…I dial the phone…
Receptionist: Hi, Dentist’s office.
Josh: Hi, I was wondering if it would be possible to make an appointment for next week.
R: Sure, let me look at the schedule…yep, it looks like we have some open spots. How will you be paying?
J: Um, I have insurance…Allied, I think.
R: Is that a PPO?
J: Yeah.
R: Good, the dentist takes all PPOs.
Why is this how the dentist-patient relationship has to begin? It isn’t about care for the patient, but about money…pure money. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. Imagine how this would play out if you had to have insurance to buy shoes:
…Enter shoe store…
Shoe Salesperson: Hi, welcome to Foot Source. How will you be paying today?
Josh: Um, I’m just looking.
SS: Oh, in order to take part in our browsing service, we have to ensure that you’ll be capable of paying. Do you have shoe insurance?
…et cetera…
All I’m saying is that Dentistry is also a service profession, believe it or not. Dentists still have to deliver value to their patients, and first caring about money, and patient care secondarily does not make for a very pleasing experience. Plus, I bet he’ll still make me gag…
3 responses to “The first touch”
You see this situation all the time in the medical profession. Sometimes it tells the doctor how much time he/she can spend with you in order to get paid properly. I refer you to Sicko by Michael Moore. I have lived both sides of his premise!
Good luck with the gag thing. BTW, Dr. Rubin has a new x-ray machine that really cuts down on the gagging. Hopefully this dentist does too.
i feel your pain, man. But, serially, not only is it about the health practitioners being greedy- but the insurance companies are doing the same as well in terms of reimbursement to the docs.
Try bartering with your dentist! That’s what I do. He has a kid, I have LEGOs…it works great. The scary part is, we’ll probably all be bartering for medical care as doctors stop accepting insurance.