Search...

Settlement of an account for dental services is a commercial agreement (or contract) between the patient and the practice. Bad debts are technically a legal matter making them a commercial dispute. It is generally best to recover bad debts directly from your patients.

Situations do arise where a patient may be unwilling to settle an account. There could be a number of reasons for this that ought to be considered, for example the possibility that the patient may not be paying because they are dissatisfied with the dental treatment.

In general, your options include:

• Sending reminders that there is an outstanding balance owing and providing payment options such as: payment by cash, cheque, credit card, payment plans and finance credit plans.
• Trying to reclaim the amount owing prior to further treatment if the patient contacts you for another appointment.
• Writing off the debt as a gesture of goodwill (depending on the amount owing), and identifying it as a bad debt in the patient’s financial records.
• Refer the debt to a Debt Collection Agency.

There are no privacy concerns with engaging a debt collection agency. There is however, a real risk that engagement of a debt collector can be the impetus for a formal complaint being made against the dentist. Before proceeding you should ensure you have adequate documentation. You could also contact your insurer as a proactive measure.

If the unpaid account concerns a patient who is not financially independent, you may choose to consider the following:

• A phone call to the person responsible during or on completion of each treatment visit, with an update on the treatment and then a request for payment.
• A follow-up email to the person responsible confirming treatment progress and include a request for payment.
• Alternately, a reminder SMS or email to the person responsible before the appointment advising that payment is due.

Dental Payment Schemes are a payment plan that create a contract between the provider and the patient, where the payments are automatically direct debited into the provider’s account. It is not a loan. It is a direct debit arrangement (similar to gym memberships). If the dentist and patient have a signed contract and the payments are not received, then there could be an issue raised regarding a breach of the contract.

Ultimately it is your decision on how you would like to resolve the situation. Advisory Services can discuss a specific situation with you, with the aim of providing proactive advice on managing these types of situations, potentially short-circuiting a complaint. Note ADA NSW does not offer any templates for debt recovery. You may wish to seek legal advice to resolve non-payment for treatment.