Office Policies
Thank you for choosing Viva Dental Victoria for your dental care. In preparation for your first visit, please read the information below. Many of your questions will be answered here.
At Viva Dental Victoria, our fees are based on providing a level of dental care that results in long-term comfort and success for our patients. Delivering such high-quality dental care requires time, effort, teamwork, a well-educated dental team, the best dental materials, excellent dental laboratory support, and meticulous attention to detail. We are committed to providing you with the best that modern dentistry has to offer, along with excellent customer service.
Financial Policies
- Payment for dental treatment is due at time of service
- We accept direct payment from your dental insurer for services that your plan covers
- In order to have your dental insurance assignment handled by our office, you will be required to provide up-to-date insurance plan information prior to your appointment. Please note that due to patient privacy regulations, insurance companies generally will not release the specifics of your plan to our office. We kindly ask that you provide this information to us, in order for us to help you maximize your available benefits
- You will be responsible to pay the difference between the amount expected to be paid by your insurance provider (including deductibles) and the cost of treatment in the event that your insurance company does not pay what you expected
- Estimates and insurance predeterminations are available upon request
- Payments to our office may be made by Visa, Mastercard, Debit, Cash or Cheque
- For returned cheque, a charge of $25.00 will be applied and balances older than 60 days may be subject to additional interest charges. These additional fees will be applied to the unpaid balance at the end of the month. Interest rates will be assessed at a rate of 1.5% per month or 18% annually
- In the event that the account is not paid and we refer the account to collection, you will be responsible for all fees incurred for collection of your bill (i.e., attorney fees, court costs, and collection agency fees)
Dental Insurance
As a courtesy to our patients, we accept direct payment from your insurance plan. Our administrative staff will be happy to electronically file your dental insurance claims to your provider and send in pre-authorizations for dental treatment on your behalf. We do our best to estimate the limits set by your insurer, however, in the event that your insurance company does not pay what we expected, it is your responsibility to pay the balance. We do request that you keep a credit card number on file with us but we will always call for permission before charging your card.
It is worth noting that most dental insurance plans are designed to assist patients with their dental care, and are not intended to cover all aspects of care. Your dental insurance is a contract between you, your employer, and the insurance company, and is negotiated by your employer. To avoid surprises, be sure to confirm your coverage with your provider or speak to your employee benefits representative.
Insurance Processes
In recent years, there have been many changes regarding the relationship between the patient, the dental office and the dental insurance companies.
Here are some things to consider:
1. Increased patient information confidentiality. Most insurance companies will not discuss patient dental coverage information with our office. They will only communicate with the patient. This makes it very difficult for us to accurately estimate how much of the cost of a procedure will be covered by insurance.
2. Insurance plans vary. While at one time procedures covered by insurance companies were fairly consistent, these days each plan is unique. Again, this makes it difficult for us to predict what procedures will be covered.
3. How much are you covered? Many dental insurance plans express dental coverage as a percentage (Eg. A: 100%, B: 50%, C: 0%). It’s important to note this means the carrier has agreed to pay a percentage of fees based on a particular fee guide the carrier has chosen.
Be sure you clearly understand how much of the quoted fee your plan will cover. Questions relating to dental insurance coverage may typically be answered by the insurer or your employee benefits representative.
4. Predeterminations for treatment. Insurers often send a “predetermination for treatment” directly to the patient. Please watch for this important letter and bring it to our office for interpretation.
Cancellation Policy
At Viva Dental, we are committed to high quality patient care. Your appointment time has been reserved exclusively for you and changes to appointment times often affect other patients and staff.
As such, our cancellation policy is as follows:
- If you are unable to attend your appointment, we require two business days notice to re-schedule the appointment
- Short notice cancellations may be subject to a fee charged to your account