Why We Are Proud Not to Be a Preferred Provider

When asked if we are a “Preferred Provider” we answer that we are very proud not to have been coerced to being contracted to a Private Health Insurance (PHI) company.

What is a “Preferred Provider”?

It is certainly not a practice that offers better quality care or services. It is a practice who felt the necessity to being contracted to a Health Insurance Company to receive patient referrals and to do all their work on these patients under the strict terms and limitations demanded by the PHI, because their reputation has not allowed them to attract enough patients in their own right.

The PHI dictates to the practice what treatments can be provided to you, and they pay the dentist a lower fee for the service. This is the price any “Preferred Provider” practice is forced to pay to receive ongoing referrals of patients their way from a PHI company.

You should ask yourself in what areas is your quality of care and services provided being limited in the knowledge that the dental office is receiving a lower fee and that you may not be getting the right treatment options offered to you every time. Is it in infection control, materials used, ongoing professional training, use of cheap overseas dental laboratories, taking short cuts, or even misuse of item numbers to receive a higher payment for the service?

How would you know?

Not all new patients ask us if we are “Preferred Providers” and some get a surprise when they find out afterwards that we do not offer any NO-GAP dental services, but we take great pride in never having to rely on any PHI to send us patients.

The dental work provided to all patients should only ever be planned based on the dentist/patient discussions and not an outside third party only interested in paying for the cheapest dental care.