultation genuinely assess?

More than people assume. Good photographs plus a thorough history let a surgeon evaluate general proportion and anatomy, fat distribution patterns, obvious asymmetry, the relationship between the concern and the surrounding structures, and whether the stated goal is anatomically achievable at all. History alone identifies most of the red flags that change candidacy: clotting history, uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes, active smoking, unrealistic BMI expectations, recent pregnancy, or medications that must be paused.

For a large share of patients, the virtual consultation is where they learn that the procedure they asked for is not the procedure they need. That conversation is more useful than a surgical date.

It is also where expectations get calibrated. Patients frequently arrive with a reference photo of someone whose starting anatomy is nothing like theirs, and a good remote assessment explains the gap before anyone books a flight. Understanding what your own tissue, proportions and medical history make possible is not a downgrade of the plan. It is the difference between a result you are satisfied with and a result that was never available to begin with, and it is far cheaper to have that conversation over video than after surgery.

What can it not assess?

Touch. Specifically, skin elasticity and how it will retract after fat removal, tissue laxity, abdominal muscle separation, the quality and mobility of scar tissue from earlier surgery, hernias, and the true thickness and character of the fat layer.

Those factors decide technique. They are the difference between liposuction alone and liposuction with skin excision, between a full and a mini abdominoplasty, between a straightforward case and a staged one. A photograph will not show them.

This is why the in person preoperative visit is not a formality. It is where the plan gets confirmed or changed, and patients should understand in advance that it can change.

Why does Florida law matter to your consultation?

Because it sets a floor that is worth knowing about.

For gluteal fat grafting specifically, Florida law prohibits the surgeon from meeting the patient for the first time on the day of surgery, and prohibits the surgeon from delegating the procedure to a nurse or assistant. Since July 1, 2023, the law also requires ultrasound guidance during placement, injection into the subcutaneous space rather than into muscle, and retention of the time stamped ultrasound video in the medical record. Later legislation added requirements around office surgery registration and the number of these procedures a physician may perform in a day.

Florida rule 64B8-9.0091 separately requires offices performing Level II or Level III surgery, or removing more than 1,000 cubic centimeters of supernatant fat, to register with the Department of Health, with annual inspection unless the office holds accreditation from a nationally recognized accrediting agency such as AAAASF, AAAHC or the Joint Commission.

None of that is marketing language. It is a checklist you can verify, and it gives you specific questions to ask during a remote consultation, when you cannot see the facility with your own eyes.

What should you ask before you book a flight?

Write these down and get answers before you spend money on travel.

Who will perform my surgery, and what is that surgeon’s name and Florida license number?
What is their board certification, and in what specialty?
Where will the procedure take place, and is that facility registered and accredited?
What type of anesthesia will be used, and who administers it?
How many of this specific procedure does the surgeon perform, and what is the plan if a complication occurs?
When exactly will I meet the surgeon in person before surgery?
What is included in the quoted price, and what is not?
What is the revision policy, and who pays for what?
How many days do I need to be in Miami, and which days are clinic days?
If I have a problem after I fly home, who do I call, and how does follow up work at a distance?

A practice that answers all ten specifically is giving you what you need. Vagueness on any of them is information too.

How does the recovery plan get built during the consultation?

This is the part that is easy to skip and expensive to skip. Surgery is one day. Recovery is weeks.

During the virtual consultation the recovery schedule is mapped out alongside the surgical date: which days you need to be at the clinic in Miami, how many lymphatic drainage sessions are planned, whether wood therapy and carboxytherapy are part of your protocol, and where the 45 minute wellness and recovery session fits. Aliestetic provides those services in house at the Miami clinic, which is why the postoperative calendar can be built before you arrive rather than improvised after surgery.

You also plan the things nobody enjoys planning: who is your caregiver for the first 72 hours, what lodging has an elevator, how you get from the surgical facility to your room, and what your work situation actually allows.

What to expect after the consultation

If you are a candidate, you receive a written plan, a quote, a proposed surgical date and a preoperative instruction list, which typically includes stopping certain medications and supplements, stopping nicotine, arranging medical clearance if your history requires it, and completing any required lab work.

If you are not a candidate, you should be told that clearly, along with the reason. A surgeon declining a case is not a failed consultation. It is the system working.

This page describes a general process, not medical advice, and it does not create a physician patient relationship. Candidacy, technique and risks are determined by the operating surgeon after reviewing your history and examining you in person.