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| - Dr. Haslam is a very charismatic and educated dental professional. His office is very nice in appearance, and is very clean. I was excited to go there, as I had a referral from a friend who said that they were very competent and cordial - and an added bonus, they're super close to my new home.
All in all, I wouldn't say that this was a negative experience with regard to the dentist and dental hygienist - both were excellent. After our follow up today, where I only worked with the front office staff, was a different story.
Six weeks ago, I went in as a new patient to their office requesting information on having a tooth that was knocked out 25 years ago, getting veneered or crowned with the understanding that when you replace a front tooth, you usually end up replacing all four front teeth to ensure that they are consistent.
They submitted a pre-approval notification to my insurance company at that time, for which I am grateful, because I would rather know about any additional cost up front, vs. after having this procedure done.
My insurance took six weeks to get back with them - this is in NO WAY a reflection of them, but I magically stopped by today and they had just received it today. I thought to myself "PERFECT, I can finally get this thing going!". After further review, my insurance denied to assist with anything except the crown on the impacted tooth. No problem, I get that's not their issue...
But here's where I took issue- they let me know that when they would be doing the preauthorization on my teeth, they wrote a "Strong narrative to go along with it."
Hey, that's great - they advocated on MY BEHALF - but when I asked for a copy of said "strong narrative" they said that they don't have it, and they don't keep copies of what they send to the insurance companies. They suggested I reach out to the insurance company, to garner from them - what was sent into them, from Gilbert Family Dentistry.
I clearly articulated that I was dissatisfied that they are sending things out to my insurance without keeping record of it. Had they kept these types of items for their patients, it would better impact and assist in facilitating a conversation with the insurance company, based on an educated and professional opinion within said "strong narrative".
As a layman, not in the dental field (clearly), I'd love to go back to my insurance company for additional clarification on why they would not pay a defined benefit. I do not have the information that they sent to them, therefore I am less outfitted to have a deliberate conversation with them around what my dentist thinks is best for me, advocating for myself and for their dental practice.
The front office person that I spoke with - unnamed, because I'm not great with names, was surprised of my comment and articulation around their recordkeeping - as if it's not standard protocol to keep outgoing communication.
I called to my previous dentist, that my husband and I had for 9 years until moving, to determine if this was a standard business practice with regard to their recordkeeping.
It's not standard practice. My only thought is, do I give the benefit of the doubt that it was sent? Yes, I do - but who knows what it said. I don't, and I don't know that they do - if they don't keep record of it, electronically or otherwise.
I would have enjoyed going to their practice, and dropping 2500 bucks on some new teeth, but not sure that can or should happen now based on the response from me questioning a practice that doesn't help me advocate for my procedure to my insurance.
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