Dunn Orthodontics has been around for many years and is owned and operated by Dr. Richard E. Dunn and his wife Anne. I was a transfer patient of Dr. Dunn's when I was 12 years old and received treatment from 1996 through 1999. I spent a lot of time with Dr. Dunn during my treatment phase of upper and lower orthodontics and I remember Anne as well. I never had any problems with Dr. Dunn, and he was always friendly and professional every time I met with him. On the other hand, his wife Anne is unprofessional, demanding, pushy, dismissive, rudely interrupts conversations and does not practice active listening skills. Anne Dunn is very used to getting her way and is flippant when a patient does not agree with her. For example, I sent 3 written requests for my medical records when I received treatment and called the office to follow up several times since 2021. Interestingly, my written requests were never responded to in writing and when I spoke to Anne on the phone, she asked for my personal information to locate my records and stated she would call me back on two occasions. Just recently, after my third written request, I faxed Anne, and she finally called me back last Friday (for the first time) stating that she was able to locate my dental records and quoted me a price of $285.00. I informed Anne that the price seemed excessive and not in accordance with the California Heath and Safety Codes § 123100 - 123149.5, which allows a doctor's office to charge reasonable fees based on the costs of labor to reproduce medical documents upon a patient's request, e.g., up to 0.25¢ per paper copy, up to 50¢ per microfilm copy, cost for postage, CD, Flash drive, etc. I asked Anne how many pages she was factoring in, and she replied by stating that she did not know and to do the records search, she would need $285.00 up front. I still thought this was an unreasonable amount and Anne refused to listen, interrupted me several times during our telephone conversation and accused me as an adult (mind you, I was a minor back in the 90's) of never making any payments for my extensive orthodontic treatment as a child. I disconnected the telephone call because we were not able to come to a reasonable/lawful resolution. Please understand, a medical/dental office is the repository of your medical records, no matter how old or recent they are, therefore, current and former patients have the right to access their medical records and receive them in a timely manner under State and Federal HIPPA laws, e.g., 45 CFR § 164.524, California BPC § 1684.1 and California HSC § 123100 - 123149.5. The federal law allows 30 days, whereas, CA state laws require a patient to receive their records no later than 15 business days (much shorter time frame). Also, the laws expressly state that a medical/dental office cannot excessively charge for reproductions or refuse to comply with a patient's written request for Protected Health Information if there is an unpaid balance. Interestingly, Dunn Orthodontics has been in practice for so many years, there is a reasonable expectation that they should understand State and Federal HIPPA compliance laws. As of today, Dunn Orthodontics has refused to release my records and negotiate fair and reasonable costs for the requested reproductions of my PHI. Lastly, if anyone has gone through a similar situation, you have the right to file a complaint with the Department of Consumer Affairs Dental Board of California https://www.dbc.ca.gov/consumers/complaints.shtml. Additionally, consumers have the right to file complaints with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights for suspected federal HIPPA noncompliance https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html. Please be advised, this posting is intended to depict my own personal experience with Dunn Orthodontics and the resources I have used to reach a lawful solution. read more
