Why do dentists accept DMO?
Added: November 17, 2007 - 8:43 PM
By: Patient Email Withheld, Los Angeles, CA
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I am really wondering why there are dentists that accept DMO. I am from Europe and here in the US I got the DMO through my work. When they gave me the presentation, it all sounded great. Root canal, 175, crowns 225, great. In Europe a lot of things are covered as well, so I didn't think it was that odd.
Now that I actually need some work done, it seems DMO is not so great at all. After reading up on the DMO plan and hearing from friends of mine in the same position, it seems like all DMO dentists are after is to rip you off and make money off of you instead of actually having the patient's best interest.
Now that I have done some research, I understand that the DMO plan might be a bad deal for dentists, as they lose money on the procedures they have to provide for the prices listed. But in that case, my question is: Why participate in the plan in the first place? And should I assume that any dentist that accepts DMO basically will be ready to rip me off and has no integrity or ethics whatsoever? Are there DMO dentists out there that do stick to the prices listed?
I have to wait a whole year to be able to switch to PPO, so I will probably be stuck having to go to a DMO dentist and I am quite frankly not happy about having a dentist work on my teeth that has already shown he's willing to set his ethics aside.
To the dentists below that say they strongly disagree with the DMO plan, yet do accept DMO patients: Do you explain to your new patients over the phone that you in fact really do not accept the DMO plan and fees before they sign up with you? Are you listed on the search page of the DMO websites as "accepting DMO"?
This is a big part of the problem for me, because now you have dentists listed as accepting the fees promised to the patient, and yet these fees are not honored. So where does that leave the patient? How is the patient to know whether he or she is being ripped off or actually needs all these procedures? Why should the patient pay more than the rates promised to him/her? If you thought the rates were unreasonable, you should not have chosen to accept them. Unfair as the rates may be for the dentist, this should really not be made the patient's problem. My question remains: Why accept DMO? Why not make a statement against it? Why not request more reasonable rates? Or should I be left assuming that you are you one of the dentists that are "desperate for new patients"?
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Reply: Why do dentists accept DMO?
added: November 18, 2007 - 1:07 AM
I am very impressed with your understanding of the situation. You got it right on. therefore I am only contracted with PPO insurance. Dentists are signed up generally for one of three reasons: the dentist is desperate for new patients, the dentist has no ethics, or the dentist has an old contract with an HMO/DMO that is financially reasonable.Call if you have any questions.I personally do accept patients with an HMO/DMO and I offer them a courtesy off my fees to make it more affordable.
Reply: Why do dentists accept DMO?
added: November 18, 2007 - 8:07 AM
Dear Patient,You understand the plan completely. Our office does not accept any HMO/DMO plans because quite simply the fees are so low a lot of times to do high quality work and deliver a product (like a veneer or a crown) to a patient the lab bills are 2-3x that of the procedural fee. It is a negative result.We do accept HMO/DMO patients and offer a discount on our standard fee schedule.I am from Canada, there are no plans that I am aware of like the ones in California. Dentists sign up for these plans to get new patients, not necessarily to set their ethics aside but because of the low fees are forced into offering services that are off the main menu of items covered. It becomes a game. When the HMO/DMO dentists render services like crowns etc, there are padded fees that sometimes would otherwise be not charged. In addition the offices are forced to look for labs which can produce crowns at the lowest possible prices - often labs in China or the philipines where the work is done for a few pennies a day under slave like conditions. Frankly if you knew the game you could write a best seller.My best advice to you is this. There is nothing in dentistry that is so catastrophic that could bankrupt you - unlike in medicine where if you have no health insurance and wind up with a problem you could spend millions.Regular checkups/Flossing/Brushing daily is your best insurance - 2 cleanings a yr may cost you 300 bucks total, a small price really.L
Reply: Why do dentists accept DMO?
added: November 18, 2007 - 8:16 AM
Managed care dentistry is dentistry by the lowest bidder with neither freedom of choice nor quality control. It is crime. Darrell Pruitt DDS
Reply: Why do dentists accept DMO?
added: November 19, 2007 - 8:39 AM
I do not accept DMO''''s (prepaid plans ie $5 per month per patient regadless of if they come in or not. If they do come in then it usually costs the dentists more money because he has to do the work for free sometimes or for pennies, if they dont come in then the office makes $5 per head. If this dentist signs up for 3000 patients that''''s $15000 per month to do some dentistry on these 3000 patients which the office hopes will not come in because then it becomes profit. This initially is the case when the 3000 patients do not know where you are but then the patients that sign up for these plans need lots of dentistry because they do not have enough money for good insurance and their teeth need a lot of work. when these people show up the $15000 is not a lot anymore so the office resorts to selling elective treatment and starts to play games so that the procedures are not covered to make it worth while.)and I am not patricipating in any PPO (reduced fee contracts with insurance companies)You are very right about your comments but here insurance companies are very powerful and economics force dentists who are not very good business people to give in and jump on these ridiculous band wagons. In Los Angeles there are way too many dentists compared to other parts of the USA. Within 1 mile of my practice there are at least 5000 dentists. There are 40 in the medical building i work in and probably the same accross the street. dentistry is expensive and there are lots of people with DMO
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