A Balanced Body

Below and Attached is the e-mail I sent to the BBB last Friday evening.I see that the order of those Attachments is:1- My 'Demand letter', of May 5, 2017, requesting payment for services delivered to the patient in January 2017;2- My 'Answer letter', of June 2, 2017, to the... BBB;3- Professional colleague [redacted] , LMT's Letter of Support;4- Professional colleague and Massage College Instructor [redacted] , LMT's Letter of Support.Should you need anything else from me, I'm usually most consistently available by phone [redacted] .When convenient, I'll look forward to:- The next BBB communication;- Refunding the $90 to the patient;- and concluding this matter.Yours truly,Dennis S***, LMT June 2, 2017Thank you for making me aware of a patient’s complaint. I appreciate the opportunity to address the charges that have been made.I have been licensed as an LMT in Oregon since 2001. As you are probably aware, this is the first complaint that has ever been lodged against me. I understand how misunderstandings can happen, especially when you are dealing with Insurance Companies for payment of services rendered. To avoid such misunderstandings, I go to great lengths at the start of a patient relationship to explain how I am paid for my services. In this instance, my first communication about such was with the patient’s husband, who set up an appointment the same day he called because of the serious pain his wife was experiencing. The attached Exhibit A is a copy of the letter I sent after her Insurance Company denied the claim, included in this letter is a step by step breakdown of the history of my communication with both husband and wife. As with most all other medical professionals, I ask for payment in full at the time of service unless prior arrangements have been made. As a courtesy, I agreed to bill her Insurance Company with the understanding that I would reimburse any monies to her if and when I was paid. Following her initial session, she stated to me that the payment requirement was not conveyed from her husband to her, and that is why she came unprepared to make any payment. She agreed that a payment would be delivered to me the following day.Within several days, her husband did bring a $20 payment (“Co-pay”), but not the full payment of $90 as we had all discussed. I did submit the billing to her Insurance Company and I received a denial of services approximately three months later. I did not try to collect the arrears from the patient until after I received the denial from her Insurance Company. Please see exhibit B (letter from Christa [redacted] R [redacted] , LTM with +10 yrs experience) regarding proper procedures for Massage Therapy Insurance Billing. This information is provided by my professional colleague and Instructor of Continuing Education at the Ashland Institute of Massage. She is the Professional Development Instructor which includes Massage Insurance Billing Protocols. I was surprised to hear about this patient’s complaint, especially since all of her comments to me were positive at the conclusion of the therapy session. Having addressed the payment process in the prior paragraphs, I would like to answer her complaint regarding receiving a “fake massage” rather than the Myofacial Release which I deliver in my practice.In short, I did a standard new patient evaluation which included answers to the patient’s questions, their medical and injury history and a physical examination of the patient’s current posture. The Postural Analysis does require the patient to be partially clothed, I understand how this may cause some to be uncomfortable and this is why I explain ahead of time what the patient should expect. I did explain all of the steps on how this is accomplished to the patient, on the phone, a few hours before she came for her appointment. I follow the guidelines as taught to me by John B***, PT, who is widely acknowledged as the originator of Myofascial Release Therapy. I deny having dealt with this patient in any inappropriate or unprofessional way. In addition to the initial client intake and patient education, which takes about fifteen minutes, I then performed ninety minute of Myofascial Release Therapy. The patient was only charged $90 for the ninety minute session as was explained beforehand.I take great pride in helping my patients and would never want any client to feel like they did not get full value from their session. Now that I am aware that she was unhappy with my service, I am willing to refund to her 100% of the money she paid. I will consider this issue resolved and the resolution acceptable by both parties upon the cashing of my refund and I will thereby not pursue any redress as to the defamatory accusations made in her complaint.Best regards,Dennis S***, LMT

Below and Attached is the e-mail I sent to the Revdex.com last Friday evening.I see that the order of those Attachments is:1-    My 'Demand letter', of May 5, 2017, requesting payment for services delivered to the patient in January 2017;2-    My 'Answer letter', of June 2, 2017, to the...

Revdex.com;3-    Professional colleague [redacted], LMT's Letter of Support;4-    Professional colleague and Massage College Instructor [redacted], LMT's Letter of Support.Should you need anything else from me,  I'm usually most consistently available by phone [redacted].When convenient,  I'll look forward to:-    The next Revdex.com communication;-    Refunding the $90 to the patient;-    and concluding this matter.Yours truly,Dennis S[redacted], LMT  June 2, 2017Thank you for making me aware of a patient’s complaint.  I appreciate the opportunity to address the charges that have been made.I have been licensed as an LMT in Oregon since 2001.  As you are probably aware, this is the first complaint that has ever been lodged against me. I understand how misunderstandings can happen, especially when you are dealing with Insurance Companies for payment of services rendered. To avoid such misunderstandings, I go to great lengths at the start of a patient relationship to explain how I am paid for my services. In this instance, my first communication about such was with the patient’s husband, who set up an appointment the same day he called because of the serious pain his wife was experiencing.  The attached Exhibit A is a copy of the letter I sent after her Insurance Company denied the claim, included in this letter is a step by step breakdown of the history of my communication with both husband and wife. As with most all other medical professionals, I ask for payment in full at the time of service unless prior arrangements have been made. As a courtesy, I agreed to bill her Insurance Company with the understanding that I would reimburse any monies to her if and when I was paid. Following her initial session, she stated to me that the payment requirement was not conveyed from her husband to her, and that is why she came unprepared to make any payment. She agreed that a payment would be delivered to me the following day.Within several days, her husband did bring a $20 payment (“Co-pay”), but not the full payment of $90 as we had all discussed.  I did submit the billing to her Insurance Company and I received a denial of services approximately three months later. I did not try to collect the arrears from the patient until after I received the denial from her Insurance Company. Please see exhibit B (letter from Christa ** R[redacted] , LTM with +10 yrs experience) regarding proper procedures for Massage Therapy Insurance Billing. This information is provided by my professional colleague and Instructor of Continuing Education at the Ashland Institute of Massage. She is the Professional Development Instructor which includes Massage Insurance Billing Protocols. I was surprised to hear about this patient’s complaint, especially since all of her comments to me were positive at the conclusion of the therapy session. Having addressed the payment process in the prior paragraphs, I would like to answer her complaint regarding receiving a “fake massage” rather than the Myofacial Release which I deliver in my practice.In short, I did a standard new patient evaluation which included answers to the patient’s questions, their medical and injury history and a physical examination of the patient’s current posture. The Postural Analysis does require the patient to be partially clothed, I understand how this may cause some to be uncomfortable and this is why I explain ahead of time what the patient should expect.  I did explain all of the steps on how this is accomplished to the patient, on the phone, a few hours before she came for her appointment. I follow the guidelines as taught to me by John B[redacted], PT, who is widely acknowledged as the originator of Myofascial Release Therapy. I deny having dealt with this patient in any inappropriate or unprofessional way. In addition to the initial client intake and patient education, which takes about fifteen minutes, I then performed ninety minute of Myofascial Release Therapy. The patient was only charged $90 for the ninety minute session as was explained beforehand.I take great pride in helping my patients and would never want any client to feel like they did not get full value from their session.  Now that I am aware that she was unhappy with my service, I am willing to refund to her 100% of the money she paid. I will consider this issue resolved and the resolution acceptable by both parties upon the cashing of my refund and I will thereby not pursue any redress as to the defamatory accusations made in her complaint.Best regards,Dennis S[redacted], LMT