Great Routine Care, Absolute Billing Nightmare & Recent Quality Issues: Patient Beware
After being loyal patients of Dr. Herman for over 8 years, my husband and I have unfortunately decided to leave this practice. While the front desk and routine clinical staff are wonderful, a recent poorly executed procedure combined with completely unacceptable billing management forced our hands.
The Good
* Dr. Herman & Ivana (Hygienist): The routine care is great. Ivana is thorough and genuinely personable, and Dr. Herman's numbing injections are completely painless.
* Nancy (Front Desk): Absolutely amazing, kind, and patient. I always enjoyed my interactions with her and felt terrible that management's constant errors forced her to deliver bad news.
The Bad: Recent Clinical Quality
The clinical quality has recently slipped. I had the bonding replaced on one of my front teeth, but the new bonding was applied too high, creating a noticeable "lip" on the front. Furthermore, it left an uneven curve at the bottom, causing my front teeth to no longer align properly.
The Ugly: Billing & Claims Mismanagement
The office manager and Insurance Coordinator is Dr. Herman's wife, Cindi. Unfortunately, she fundamentally fails in her core competency to serve as a financial liaison between the patient and the insurance provider.
About a year ago, the office started requiring patients to sign a detailed waiver stating we are responsible if a claim is denied. Now we know why. Here are the three strikes that proved her inability to manage dental billing:
* Strike 1 (Insurance Verification): Cindi miscalculated the date my husband was due for his cleaning, forcing us to pay out-of-pocket for a standard, fully covered preventative visit.
* Strike 2 (Claim Tracking): She messed up the timing for my husband's X-rays by failing to cross-reference his plan's frequency limits, resulting in another entirely out-of-pocket expense.
* Strike 3 (The Crown Snafu): I needed a 10+ year-old crown replaced. Despite explicitly telling the office its age, Cindi butchered the clinical narrative and submitted it to insurance as only 7 years old. Because my insurance requires a crown to be at least 10 years old for a replacement, the pre-authorization was denied entirely due to her careless clerical error.
The Interaction & Resolution: When I brought up the submission error, Cindi refused accountability. She tried to blame the notes in the file that said 7 instead of checking with the insurance and calling to verify with me. She then falsely claimed she couldn't appeal the decision, telling me I had to handle it myself. Insurance later confirmed this was a lie; industry standards require appeals to come from the dental office. Rather than waiting for a resolution, they forced me to pay the full balance upfront.
Ultimately, insurance approved the claim because the crown was over 10 years old. The office never notified me or issued a refund; I had to track the claim and chase them down for my money. When I finally spoke to Cindi, instead of apologizing, she actually boasted about her "high success rate with appeals"--hilarious, considering I had to submit my own letter to insurance because I didn't trust her to do it.
Final Verdict
We have since switched to a new dentist who is conservative, thorough, and backed by a professional, unrelated billing department that researches coverage before treatment. They even repaired the faulty bonding, restoring my smile.
The Bottom Line: If you choose Dr. Herman, you will get decent routine work, but inspect your cosmetic procedures before leaving the chair and watch your dental bills like a hawk. read more
