This review is in regards to the billing of the dental work and not the dentist himself. While the work was very good and the kids had a good experience the office management was a nightmare. The only reason I give it one star is because Dr. Goins was a good dentist.
I am in the military and was away on deployment when my wife brought my kids in for dental work. This wasn't the first time we've been here and never had issues in the past. Recently, since the last visit, the Department of Defense changed our dental insurance. Before the kids got the dental work done my wife asked the front desk if the work would be covered under the new insurance policy. The front desk looked at the new policy (United Concordia) and told my wife it "shouldn't be a problem".
A few weeks later we got a bill in the mail for $356.30. My wife called the number on the bill to find out why we were being charged and the office manager, Dana, was very nice to her on the phone and promised to find out what the disconnect was and get back to her. A week went by and no follow on call from Dana. My wife called again and Dana was unavailable. This happened for over a week.
When I returned home from deployment another bill came in the mail with a fee making the payment due, $365.34. I called this time and explained the situation to Dana again. She remembered talking to my wife. She explained to me that since our insurance changed it was our responsibility to find out if the dentist was covered by United Concordia. I told her that my wife asked that exact question at the desk BEFORE the work was done. Dana told me that when the girl at the desk said it, "shouldn't be a problem" she was not being dishonest. However, United Concordia would only cover a fraction of the dental work.
I told Dana that if we would have known that we wouldn't have gotten the dental work done and that we feel greatly deceived. Dana, again, replied that while she sympathizes, it isn't the dentist's responsibility by law to give us that information.
While she may be legally correct, I told her that was a very poor business practice. She told me that she would talk to Dr. Goins, who was on vacation at the time of the call, and see if they would be able to cover the cost of the bill or come up with some solution to make both parties happy. She said she would call back the following Monday.
When I didn't receive a call the following Monday (big surprise) I called the office. Dana was conveniently indisposed and so I left a message to call me with the reason for the call. She never returned my call.
I have received another bill in the meantime. At this point it looks like the constant back and forth with zero expectations of follow-ups with the office is not worth my time and energy. Congratulations Children's Dentistry of Chattanooga on your victory of $356.30!
While I would have recommended this office to anyone who needed a pediatric dentist, my recent experiences with office management and Dana have convinced me not to recommend them to anyone.
Hopefully the business finds office management that actually cares about its customers in the future and when there is confusion, puts some effort in making sure the customer understands all of their patient responsibilities to include insurance. THAT would be a good business model to go by. read more
