Financial Responsibility

It is our goal for patients to clearly understand their treatment needs as well as their financial responsibility before treatment begins. Payments of the estimated patient portion are always due at the time of treatment – please note this is estimated and can increase or decrease once the procedure begins.
Dental insurance plans are not set-up to correspond to individual patient needs. As a result, many routine and necessary dental services are not covered even though you may need those services. As your preferred healthcare provider, it is our duty and responsibility to provide you with the treatment that best meets your individual needs that may not match your insurance plans limitations.
We understand insurance guidelines can be hard to understand and overwhelming at times, but fortunately with the information you and your insurance company provide us with, we can provide some assistance in estimating your insurance benefits and your out of pocket expenses. However, your insurance company makes the final determination once treatment is completed and the claim is submitted. Please note your insurance is a contract between you and your insurance company, therefore, all charges are your sole responsibility.
We process most claims electronically and will directly receive payments from your insurance company. However, some insurance companies do not allow electronic submission and some will only send the payment to the patient in which case the charges of services are due at the time of service and you will get reimbursed by your insurance company. To submit claims non-electronically on your behalf, we sometimes require you or the subscriber to sign the claim forms.

Radiographs

In order to render and maintain the standard of care, we require radiographs (x-rays) to be taken prior to any treatment.
Insurance companies have limitations on how often they will pay for radiographs. It is important that you let us know if you have had recent ones taken (within a year). If you have current radiographs from a previous dentist, it is your responsibility to bring them to your appointment or request that they be sent directly to our office.
If you fail to provide us with a current radiograph, new ones will be taken in our office at the time of your scheduled dental procedure or examination. If you should elect not to have radiographs performed, we cannot provide any further treatment. The frequency of radiographs and the number is decided by the dentists and the administrative team has no control over this.

Appointment Cancellation and Confirmation Policy

We utilize state of the art, automated text and email appointment confirmation and reminder systems. By being a patient of our office, you’re automatically enrolled into this system. If you wish to opt-out, please let one of our administratives know.
You will receive an email and/or text asking you to confirm your appointment (or your childrens) 10 days prior. We ask that you follow the instructions to confirm the appointment as soon as you can. If you fail to confirm the appointments via email and/or text, one of our patient care coordinators will contact you by phone to make sure everything is ok. If we cannot get a hold of you to confirm the appointment, your appointment will be lost and will have to be rescheduled. You will also receive a text and/or email reminder a day prior to your appointment.
Please make every effort to confirm your appointment through the automated system so our team can focus on delivering excellent care instead of calling to try to get a hold of you which consumes a lot of their time
Please note we require 48 hours cancellation or rescheduling notice. If you cancel or reschedule without enough notice, there will be a $100 charge to your account which must be paid off before any other treatment can proceed. Your insurance company does not cover this expense.

Personal Information Consent

We are committed to protecting the privacy of our patient’s personal information and to utilizing all personal information in a responsible and professional manner. This document summarizes some of the personal information that we collect, use and disclose. In addition to the circumstances described in this form we also collect, use, and disclose personal information when permitted or required by law. In this dental office, The legal jurisdiction is Richmondhill, Ontario. All staff members who come in contact with your personal information are aware of the sensitive nature of the information that you have disclosed to us. They are all trained in the appropriate uses and protection of your information.
We collect information from our patients such as names, home addresses, work telephone numbers, home telephone number, cell phone numbers and email addresses (collectively referred to as ‘Contact Information’). Contact Information is collected and used for the following purposes:
• To open and update patient files
To invoice patient for dental services, to process credit card payments, or to collect unpaid accounts To process claims for payment or reimbursement from third-party health benefit providers and insurance companies
• To send patients information material about our dental practice
Contact information is disclosed to third party health benefit providers and insurance companies where the patient has submitted a claim for reimbursement or payment of all or part of the cost of dental treatment or has asked us to submit a claim on the patient’s behalf.
Financial information may be collected in order to make arrangements for the payment of dental services.
We collect information from our patients about their health history, their family health history, physical condition, and dental treatment. (Collectively referred to as “Medical Information”). Patient’s Medical information is collected and used for the purpose of diagnosing dental conditions and providing dental treatment.
Patient’s Medical Information is disclosed:
• To third party health benefit providers
and insurance companies where the patient has submitted a claim for
reimbursement or payment of all or part of the cost of dental treatment or has asked us to submit a claim on the patient’s behalf.
• To other dentists and dental specialists, where we are seeking a second opinion and the patient has consented to us obtaining the second opinion.
• To other dentists and dental specialists if the patient, with their consent, has been referred by us to the other dentist or dental specialist for treatment.
• To other dentists and dental specialists where those dentists have asked us, with the consent of the patient, to provide a second opinion.
• To other health care professionals such as physicians, if the patient with their consent, has been referred by us to the other health care professional for either a second opinion or treatment.
If we are ever considering selling all or part of our dental practice, qualified potential purchasers may be granted access as part of the due diligence process to patient information in order to verify information important to the potential sale. If this occurs, we will take steps to ensure that the prospective purchaser safeguards all personal information.
Dentists are regulated by the RCDSO and College which may inspect our records and interview our staff as part of its regulatory activities in the public interest.