Financial Policies

I’d like to explain our payment policy and the rationale behind it.

It is my sincere wish that the dental care at our office be provided with as few problems as possible--that it will be as pleasant an experience as possible, be of the highest quality and provided at fair fees. I have found that the fairest and most cost effective way to handle payment is to have a consistent policy that treats each patient equally.

Our approach (and increasingly the approach of many health care providers) is to request payment at the time of service. We are happy to accept personal checks, or cash, as well as MasterCard, Visa, Discover or American Express credit cards.

If you have Dental Insurance coverage, we will be happy to provide you with properly filled out insurance forms for you to file with your insurance provider so that you may be reimbursed. We will try to intervene on your behalf if problems arise. Please understand that insurance is an agreement between you and the insurance company, they are responsible to you and not us. We can make no guarantee as to how they will handle your claim.

I try to run the office differently than many other dentists. I am very proud of our ability to stay on schedule--rarely is there any significant wait. I also try to spend a great deal of time at each visit with my patients. I try to see only one patient at a time, that is I do not run from room to room attempting to treat several people at the same time.

Since this is not the most profitable way to run a practice, I have to compensate somehow. I have chosen not to have a large staff or additional Dentists to increase productivity. Nor have I increased fees dramatically. Instead, I’ve chosen to reduce overhead as much as possible in the areas that do not affect the quality of patient care. Thus, we do not have a billing system nor do we accept Insurance payment directly from a patient’s insurance company and then bill the patient for the balance. Both of those procedures would require additional staff and staff time to administrate. This would also require us to, essentially, extend credit to patients while we wait for payment. All of these additional costs (staff, interest loss, unpaid bills) would have to be reflected in higher fees.

While I feel this system is simple, equitable and fair, I am open to any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you.

Richard B. Shapiro, D.D.S. (404) 523-2514