ComplaintsforSusquehanna Dental

• Initial Complaint

  06/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Regarding a scheduled Dental hygiene appointment. Upon arrival to the scheduled appointment, the hygienist informed me that routine X-rays would have to be completed. I told her my teeth and gums felt fine and X-rays would not be necessary, I do not have dental insurance. She said, the X-rays were necessary and required and may reveal a hidden problem. I repeated, I did not want any X-rays, my teeth and gums felt fine. She said she would have to ask the Doctor. She came back and said the X-rays are necessary. I told her again, I did not want any X-rays, my teeth and gums felt fine. The dental hygienist said she was not going to lose her license because a patient refused X-rays. I said, what is to be done about this situation. She said, I won’t be cleaning your teeth. I got out of the chair and went to the front desk and told the girl my name and that I was leaving and would not be coming back. The front counter girl acknowledged what I said. Several weeks later, I received a bill for “Late cancellation fee” of $40.00. I called their office and objected to the charge. The receptionist spoke to the office manager and I was told: By law, xrays are required every year. I have been having my teeth checked every six months for over 40 years, nobody ever informed me of that requirement. To my knowledge, I never executed an agreement stating the same requirement. The receptionist said the bill would be turned over to a collection agency. I again strongly objected to this “aggressive” billing policy. I paid the $40.00 bill to avoid a mark against my credit rating. I demand a refund.

  Business response

  07/13/2023

  ******************** was in our practice and refused x-rays, per the ADA guidelines to properly treat and diagnosis a patient radiographs should be taken every 18 months this information can be found on their website. ******************** was informed of this at his prior appointment last year, but when he came in he once again refused the x-rays wasting an appointment time. We also needed to pay our hygienist who was unable to do any treatment due to his refusal with no compensation. Our office policy is to charge a fee due to the wasted chair time, **. ******* did provide false information to the BBB as he did not pay the $40 fee and there was a balance on his account, he also stated his account was being sent to collections which was an incorrect statement as well. We can not send missed appointment balances to collections. This is not a legal process and you can not have a collection account for missed services. 

  Our office has since decided to dismissed him as a patient due to incompliance to state treatment requirements and have wrote his account off. If there are any additional concerns please let us know. 

• Initial Complaint

  04/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My wife and I were customers of Susquehanna Dental West from 2018 - 2022. On numerous occasions we corrected the billing order with the company. They kept billing our supplemental insurance first and not our primary. We fixed the problem on at least 2 occasions from 2020 - 2022 however, they continued to get the billing order wrong. In early 2023 they sent us a bill for teeth cleaning visits from 2022. The primary insurance rejected it because the claim was over a year old.  I’ve called and sent emails and they refuse to fix the issue. This afternoon, 4/24/23, they sent another letter claiming that if the bill is not paid they will send to collections. This is unacceptable. I have good insurance through the ********** of ******* and I expect the dentist to properly bill for the services provided and not harass me for payment. They have been grossly incompetent in this area.

  Business response

  04/27/2023

  ************** has provided false information. We did originally have the order of his insurance incorrect, when he came into our office and notified us we corrected it immediately and worked on correcting his account. After many weeks of resending his claim with appeals his account is at a zero balance and he was just not as patient with the correction process as he could have been. Due to short staffing from Covid the insurance companies are taking longer to process claim and with him having two insurance it took quite a bit of time to correct his account. 

  ************** also told our office after he found out his account was okay he would remove his complaint with the BBB. (Which we have on an audio recording) 

  Customer response

  04/28/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  It's true I agreed to remove the BBB complaint, but couldn't find the option anywhere.  
  

  I'll add that although the company agreed to fix their error they did it in an unprofessional manner.  Their response to this complaint shows how terribly they treat their customers at they they continue to blame us for their mistake.  
  

  sincerely,

  *********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩