|
Office Hours
How are Appointments Scheduled?
Do I Stay
with My Child During the Visit?
Payment Policy
Our Office
Policy Regarding Dental Insurance
Financing
Office Hours
Monday - Thursday: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. -
2 p.m.
How are
Appointments Scheduled?
The office attempts to schedule appointments at your
convenience and when time is available. Preschool children should be seen in
the morning because they are fresher and we can work more slowly with the
child for their comfort. School children with a lot of work to be done
should be seen in the morning for the same reason. Dental appointments are
an excused absence. Missing school can be kept to a minimum when regular
dental care is continued.
Since appointed times are reserved exclusively for
each patient we ask that you please notify our office 24 hours in advance of
your scheduled appointment time if you are unable to keep your appointment.
Another patient who needs our care could be scheduled if we have sufficient
time to notify them. We realize that unexpected things can happen, but we
ask for your assistance in this regard.
Do I Stay with My Child During the Visit?
We welcome the parent(s) presence during examination
and treatment visits. However, this privilege will be evaluated according to
each child's behavior. The parent(s) should be a passive observer at all
times during the child's dental visit. We want your child's visit to our
office to be a happy one. If your child has questions that are difficult for
you to answer, please refer him/her to Dr. Saadia for the proper answer and
discussion.
Payment
Policy
Payment for
professional services is due at the time
dental treatment is provided. Every effort
will be made to provide a treatment plan
which fits your timetable and budget, and
gives your child the best possible care. We
accept cash, debit cards
and most major credit cards.
Back to Top
Our Office Policy Regarding Dental Insurance
Our office submits insurance for the
patients reimbursement only. The patient
visit must be paid in full at the time of
treatment.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND that we file dental
insurance as a courtesy to our patients. We
do not have a contract with your insurance
company, only you do. We are not responsible
for how your insurance company handles its
claims or for what benefits they pay on a
claim. We can only assist you in estimating
your portion of the cost of treatment, we at
no time guarantee what your insurance will
or will not do with each claim. We also can
not be responsible for any errors in filing
your insurance, once again we file claims as
a courtesy to you.
Fact 1 - NO INSURANCE
PAYS 100% OF ALL PROCEDURES
Dental insurance is meant to be an aid in
receiving dental care. Many patients think
that their insurance pays 90%-100% of all
dental fees. This is not true! Most plans
only pay between 50%-80% of the average
total fee. Some pay more, some pay less. The
percentage paid is usually determined by how
much you or your employer has paid for
coverage or the type of contract your
employer has set up with the insurance
company.
Fact 2 - BENEFITS ARE NOT DETERMINED BY
OUR OFFICE
You may have noticed that sometimes your
dental insurer reimburses you or the dentist
at a lower rate than the dentist's actual
fee. Frequently, insurance companies state
that the reimbursement was reduced because
your dentist's fee has exceeded the usual,
customary, or reasonable fee ("UCR") used by
the company.
A statement such as this gives the
impression that any fee greater than the
amount paid by the insurance company is
unreasonable or well above what most
dentists in the area charge for a certain
service. This can be very misleading and
simply is not accurate.
Insurance companies set their own schedules
and each company uses a different set of
fees they consider allowable. These
allowable fees may vary widely because each
company collects fee information from claims
it processes. The insurance company then
takes this data and arbitrarily chooses a
level they call the "allowable" UCR Fee.
Frequently this data can be three to five
years old and these "allowable" fees are set
by the insurance company so they can make a
net 20%-30% profit.
Unfortunately, insurance companies imply
that your dentist is "overcharging" rather
than say that they are "underpaying" or that
their benefits are low. In general, the less
expensive insurance policy will use a lower
usual, customary, or reasonable (UCR)
figure.
Fact 3 - DEDUCTIBLES & CO-PAYMENTS MUST
BE CONSIDERED
When estimating dental benefits, deductibles
and percentages must be considered. To
illustrate, assume the fee for service is
$150.00. Assuming that the insurance company
allows $150.00 as its usual and customary (UCR)
fee, we can figure out what benefits will be
paid. First a deductible (paid by you), on
average $50, is subtracted, leaving $100.00.
The plan then pays 80% for this particular
procedure. The insurance company will then
pay 80% of $100.00, or $80.00. Out of a
$150.00 fee they will pay an estimated
$80.00 leaving a remaining portion of $70.00
(to be paid by the patient). Of course, if
the UCR is less than $150.00 or your plan
pays only at 50% then the insurance benefits
will also be significantly less.
MOST IMPORTANTLY,
please keep us informed of any insurance
changes such as policy name, insurance
company address, or a change of employment.
Financing
For your
convenience we have established third party
financing through
CareCredit.
CareCredit
offers a full range of No Interest and
Extended Payment Plans for treatment fees
from $1 to over $25,000.
Please do not
hesitate to ask us any questions about our
office. We want you to be comfortable in
dealing with these matters and we urge you
to consult us if you have any questions
regarding our services.
Back to Top |