The Dental Zone Reviews (%countItem)
The Dental Zone Rating
Address: 501 N Nc 16 Business Hwy, Denver, North Carolina, United States, 28037-8245
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My son had a preauthorized procedure done and I was over billed.
My son had several fillings that were preauthorized with my insurance company. I was told the exact price to pay and I paid it. I was then billed extra and told that it cost more. I tried four times to reach and speak with Dr. *** and she never contacted me. I wrote her a very lengthy email to try to settle the issue and I never received a call back. I have now received a FINAL bill for these over charges.
I am requesting that the overcharges be removed from my account. I am also requesting that she cease any collection attempts until this issue is resolved.
Dr. L is the doctor. She is not in charge of billing so she would not be the one to discuss billing issues with, which was relayed to the patient. As for the balance due, we submitted a pre-estimate for the patient which showed that all fillings were paid at 50% but downgraded from composite to amalgam. We then performed the services and the insurance only paid for 2 of the fillings at this rate and made the patient pay for the other fillings which was not relayed on the pre-estimate. When we charge out, we are going based on what insurance tells us and this process is a courtesy for the patient so they do not have to pay their full balance upfront or submit claims on their own. Ultimately, unpaid balances by insurance are due by the patient. We followed what the insurance said so if they did not follow through with what was on the pre-estimate then the patient has to dispute with the insurance company. We also tried to appeal this for the patient but did not get anywhere with them. To not disclose patient's personal info I am not attaching Pre-estimate or the Insurance's Explanation of Benefits but can if need be. The patient should have received this from the insurance company as well.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is unbelievable. This is a private practice and after five calls and three emails to this business to attempt to resolve this issue I was never told that I could not speak with Dr. L and a matter of fact...I was never contacted back. It is a lie. Everything else in their rebuttal is also a lie. My son was at the dentist and I was called with the exact amount that I was to pay AFTER upgrading to composite per Michelle. I received at least three phone calls from her the very day he was having the procedure done to ensure that I was paying the correct amount. They are a preferred dentist with *** and according to the insurance company they are responsible for the pre-authorization. I was also told by the insurance company that no one called them on the day of the procedure to update the pre-authorization and now the this dentist wants me to pay for their mistake. This is an unfair practice and not allowed per the agreement they have with the insurance company per the insurance company since they did not due their due diligence.
I am sorry that the patient is so confused, but we followed the pre-authorization that the insurance company gave us. We didn't make any mistake. The matter needs to be taken up with the insurance company as I already stated. The insurance company sent out a pre-estimate and then did not put correct information on their pre-authorization. That would not be the practices fault. That would be the insurance companies fault. As stated previously, we send out claims for the patient and give write offs based on our contract with the insurance company. Ultimately, the total bill is owed by the patient. Insurance companies pay their portion and the remainder is owed by the patient. If there are issues, the patient should be debating with their insurance company. We also went out of our way to appeal this for the patient on their behalf as a courtesy. This is something we do to help our patients but we are not required to do this. We go out of our way to help all our patients any way we can! Please call your insurance company to discuss matters further! Thank you!
I received a notification from *** a few months back for a visit dated 4/26/2016 with The Dental Zone. I called and spoke to Michelle K at The Dental Zone and expressed my concern since I never received an actual statement nor has my son been there for his last 3-4 checkups. She too seemed perplexed and explained to me that she could waive the interest on the account. I asked for more information on what this bill was for. She said it was more than likely due to an appointment being missed. I asked for more information on this and if I could see some sort of documentation for what day the appointment was scheduled for and how long the notice was needed to cancel an appointment, etc. Michelle could not confirm when the appointment was for or when I called and canceled since the practice had gone through a system change and she could not see that information. I told her I would pay it, however I would like some documentation on when I made the appointment, etc. I was extremely confused at this point being as though I never received a bill from the practice, only the collection notices showing that Michelle sent this account to collections without trying to settle it with me first. Michelle said she would talk to the Dr. and call me back. Weeks went by and I never received a call back from the practice, however I received two more collection notices and a couple of phone calls. I called Michelle back on 9/22/2017. During our conversation she told me she did have the information I asked for during our last conversation and that she never talked to the Dr. after we spoke last time since there was no need to because Dr. L would say I had to pay the bill. I requested to speak to the Dr. and Michelle reluctantly explained the Dr. was with a patient. I asked if I could leave a message for the Dr. to call me to discuss and would that message get passed to the Dr. Michelle exclaimed, "You are being rude. I am not talking to you!" then proceed to hang up on me.
Billing Adjustment I would like for this balance to be taken care of by the office and we both go our separate ways. After getting hung up on when trying to resolve this with the office, I feel I have been disrespected as well as lied to by a professional business who at one time provided services to my small child.
Patient missed multiple appointments and cancelled the day of multiple times. Our policy is to cancel at least 24 hours before a missed appointment. We did not charge patient in the past and waived fees multiple times. If this was the first time, we would have waived the fee, but it was not. This particular missed appointment was for her son's 6 month cleaning appointment 4/26/16. She was sent a postcard, emailed, text and called about this scheduled appointment. Patient decided to no show the appointment. Our policy is posted when you check in and out that any missed appointment without at least a 24 hour notice will constitute a $75 charge. Patient was sent statements and then sent to collections. A few times we tried to call you could not leave a voicemail because her messages were full. The only time the patient decided to contact us back was after being sent to collections.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This business never sent me a statement of any bill. I received the collections notice, called Michelle, and was told they had changed computer systems. No proof of any missed appointments could be found. It's clearly her word against mine, and after being told I would receive a call back and did not, I feel confident that this place can not be trusted and they are highly unprofessional. Not to mention that during the next phone call I was hung up on. They are charging a fee (after not sending an initial invoice) for something that, according to my records and theirs, is unfounded. I hope that Dr. L is aware of what type of front desk Michelle is running, and I also hope that Michelle realizes what she has done and how rude and unprofessional she is before it begins to affect this small private practice.