William J. Aud DMD, Inc.

Patient called our office on 12/11/to make an appointment for whitening, at that time patient was informed that she would be examined; appropriate xrays taken and she would be getting her teeth cleaned.Patient must be evaluated to see if they are a suitable candidate for whitening, especially
when we have never seen the patient beforeShe was not forced in any way to accept these servicesThe patient gave us implied and written consent, and did not question any of the servicesAt no time was she led to believe that other services were included in whiteningIf those services had been included there would have been no reason to copy the patient’s insurance card (on file) or advise patient of financial policy regarding unpaid claims.At the end of the appointment she paid $for whitening; only because it was not a covered service by her insuranceShe was told we would submit cleaning, exam, and xrays to insuranceThat is done as a courtesy to patients, so they do not have to pay at time of service.The patient had very low end coverage and insurance paid $directly to the patient due to our office being out of network.On 7/10/the open claim was discoveredInsurance was contacted and they advised it was paid on 1/3/2013, $to the patientStatement was sent to patient with note explaining reason for balance due and that this office had been waiting on insurance to payBut again, check was sent to patient.Three more statements were sent 8/17/2015, 9/15/2015, 10/15/Statement was returned to our office 10/21/2015-forwarding order expired.At this point the office manager contacted patient by phone to inquire about new addressmore statements were sent to correct address, 11/16/2015, 12/15/2015, and 1/15/2016, without reply or paymentOn 1/25/the office manager spoke with patient about outstanding balance.He let patient know he had contacted her insurance and they sent an explanation of benefits for date of service 12/19/and that they sent a check to the patient for $and that according to the explanation of benefits, patient portion is $due to being out of network and low coveragePatient asked if he could prove that she cashed a check for $and he told her that was irrelevant because we had verified through the insurance that a check in the amount of $was sent to herHe then told patient she is responsible for the balance in fullThe patient then stated she would not be paying the balance because she was under the impression that she had paid in fullHe told patient she had only paid for the whitening services because most insurance companies cover diagnostic and preventive services at 100% so we would not have collected additional funds from her until her explanation of benefits came back to us stating otherwisePatient stated she did not agree to a cleaning and xraysHe asked her why she would have allowed a cleaning and xrays to be performed if she didn't agree to itPatient said she thought she was only getting a whiteningHe told patient he did not know what would have led to this misunderstanding about what services were performedPatient stated she will not be paying balance and he told her if left unpaid it will be sent to our collection agencyPatient stated if that is the case she will be sending it to her attorneyHe then told her we will discontinue this conversation.On 1/25/we sent patient another statement where we removed the accumulated finance charges of $as a courtesy to her due to us having the incorrect addressAlong with the statement with the balance due of $we sent a warning collection letter, a copy of the explanation of benefits that her insurance faxed to us, a signed financial policy, and a signed consent form.On 1/29/patient called our office asking for a copy of everything in her recordThe patient was told she needed to sign a release of records, and stated she would come by the office 2/1/The patient did come on this date to sign and pick up her recordsThe patient also paid $cash- the amount insurance sent herShe told us she called her insurance and they verified this informationHer remaining balance of $is due to non network fee scheduleThe explanation of benefits plainly states the patient’s responsibility.Patient stated in her complaint to the Revdex.com she called the office to inquire about balance in We received no such phone callWe contacted her each timeThe only time the patient called our office was on 12/11/to schedule the initial appointment and on 1/29/to inquire about picking up her record.Patient has since called the office on 2/17/to say she would begin to pay on her*** ** ***