Sunset Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, LLC

Dear Sirs,I would like to dispute the complaint filed by [redacted] Jr. on January 23, 2017. [redacted]'sdaughter, XXXX (redacted to protect patient identity), was seen in our office for a consultation on July13, 2016. When [redacted] called to set up his appointment with our office, he was informed...

that it is ouroffice policy to collect the consultation and x-ray fee at the time of the consultation. He was informedat the time of scheduling that the consultation fee is $105 and that in the event we need to take an xray,because his referring doctor doesn't have the proper one, that it would be an additional $120,totaling $225.After arriving at our office for XXXX's consultation, [redacted] asked our front desk what information wehad found out about his insurance benefits. Our front desk explained that while it looks like hisinsurance will likely pay for some of it, it is only an estimate and we collect the full payment up front. Inthe event that the insurance company pays all or a portion of the claim, we can either write him arefund check or put it towards the future surgery. At that point, [redacted] asked when we depositedchecks and we told him at the end of the business day. He asked if he could just pay Friday. We saidthat we would need to collect payment today, but we would be happy to hold the check and cash it onFriday instead. [redacted] wrote the check and we cashed it on Friday, per our verbal agreement.[redacted] and XXXX continued with the consultation appointment where I reviewed XXXX's x-ray,discussing her needs, medical history, surgical options, and answering any questions they had. Uponexiting the consultation room, [redacted] was greeted by Vikkie, my patient care coordinator, who wentthrough a pre-treatment estimate with him and asked him to sign the bottom of it acknowledging thatthey had reviewed it together, for which he signed it.Two full weeks after the consultation appointment, [redacted] called our office informing us that he hadput a stop payment on the check, because he didn't agree with our policy. He also was upset by theestimated cost of the surgery. Regardless, it is entirely inappropriate for a guarantor to stop paymentsimply because he doesn't agree with the policy and didn't like the estimated cost of surgery. He wasonly asked to pay for a service for which he did receive and was made fully aware of that policy and theestimated costs at the time he scheduled the appointment. If he did not agree to our office policy, heshould have said so when he was informed of the costs upon scheduling his appointment and at the verylatest upon check-in and collection of payment. He had plenty of opportunity to cancel theappointment if he did not agree to our office policy. In addition, he signed a "Financial Agreement,"which goes over all of our office policies, before ever seeing the doctor. Had he not agreed to ourfinancial policies, he should not have signed the document and continued to cancel the appointment. Sohis assertion that he put a stop payment on the check to he could pay with his HSA is a fabrication andthat issue was never discussed with our office.He was contacted by telephone after receiving the stop payment notice from the bank. Our officemanager informed him during this phone call that we would go ahead and wait for the insurance to payand any balance would be due by him. At no time did he mention having put the stop payment on thecheck because he wanted to pay for the services out of a HSA as he asserts in his complaint. He actuallyasserted that he stopped payment because he was upset with the estimated cost of the proposedsurgery and our financial policy. After receiving the insurance payment, we attempted to bill [redacted]for the balance three times with no response. On the last attempt, we sent a letter letting him knowthat his account would go to collections if we did not get a response from him. You can see this letterattached. Almost another month passed with no response and so his account was sent to collections.After no response from [redacted] for months, it wasn't until he was contacted by the collections companythat he started calling our office asking questions and requesting that we get the account back fromthem. We let him know that we did our due diligence and that he now needs to deal directly with themon account issues.[redacted] and XXXX both received the services from myself and this office which they requested. [redacted]had ample opportunity to pay his account on time and had he not stopped payment on the check on hisown accord, he would never have been put into this situation. Our office policy is in place and isprovided to the patient in prior to their appointment to help ensure that our patients don't have to endup in this situation.Attached you will find a timeline of events that happened between [redacted] and our office, as well asmultiple supporting documents. From my perspective, we treated [redacted] and his daughter inaccordance with our office financial policies of which he was fully aware. I completely disagree with[redacted]'s assertions and since he failed respond to multiple reasonable attempts at collecting themoney owed, he will now have to deal with the collections agency that is acting on our behalf. If youfeel my business has in any way treated this individual unfairly or choose to take his side in thedisagreement, I would welcome a call from your office.Sincerely,Steven. W. B[redacted], DMDEnclosed:Signed Financial AgreementStop Payment LetterPatient StatementFinal Notice LetterSigned Treatment Plan [redacted]Please See Attached[redacted]