At only seven weeks old, Persana is hardly a household name, but the peer-vetted doctors on this glossy platform are among the most famous in the fields of plastic surgery and dermatology. If you’re even a casual follower of aesthetics—and happen to have been scrolling Instagram on July 10, when the site debuted—you likely thumbed past at least a few black-and-white posts from newly “Persana verified” derms and surgeons. They were all announcing the launch of what they describe as the “first and only aesthetic health services platform that connects you with best-in-class physicians.”
Dubbed “Your Aesthetic Concierge,” the site features doctor profiles, uncomplicated synopses of procedures (face and body, surgical and non), and a curated collection of insider tips (like: Hey, despite what you’ve been told, fillers can actually last for many years, so limit repeat injections to avoid an overfilled look). But at its core, Persana is a communication platform. While reporting this story, I made the mistake (twice) of describing Persana as a “referral site” in conversation with cofounder Babak Azizzadeh, MD; I was quickly corrected (both times). “We’re helping consumers find vetted physicians, but really, we’re facilitating their communication, so they can interact with doctors one-on-one, immediately,” explains Dr. Azizzadeh, a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, clinical chief of otolaryngology at Cedars-Sinai, and associate clinical professor of surgery at UCLA.