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How are Appointments Scheduled? We do our best to schedule appointments at your convenience. Preschool children are best seen in the morning because they are refreshed from a good night’s rest. School children who require nitrous oxide analgesia or need extensive dental work are also best seen in the morning. Dental appointments are an excused absence. Missing school can be kept to a minimum when regular dental care is continued. After school and Saturday appointments are very popular so we recommend scheduling your next six month recall appointment at the time of your visit. Appointed times are reserved exclusively for each patient. To avoid a Broken Appointment Fee, we request that you please notify our office 24 hours in advance of your scheduled appointment time if you are unable to keep your appointment. Another patient, who needs our care, could be scheduled if we have sufficient time to notify them. We realize that unexpected things can happen, but we ask for your assistance in this regard.Back to Top Payment for professional services is due at the time dental treatment is provided. Every effort will be made to provide a treatment plan which fits your timetable and budget, and gives your child the best possible care. We accept cash, personal checks, debit cards and most major credit cards. Back to Top Our Office Policy Regarding Dental Insurance
If we have received
all of your insurance information on the day of the appointment, we will
be happy to file your claim for you. We will only collect from you the
estimated amount insurance is not expected to pay. Your insurance company
should pay each claim within 30 days of receipt. We file all insurance
electronically, so your insurance company will receive each claim within
days of the treatment. You are responsible for any balance on your account
after 30 days, whether insurance has paid or not. If you have not paid
your balance within 60 days a re-billing fee of $10 will be added to your
account each month until paid. We will be glad to send a refund to you if
your insurance pays us. Fact 1 - NO INSURANCE PAYS 100% OF ALL PROCEDURES Dental insurance is meant to be an aid in receiving dental care. Many patients think that their insurance pays 90%-100% of all dental fees. This is not true! Most plans only pay between 50%-80% of the average total fee. Some pay more, some pay less. The percentage paid is usually determined by how much you or your employer has paid for coverage, or the type of contract your employer has set up with the insurance company. Fact 2 - BENEFITS ARE NOT DETERMINED BY OUR OFFICE You may have noticed that sometimes your dental insurer reimburses you or the dentist at a lower rate than the dentist's actual fee. Frequently, insurance companies state that the reimbursement was reduced because your dentist's fee has exceeded the usual, customary, or reasonable fee ("UCR") used by the company. A statement such as this gives the impression that any fee greater than the amount paid by the insurance company is unreasonable, or well above what most dentists in the area charge for a certain service. This can be very misleading and simply is not accurate. Insurance companies set their own schedules, and each company uses a different set of fees they consider allowable. As these allowable fees may vary widely, we prefer the more accurate term, “Insurance allowable fee structure”. Unfortunately, insurance companies imply that your dentist is "overcharging", rather than say that they are "underpaying", or that their benefits are low. In general, the less expensive insurance policy will use a lower usual, customary, or reasonable (UCR) figure. Fact 3 - DEDUCTIBLES & CO-PAYMENTS MUST BE CONSIDERED When estimating dental benefits, deductibles and percentages must be considered. To illustrate, assume the fee for service is $150.00. Assuming that the insurance company allows $150.00 as its usual and customary (UCR) fee, we can figure out what benefits will be paid. First a deductible (paid by you), on average $50, is subtracted, leaving $100.00. The plan then pays 80% for this particular procedure. The insurance company will then pay 80% of $100.00, or $80.00. Out of a $150.00 fee they will pay an estimated $80.00 leaving a remaining portion of $70.00 (to be paid by the patient). If the UCR is less than $150.00 or your plan pays only at 50%, then the insurance benefits will also be significantly less. MOST IMPORTANTLY, please keep us informed of
any insurance changes such as policy name, insurance company address, or a
change of employment. |
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