Minigh Family Dentistry

Thank you, Jimmy! This means a lot!

Ms. Whitecotton, as you know we have made this issue a priority. The way my practice operates is patient-centric, by design. This means the needs and wants (when possible) of our patients come first. Any time that we (patient and caregiver) come to an agreement about elective OR necessary services to be performed, there is an overabundance of explanatory paperwork that is standard. With this paperwork comes a face-to-face explanation of what you should expect as the patient receiving the care, how much the estimate is and what charges/services those funds will cover. We reviewed this paperwork together & explained any questions you had. Only after this had been completed would we accept a signature, which you willingly offered. Your coverage stated that my office was considered out of network, but you chose to remain in the office with the understanding that the coverage percentage would be decreased, and you would owe the difference. You preferred to stay with our office despite the increase in cost because you were happy here. You did not want to start again at another office. As we were all in agreement, your case was officially started. The paperwork clearly states that once certain treatments are started, we cannot simply abandon the process. This was true with your current case.Mid-way through the process, you decided that the out of network difference was no longer acceptable and wanted to go to a new office. As stated above, that is not something that can be done simply once a case is started. The lab we use is not affiliated with my business and therefore we are responsible to compensate them for any work done at our direction. Despite this, we were still more than happy and willing to try and work with you so that you could continue care somewhere in network. You agreed to pay the lab bill and we were hopeful the new office could take an unfinished appliance and resume work. As is standard and ethical operating procedure, the $609 that was sent to my office to cover the agreed upon work by your insurance company, was promptly returned. If you consider this, your insurance company is letting you know money was exchanged with a payment to my office of $609, plus a reimbursement payment BACK to your insurance in the amount of $609. These two amounts happen to add up to the $1218 you posted on a page dedicated to the review of our practice. What they are NOT telling you is that my practice behaved in an unethical and illegal manner.According to the Federal False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. – 3729-3733, The FCA provides that any person or entity who knowingly submits, or causes to submit, false claims to the government (which applies for all government services) is liable for three times the government’s damages. This could also carry a step penalty that would ensure we could no longer offer care to any persons or person receiving governmental coverage: Medicare or Medicaid. Because of the serious consequences of such unethical behavior, even an insinuation of my office behaving in this manner would constitute libel (HB 2795). Libel and defamation of character are not covered by the first amendments allowance of freedom of speech.Libel is considered a crime against a person and can carry unfavorable consequences to the party guilty of libel. Considering these facts, we kindly ask that you reword your statement of review to not accuse or insinuate illegal behavior from an office that has tried numerous times and, in many ways, to appease your requests despite your signed contract with my office. The review options on Google are there for any patient to share their experiences with my office (good or bad as can sometimes happen), not to accuse my office of illegal and/or unethical behavior of which could seriously impact our ability to care for the patients we love so much.

Thank you for taking the time to leave such a wonderful review!