DR. GOLNAR JAHANMIR

Review: I am submitting a complaint against Golnar Jahanmir for providing my information to a collection agency for $143. This is defamation of character to my name and my credit. I have completed my obligations to this individual dentist office for a small procedure that was performed on my 5 year old. This individual is capitalizing on being a childrens dentist and charging unreasonable amount for procedures that can be done at much lower rates. On9/17/12 my child had some dental work done in one session at Golnars office that costed us over $1043 for one visit. I was told that a gas sedation was the major cost and we have to pay $320 for a funny gas. I have checked with 3 other dentist and insurance company about the charges and they have said that is unreasonable.I believe I have paid my obligation to this dentist. I continue to get calls for a balance that I am not sure that I owe. This office is negligent in providing upfront financial information regarding patients obligations for dental work. I am asking the consumers affair, ** Dental Association and [redacted] STATE BOARD OF DENTAL EXAMINERS to investigate Golnar Jahanmir on unreasonable practice charges in pediatric dentistry and charging extreme amounts for dental work.Desired Settlement: I NEED TO BE REFFUNDED FOR THE $200 THAT I PAID AS ADITIONAL CHARGES.

Business

Response:

GOLNAR JAHANMIR, DDS

Pediatric Dentistry for Infants, Children, Adolescents, and Individuals with Special Needs

____________________________________________________________________

March 31, 2013

Revdex.com of Washington DC and Eastern Pennsylvania

1411 K Street NW, 10th Floor

Washington DC 20005-3404

Dear [redacted],

We are writing this letter in response to a notification we received from the Revdex.com with respect to Case ID [redacted]. Unfortunately we are limited in our ability to respond to the complaint due to HIPAA. Should the parents provide a written authorization to disclose more detailed information regarding the treatment that was provided, we can respond in more detail. As the matter is currently presented, we will confine our remarks to details the patient’s parent unilaterally disclosed in his complaint, namely that his child received dental treatment at our office including the provision of sedation, was billed for those services, and paid the full amount only upon the balance being sent to a collections agency.

During the patient’s initial appointment, we reviewed a variety of treatment options with the parent who was present at the appointment and ultimately she chose to have the treatment done under sedation. Contrary to the complaint, the $320 charge was not merely for Nitrous Oxide, referred to in the complaint letter as "funny gas", but for Sedation. The cost of the gas itself is but a small fraction of the expense of Sedation, rather the additional time required to safely sedate a patient, the necessary safety and monitoring equipment, and the additional administrative expense are what actually drive the cost. Although we cannot speak to the parent’s claim that certain dentists or insurance companies believe this charge to be unreasonable, we resurveyed local practices and the range we found was from $320 at a nearby pediatric dental office to $358 at a local hospital-based pediatric dental department. In the context of specialized providers in our locality, the amount we charged is by any measure reasonable.

With respect to collecting the balance, our office made every effort to work with the family to avoid sending the account balance to a collections agency. Our written financial policy, which was read and signed by the parent who was present at the appointments, states that we may send uncollected balances to collections after 30 days, that there may be additional charges associated with collections, and that information necessary for such collections may be shared with the collections agency. Despite the 30 day policy, we waited for five months before proceeding to collections. During this five month period, we made a series of efforts to try to work with the family, including offering a payment plan. As there was no further progress despite our best efforts, we felt we had no choice but to send the account to collections. We notified the parent the day that we sent the balance to collections of our intent to do so, and he stated that he was fine with that as he

would rather deal with collections than our office. The collection agency has not contacted the family since the balance was paid, nor have we.

Sending this patient’s account balance to collections was a last step measure which we made every effort to avoid. We are saddened that the patient’s parent is unsatisfied with the charges, but for the foregoing reasons we do not believe a refund is warranted.

Sincerely,

Dr. Golnar Jahanmir