Financial Information

For your convenience, we accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover.

Welcome, and thank you for selecting our office. It is the intention of all our personnel to provide for your Dental and Medical health needs as thoroughly and as efficiently as possible. In addition we will strive to make your visit with us a pleasant and comfortable experience. Before we begin with your work, a thorough examination will be completed; an explanation of the recommended treatment and an estimate of the fees involved will be presented to you.

The following is our office policy regarding payment for Dental and Medical services rendered:

Charges for dental and/or medical services rendered by this office will be billed through this office, and should not be confused with charges for care received by other dentists and doctors. Also, in some cases there may be separate services and charges coming from outside of this office (e.g. lab and x-ray fees, hospital fees, anesthesiologist fee, etc.).

As a courtesy to our patients who will be undergoing surgery, our staff will verify your insurance benefits after we have prepared a treatment plan. This will be done by phone or, if required by your insurance company, a written “pre-treatment estimate” may have to be processed prior to your treatment. To expedite this process, you must provide us with the correct medical and dental insurance information for “ALL” insured parties. Once we have verified insurance coverage, the responsible party will be notified of any estimated balance that will be due at the time of surgery.

In the case of dental implant placement and all related procedures, insurance companies require written pre-treatment claims to determine coverage. These claims require several attachments as they will be reviewed by a consultant to determine coverage. Once the insurance company receives the claims and their required attachments the review, on average, will take four to six weeks.

The insurance benefits you have will depend solely on what “plan” you or your employer purchased from an insurance company. Some plans cover as little as 30% or as much as 100% of the fees, with most falling into the 50-80% range. Some plans may also exclude certain types of services. Some plans base the amount of benefit on a chart or schedule of fees arbitrarily developed by third-party payers. For this reason, you may receive a lower percentage of the reimbursement level indicated in your plan. For example, if your plan states that it will pay 80% of the cost of treatment, it means 80% of the insurance company’s allowable fee, and not the actual fee charged by us.

As the number of patients covered by insurance has increased, we feel it is necessary to make very clear the principles of our practice, as well as the type of service and care we provide our patients. Our fees are based on the treatment plan selected, the time it takes to provide you with the necessary care, and the overhead involved in our practice. We do not believe that it is in the best interest either of you or of us to compromise our recommended treatment in order to accommodate a plan’s maximum benefits. The type of treatment you need and receive from us is based upon our professional judgment and not on whether you are covered by a particular benefit plan. However, we are more than happy to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of your treatment plan.

Upon receipt of payment from the third party, our staff will reconcile the amount, and bill or refund any difference. However, the financial obligation for treatment is ultimately between you and our office. The third-party payer is responsible to you and not to our office. We allow 30 to 60 days for your insurance company to process your claim. If multiple insurance companies are involved, we will allow up to 90 days. If your insurance carriers have not paid by that time, we will require that you take care of the balance on the account.

Please contact one of our insurance coordinators or our financial coordinator if you have any questions concerning payment. All payment arrangements, other than payment in full at the time of treatment, must be made several days prior to the day of treatment. It may take several phone conversations with your insurance carriers and/or your prior-authorization offices to complete confirmation on all of your benefits.

If unusual circumstances should make it impossible for you to meet your financial agreement, we invite you to call or personally discuss the matter with our financial coordinator. This will avoid misunderstandings and enable you to keep your account in good standing. Except when hardship or previous financial arrangements warrant otherwise, accounts 90 days past due are referred to a collection agency and reported to the Credit Bureau.

Again, thank you for selecting us, and if at any time you have questions regarding any treatment, fee, or service, please discuss them with us promptly and frankly. We look forward to providing you with the highest quality treatment in a gentle and efficient manner. Please let us know if you have any questions.