Carolina Dental Arts

Please see attached letterNo payment has been received from ***, patient will need to contact his insurance company

I am rejecting this response because:
There would not be an issue now, if the Insurance was filed by the Dentist Office back in August, which they refused to
do. Also, if the Dental office did it Job and processed the credit card payment from the Insurance company in a timely manner.AlsoI made several inquires by phone on the status of the reimbursement and no calls were ever returned, I had to keep calling backand leaving messages. The Dental office did not handle this situation well and a as result they may loosethree patients over this

Please see attached letter. No payment has been received from [redacted], patient will need to contact his insurance company.

Billing Issues & Business EthicsOn Wednesday, February 17, 2016, I had an appointment at the Carolina Dental Arts office located at 3901 N. Roxboro Rd. in Durham, NC, but the head office is in Raleigh, NC, so that is why I am addressing this issue to the Raleigh office. Initially, I was scheduled to have a deep cleaning on my teeth, but it was discovered that I had two cavities, and the dentist wanted to perform two fillings on me. Prior to that procedure, I was escorted back up to the reception area to see how much it would cost. The receptionist told me that it would cost $111.60, and that was what she billed to my credit card; however, she claimed that she made an error in the billing and charged an extra $46.00 to my credit card. Since the initial quote was $111.60 which was already billed to my card, the procedure should have already been performed; yet the office refused to perform the procedure unless it received the additional $46.00. Since the initial amount of $111.60 was already billed to my card, the office should have absorbed the $46.00 IF that was really the correct amount. I requested a refund of $46.00, and the office manager refused and stopped responding to my emails. Perhaps you all should address this matter with Dr. [redacted]. The amount in question is $46.00; the reference number is XXXXXXXXXXXX, and the invoice number is XXXXXXXXX. Please help me resolve this issue. Thank you.Desired SettlementI am seeking a refund of $46.00.Business Response The patient was responded to as soon as he emailed about the situation. Below I have the emails copied that were exchanged between the office and the patient. To the email was attached a copy of his signed financial policy for his review. We never refused to complete services for this patient until payment was made. We collected a co-pay before treatment and then at checkout, since the services changed, the additional $46 was collected. All of this has been explained to the patient and he agreed that he understood what the charges were for but still believes that he should not be charged for services that were rendered. He does not have a credit on his account at the moment and there is still a pending insurance claim on his account.The initial email from the patient:Good morning ... :I had a dental appointment for a cleaning this morning but found that I needed two cavities filled to which I agreed. The receptionist charged me $111.60, but she found out that it was an error and asked for my card again to charge an additional $46.00 totaling $157.60. Although $157.60 may have been the correct charge, I feel as though the dental office should have absorbed the cost of $46.00 since it was a billing error on its part. To avoid being argumentative and causing a scene, I decided to pay the remaining balance; plus, I did not have time to argue or dispute since today is a work day for me. Also, I have just found out that I have an outstanding balance of approximately $106.00 for an x-ray performed on 11/12/2015 because my dental insurance either did not cover it or denied it altogether. I should have been notified about this much sooner because I am certain that the office was fully aware of this long before my appointment today. I am going to call my insurance company to clear this up, but I would like for you to take care of that $46.00 for me. The reference number is XXXXXXXXXXXX; the invoice number is XXXXXXXXX. Thank you.Our email to the patient:Good afternoon Mr...,I have reviewed your account to address the issues that you have. First I would like to address the previous balance. I contacted your insurance company for you and the reason for the balance was not because of an xray. Your perio maintenance (which is the cleaning that was needed after your gum disease therapy) was denied. After discussing this with your insurance company I was informed that they needed the dates of the deep cleanings to be able to process your perio maintenance. I gave them the information needed and they will reprocess the claim for payment. The office received the last insurance check on your account at the end of January and you were added to the new billing cycle and you would have a received a statement this week as they are processed on the 15th. Since there was a pending claim on your account, the bill was never generated.For your second appointment for today, which was added after your cleaning was done, the treatment that was entered when she quoted you was different than what was actually done. Everything that was completed was added before you were brought back up to check out and this is where she saw the difference and therefore asked for your card for the additional payment. At the moment, she did not realize that the treatment just wasn't completely entered when she initially quoted you and thought she had calculated the amounts incorrectly and this is why she said it was her mistake. Now with that being said, we do apologize that you feel that you were billed in error but it is the office policy to collect payment at the time of service and that is what she did. All amounts given are always an estimate and there is always the possibility that the claim can be denied. If a claim for any service is denied by the insurance company, the patient becomes responsible for the full amount of the services rendered.After we receive a payment from your insurance company, if there is any credit on your account for any services performed, we will more than gladly issue you a refund for that amount. I will keep an eye out for your account and contact you once all claims are completed and closed. A copy of your signed agreement to our financial policy is attached.I hope this has answered your questions and addressed all of your concerns. If there is anything else that I can assist you with, please feel free to contact me at the number listed below or this email.Thank you for being a loyal patientHis response to us:Hello... The amount $111.60 was already charged to my MasterCard, and the dental office should have absorbed the $46.00. If I do not receive a refund of $46.00, I will no longer be a loyal patient and will not pay the outstanding balance. It may be your office policy, but it's bad business.Consumer Response I had already paid for the service prior to having it done, so the $111.60 should have been the final balance. Besides, I did not see a list of services and the costs of them, so I did know if I was being charged the correct amount anyway as I was just believing what the receptionist was telling me. If I was indeed undercharged for the service, then the dental office should have absorbed that loss since it was an error on its part, not mine. If something like this occurs a again, then I will not have my credit card charged a second time. I would like some form of compromise or resolution. Currently, the my dental insurance has not made payment to their office which means there is an outstanding balance still pending. As a matter of principle, I will pay the outstanding balance (if there is one) if I am offered the refund of $46.00. If the office refuses the refund and there is an outstanding balance on prior services, then they will not receive payment for those services, and I will take my business to another dental office that has a more flexible payment policy and is willing to work with its patients. As of now, the choice is entirely up to Carolina Dental Arts.