I used this practice in 2013 prior to moving. All services that were performed was under insurance and for each office visit, I paid the required co-pay. After more than a two-year hiatus, I was surprised to receive invoice for a balance due, the nature of which was not disclosed. Through extensive oral and written communication, all of which I documented, I made the simple request to their office to identify the dental code for the service for which they were making a claim and the date of service: the most basic item of information related to a commercial transaction. This information was essential in establishing the validity of their claim--to determine whether their claim was ever initially made to the insurance company during these two years, and if so, whether the charge was within the negotiated amount with the insurance company: whether it was issued on time; whether the insurance in fact paid it but never recorded by the dental practice; or whether the practice is duplicating a charge for which insurance already paid. Who knows? Ultimately, this dental practice was unwilling and/or incapable of providing this information. I insisted that I needed at least the date of service and the nature of service provided to substantiate their claim. They refused, and threatened to refer this invalidated claim to a collection agency. I paid what money they claimed under this treat.
I then referred the matter to the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry on July 22, 2015. The State Board of Dentistry accepted my complaint of unprofessional conduct with a commitment to investigate the matter for possible disciplinary action using the full record of correspondence that I provided to them.
This review is not a commentary on any specific service provided, but about the unprofessional, uncooperative, disinterested, and arguably incompetent manner in which office administration handled this matter, which serves as fair warning to others in the risk with doing business with this practice in the future.
You may find a response by a representative of this practice defending their behavior on account a disgruntled former customer having unreasonable expectations, specifically, that it is never a standard business practice to match up services with payments, in that there are so many charges and too many payees to keep track of. What the practice will not tell you is what they told me: that they really do not have all of the account history, that they (showing appalling gall) actually asked me to provide to them the record of my insurance company’s payments to them, and which led them later to make this unsubstantiated claim in the first place. When they could not reconcile discrepancies, real or perceived, they just did not have the time or the inclination to devote to straighten out the matter.
I offered to pay them what I owe, except I do not know for what service I might owe—and, according to this practice, neither do they. Of course I feel disgruntled.
I know this doctor: 5