I'm so angry - dentist charged for "behavior management"!

[PrettyFlower2]

Come on OP...I need closure....Did you call?

Lol

 

[Alesia]

Each piece of equipment has the cost of using it, etc in the use of it. Just like in the hospital. The aspirin doesn't cost $20 but everything has additional costs. Or when in a restaurant you aren't just paying for the food cost.

If the behavioral management is code for the clamp then they might be better off explaining that. The op can't be the first to call about it.

Itemized bills are really more for the insurance companies than for the patients.

 

[Granny square]

Itemized bills are really more for the insurance companies than for the patients.

Every time one of us has been hospitalized I have found huge bill mistakes. Was charged for 3 rhogam shots during one birth...

Everyone should read and understand them and ask questions

 

[Alesia]

Every time one of us has been hospitalized I have found huge bill mistakes. Was charged for 3 rhogam shots during one birth...

Everyone should read and understand them and ask questions

I absolutely agree. That's the point - the OP should have waited and asked what it was before automatically assuming that it was nonsense and ranting about it. And other posters shouldn't have added fuel to the fire without having all of the information.

 

[Granny square]

Eh, it doesn't hurt to holler and vent to strangers on occasion. I do hope that the op gets an answer she likes. In general the price paid was great!

 

[Shelleybeans]

Eh, it doesn't hurt to holler and vent to strangers on occasion. I do hope that the op gets an answer she likes. In general the price paid was great!

Agreed. I'm here to support my (obviously frustrated) fellow Dis-er, not knock her down again when she comes to us to vent. Oh and add my own personal experience from the other side of the dental chair.

The clamp is used often. Whether it is a rubber dam clamp or a bite block of some sort. There is no special training for those. And every dental office I've ever worked at has had these in stock. We have even used disposable bite blocks with suction and retraction capabilities. No extra charge.

OP I hope you find closure.

 

[Alesia]

I totally get feeling the need to vent. I guess I just feel that saying, "Why not just wait and find out exactly what the charge is for before you fly off the handle?" to be more helpful and reasonable than, "If I were you I would march down there and throw a fit and refuse to pay it."

I don't think that is being "supportive," I think it's adding more stress to the OP's situation.

 

[ThisIsTheYear]

Come on OP...I need closure....Did you call?

Lol sorry about that.

2 times they were called and they were "too busy" to call back!! I'm sure they were, with putting fees like that on bills.
I don't care that some people think I should pay it. If it was disclosed to me before the appointment, I would absolutely pay it! If they actually did some type of technique to keep her calm and still, then I would pay it! If he spent a lot of time in the room and not just 10 minutes, then I would pay it! But the reality is, nothing was written on the forms that I filled out, I read what I sign! He was only in the room for no more than 10 minutes. 'I' held my daughter and kept her from moving.

Some facts - the clamp was not disposable but was actually used looking. The silicone type material on it was discolored.

They tried to bill my insurance co the $35 fee but they would not pay it. Therefore I received the bill.

I am VERY grateful to have dental coverage!! Like I said, if I felt the dentist or assistant used some techniques or spent extra time with her - I would pay it (although I think it's ridiculous especially for a 'pediatric' dentist).

For all those that think a fee should be charged for working on a child, do you think a Pediatrician should charge an extra fee that is not covered by insurance?

 

[Eastern]

If your dentist participates with the insurance company, you are not responsible for the bill. He has agreed to accept payment by the insurance company.

Do I think they should charge an extra fee? Apparently, it is a common practice. You are emotionally reacting to the term 'behavior management'. I know that our pediatricians bill for any extra time spent on patient management. For example, if I need forms filled out for school, there is a $10 fee. It used to be free. But insurance companies are paying doctors less and less and they have to find ways to stay profitable.

It is a business, like anything else. They don't work for free.

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Whether it's 'allowed' or not, it's rediculous. Post it on facebook, you should get enough responses that pediactric dentist's might take notice.

Wonderful idea!

 

[luvmy3]

Lol sorry about that.

2 times they were called and they were "too busy" to call back!! I'm sure they were, with putting fees like that on bills.
I don't care that some people think I should pay it. If it was disclosed to me before the appointment, I would absolutely pay it! If they actually did some type of technique to keep her calm and still, then I would pay it! If he spent a lot of time in the room and not just 10 minutes, then I would pay it! But the reality is, nothing was written on the forms that I filled out, I read what I sign! He was only in the room for no more than 10 minutes. 'I' held my daughter and kept her from moving.

Some facts - the clamp was not disposable but was actually used looking. The silicone type material on it was discolored.

They tried to bill my insurance co the $35 fee but they would not pay it. Therefore I received the bill.

I am VERY grateful to have dental coverage!! Like I said, if I felt the dentist or assistant used some techniques or spent extra time with her - I would pay it (although I think it's ridiculous especially for a 'pediatric' dentist).

For all those that think a fee should be charged for working on a child, do you think a Pediatrician should charge an extra fee that is not covered by insurance?

So you don't really know what that charge was for and you are still not going to pay it? Seems a bit premature to make that decision. I agree with the pp, it sounds like you are reacting to the "behavior management" and not looking at it logically. If you speak to someone and find out the facts, they might actually make sense.

You said you read everything you sign, did you sign a financial responsibility form that says you are responsible for any charges not covered by your insurance? If you didn't do it at that visit, I'm sure you did it at a previous one.

ETA, while they told you what the cost would be, there is always the potential of added costs depending on what they end up doing.

 

[wiscbugs]

Dentists, doctors, clinics, hospitals, etc that bill for this type of stuff are in it for the money, not the well-being of the patient. Do not pay the charge and move on to a real dentist who cares about your child!

 

[Eastern]

Dentists, doctors, clinics, hospitals, etc that bill for this type of stuff are in it for the money, not the well-being of the patient. Do not pay the charge and move on to a real dentist who cares about your child!

I disagree. My husband is a doctor and performs his services 'for free' on a regular basis.

Try telling the plumber you have no money but you want him to fix your sink. I don't know why doctors are supposed to go to school for so many years, work as interns for next to nothing for a few more years, and then provide their services for free because they care about people.

They do care about people, but they still want to be able to earn a living.

 

[kellylfitz]

Full Disclosure: I'm a dentist.

OP, I'm sorry that you had a bad time and I agree that you should find a new dentist. I don't say this because what the dentist did was necessarily wrong, but because I know that the relationship will never be able to be repaired.

That being said, I think people need to be careful judging what happened because I can tell you if there are two things people are extremely jumpy about, it is their money and their kids. Put the two together and it is like being trapped in a cage with a hungry bear. I'm not a pediatric dentist, but I don't envy their job.

As an aside, even $110.00 for the procedure (at a pediatric dentist no less) is very reasonable.

 

[dsneprincess]

Dentists, doctors, clinics, hospitals, etc that bill for this type of stuff are in it for the money, not the well-being of the patient. Do not pay the charge and move on to a real dentist who cares about your child!

I am not a doctor, dentist, clinic or hospital, but this is a totally unfair statement. Doctors and dentists for the most part pay huge for the "privilege" of being a professional. There are the schooling costs which are extensive in their own right, BUT think of the "hidden" costs both In training and in real life practice. Doctors/dentists sacrificed their free time, sleep, eating, basically their entire lives for studying, training, testing, licensing, etc. in most situations, until the day they retire they will have after hours call, on calls, emergencies, patients calling at home (paying for unlisted numbers another hidden cost), not to mention friends and family looking for free medical advice! Let's not even begin to imagine the malpractice insurance premiums they are covering! I think that most of them are NOT compensated enough for the sacrifices they and their families make daily! Compare their salaries, schooling, sacrifices, and expenses to that of your average politician before making such a disgusting statement. Off my soapbox now...... Sorry but this comment just hit me wrong!

 

[crisi]

I have to say its really nice to see people who think that if you spend $200k going to school, then put a million dollars of capital into setting up a practice, then hire at least two other people (and probably three) to work for you, that you are "in it for the money" and should get stiffed on charges. Because charging $110 to fix the tooth of a fifteen month old when you are a million dollars in debt starting out and have to pay a staff is going to make the payment on the Benz.

 

[tvguy]

I had my dryer vent cleaned out by Coit yesterday. They added a $25 fuel surcharge to the $125 service call. Of course, even Schwans charges a fuel surcharge now.
So I certainly could go elsewhere, but like behavior management fees at the dentist, it is a customary and accepted charge.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Full Disclosure: I'm a dentist.

OP, I'm sorry that you had a bad time and I agree that you should find a new dentist. I don't say this because what the dentist did was necessarily wrong, but because I know that the relationship will never be able to be repaired.

That being said, I think people need to be careful judging what happened because I can tell you if there are two things people are extremely jumpy about, it is their money and their kids. Put the two together and it is like being trapped in a cage with a hungry bear. I'm not a pediatric dentist, but I don't envy their job.

As an aside, even $110.00 for the procedure (at a pediatric dentist no less) is very reasonable.

Reading between the lines: dentists don't want to deal with patients like this, either.

 

[kellylfitz]

Reading between the lines: dentists don't want to deal with patients like this, either.

Nah, kids for the most part are great. 99% of the time, it's the parent that is hard to deal with. Not saying that is the case with the OP. I can't pass any judgment on that since I wasn't there.

I will say this though. I no longer practice, but when I did, my practice did not have a fee for "behavior management". I obviously charged for the use of nitrous oxide or oral sedation when it was necessary and the patient wanted it, but I did not tack on a fee for especially difficult patients.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Nah, kids for the most part are great. 99% of the time, it's the parent that is hard to deal with. Not saying that is the case with the OP. I can't pass any judgment on that since I wasn't there.

I will say this though. I no longer practice, but when I did, my practice did not have a fee for "behavior management". I obviously charged for the use of nitrous oxide or oral sedation when it was necessary and the patient wanted it, but I did not tack on a fee for especially difficult patients.

I meant the parent, of course.

You were not in peds, though. And times have changed in healthcare a lot in the past couple of years. Costs are up for everything, so it's no surprise that charges might be up, also. Not that charges for "behavior management" were wrong in the first place, since it's been an accepted standard of practice for decades.