October 14, 2011

It should come as no surprise that the insurance industry is out to make a profit. It’s a business just like any other business. Any place an insurance company can cut costs or deny a claim is more of a profit to them and that is their goal. Unfortunately, this is not always in the best interest of the patient.

When my son was born 15 years ago he could not keep anything in his stomach. We went through a battery of tests to determine the problem. Not once did I think, “I wonder if the insurance is going to cover this?” When the diagnosis was made and it was determined that surgery was needed… (Read More)

October 13, 2011

One of the many reasons people do not get the care they need is because of lack of trust. Whether it is the dentist, the doctor, the hair stylist, or the car mechanic, we generally seek out individuals who we like and thereby trust to provide a service for us.
I always ask new patients of mine how they decided to come to my office. The responses I get are probably the same for most dentists. The top ones are referrals by a friend or family member, the phone book, and more recently the internet.
I used to think that the only reasonable way to pick a health-care provider was from a referral… (Read More)

October 3, 2011

Last week I began talking about what to do if your long-time dentist is replaced by someone new. Having taken over the practices of two retiring dentists, I consider myself pretty experienced at this type of situation. Let me see if I can break this issue apart.

For those long-time patients, change is not easy. My theme of last week’s column was that you owe it to your retiring dentist and the staff to give the new dentist a try. From there you can make the decision on whether you are comfortable or not.

In my last practice transition I was taking over an office that was stuck in the 1970’s in both style and… (Read More)