Venting…dentist office stuff.

[focusondisney]

Because who is listed first/second has no bearing and doesn't matter, that's why.

Except in the OPs case, by listing her husband first, HER last name doesn’t even show in the statement. And since SHE is the primary insured, HER name is the one that should be showing.

 

[TCRAIG]

Back to the original OP - yes, I would look for a new dentist and I would also tell the old one exactly why I was leaving their practice.

 

[focusondisney]

OP, I carried the medical & dental insurance for my family for most of the 44 years we’ve been married. My dentist has always listed me as primary with my kids & husband as the patient. I imagine doing it the other way would coz problems with the insurance.

 

[AppleDumpling]

I went to the dentist today for some work (as opposed to a cleaning). I’m not fond of this office, been a patient for ~2 years, since our previous dentist retired. DH also goes to this dentist. For what it is worth, we are both on my insurance.

They got a new computer system recently. The receipt I got today clear listed DH as the account holder and our address in the header info.

i was merely listed as a patient. First name only. (DH and I have different last names.)

They gave me two different reasons why…1st was-oh, you must be on your husband’s insurance. Umm No, we are on my insurance. The other explanation they gave me was my DH is considered by them to be the head of the household. This explanation did not fly with me either, as this is 2022, not 1952..

I asked then about having a separate account, and…that is harder for us to handle, since both of us are on the same insurance.

Might be time for a different dentist. I’m not overly happy about staying, but finding a new dentist is also frustrating.

thanks for listening to me vent!

Since the insurance is through your employer, and especially since your last name is different, I am really surprised you are not listed as the primary insured. I would think that the insurance carrier would require it that way. Otherwise, it seems like it would lead to issues, ie. your records could easily be misidentified when claims are processed. How are the names listed on the insurance card? You should definitely be first, followed by DH, followed by any dependent children.

If you otherwise are happy with the dentist, I would politely but firmly ask the office to make a simple clerical change. If they give you a hard time, I’d look elsewhere.

 

[Kestryl]

If they couldn’t fix the system, I would switch. Heck, I may switch anyways- they seem to be inviting problems with insurance.

My husband and I have different last names. We are on insurance through my work. Our previous dentist (we moved to a new state, no problems with them) actually pointed out that they list the member first, then dependents, all with full names, because of mix-ups with insurance if someone is listed as a dependent when they’re not or have different names.

 

[Christine]

Oddly, whatever software my dentist is using is also set up with family accounts. It's never really been a problem. I don't know if it's under my name or my husband's. It might just be under "Smith Family" who knows. The way I figured all that out was when my kids aged out into adults, got their own jobs and insurance, and their bills were still coming to me. We had to have them separated off the family account.

 

[Allison]

Because who is listed first/second has no bearing and doesn't matter, that's why.

It doesn't matter to you but it may to your client and they should be given a choice.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Our provincial health cards list the male as the head of household.

 

[ashley0139]

Our provincial health cards list the male as the head of household.

Wow, I feel bad for single mothers/women. Or two women who are married. How sad they don't have a head of household.

 

[leebee]

Why is your CPA office still doing this? Shouldn't you be asking your clients their preferred way? Your internal practice sounds like a weird excuse. And sexist. And presumptuous. And discriminatory. How hard is it to adopt a practice of asking rather than assuming?

You left out misogynistic.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm really just surprised the first name listed wasn't the one who carries the insurance.

 

[TAX GUY]

You left out misogynistic.

 

[princesscinderella]

I can maybe clear up some of the issues the OP is having, since I run a dental office. You mentioned that the office got a new software, which means an older database was converted to keep the old records intact while moving to the new system. Sometimes the databases don’t always match up perfect to the new system. Odds are the staff are still learning the new system themselves and couldn’t easily answer your questions without a call to software support. Our system has a separate section for the person who has the insurance as the patient is not necessary the primary insured and they can be linked to multiple family members accounts. There is a check box where you can indicate someone is head of household (not necessarily a man but who is responsible for paying the bill, especially if it’s a minor getting treatment). They should be an to make changes to your last name and disconnect your account from your husband’s. With electronic records they wouldn’t want to create a new profile for you because then all your previous chart records would be missing. I wouldn’t not go back to the dentist because of how my name showed up on the bill but based on my actual treatment by the dentist. The staff can come and go but the one performing the procedures better be competent and not trying to overcharge for treatment not necessary.

 

[ronandannette]

Not sure what the big deal is. Listing your husband first isn't a jab at you, just their in house practice. We do the same in our office (CPA firm). We typically list husband first (as taxpayer) and wife second (spouse). It's not because we are trying to insult women, but our internal practice is that way, and has been that way. When we all look at documents and returns, "taxpayer" will be associated with hubby's docs. It means nothing to anyone other than within our office.

Your rant comes off as more of a reason on why you want to switch dentists, which if that's the case, just switch.

Our company has an extremely ethinically-diverse clientele. We've got legitimate issues sometimes not being able to recognize which is the man and which is the lady. This is important information so that we can respectfully address them in writing and on the phone. For this reason only, all our internal files are set up uniformly with the protocol of having the man's name listed first and the lady's name second. The customers never, ever see these records but everybody at every level internally can be confident when reading them. As I understand it (it's not my department) our Sales Contracts list whichever person the customer's specify first.

I think that office deserves to be asked a lot of annoying (for them) questions.

(1) I should be listed as primary - how long will it take you to correct your records?

(2) What do you mean you always list the husband as head of household? What do you do if there’s a single mom with barely adult children? Are you listing the 19 year old son as head? For that matter, what if there’s a couple comprised of two wives or two husbands? What do you input in the computer then?

(3) Is this a computer software issue, or a personal choice? Is this choice made by you or the dentist? Have you contacted the software company about how to use it properly?

and if all else fails….
(4) isn’t it against procedure to fail to maintain proper medical records ? Your antiquated views about who to list first mean you don’t have my correct name in your records.

If there's a single person, we put the name in either the first position, if it's a man, or the second position if it's a lady. In our context, there's no reason to list children or any other household members.

As for same-sex couples, well, what can you do? We just pick a name and put it first. Honestly though, this is basically never the case with our ethnic clientele so it's generally easy enough to recognize there are two men's names or two women's.

I'm really just surprised the first name listed wasn't the one who carries the insurance.

This is the part that I found weird as well. That and not listing a surname for the OP. Regardless of the whole "head of household" thing, it would seem prudent to list both first-and-last, for every patient.

 

[kymom99]

OP, I carried the medical & dental insurance for my family for most of the 44 years we’ve been married. My dentist has always listed me as primary with my kids & husband as the patient. I imagine doing it the other way would coz problems with the insurance.

Yep because when they file they have to file it under the person insured. I don’t know how there haven’t been mistakes already.

 

[ashley0139]

Our company has an extremely ethinically-diverse clientele. We've got legitimate issues sometimes not being able to recognize which is the man and which is the lady. This is important information so that we can respectfully address them in writing and on the phone. For this reason only, all our internal files are set up uniformly with the protocol of having the man's name listed first and the lady's name second. The customers never, ever see these records but everybody at every level internally can be confident when reading them. As I understand it (it's not my department) our Sales Contracts list whichever person the customer's specify first.

If there's a single person, we put the name in either the first position, if it's a man, or the second position if it's a lady. In our context, there's no reason to list children or any other household members.

As for same-sex couples, well, what can you do? We just pick a name and put it first. Honestly though, this is basically never the case with our ethnic clientele so it's generally easy enough to recognize there are two men's names or two women's.

This is the part that I found weird as well. That and not listing a surname for the OP. Regardless of the whole "head of household" thing, it would seem prudent to list both first-and-last, for every patient.

It's a fair reason, but why not the woman's name first? It's always just default that it is the man's.

 

[ronandannette]

It's a fair reason, but why not the woman's name first? It's always just default that it is the man's.

Nothing specific; that's just the way we always have done it and will always do it, for the reason I explained. We routinely manage files for up to 20 years - there's no practical way to flip the format, and absolutely no reason to even contemplate doing it.

 

[GreatLakes]

If you like the dentist and the insurance billing is correct despite their internal practices I'd stay with them. I really don't care if my name or my wife's is listed or what it looks like. I care if I like my dentist and don't have to straighten our billing mistakes after every visit.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Wow, I feel bad for single mothers/women. Or two women who are married. How sad they don't have a head of household.

Yup it’s so weird. His name is on front if the card (his and mine) and then the whole family (under 18) listed on the flip side.

 

[sasywtch]

Some of the examples given remind me of the military ID where the military members name is on front and you are a spouse or a dependent. When I first got married in the 70's, Montgomery Wards issued us a credit card, both cards had my husband's name on it. (I'm assuming my signature was on file with the application). 3 years later, they came into this century and issued the cards with our individual name on them. The electric, heat, water bills all came in the husband's name. It may not seem like a big deal but I felt like I was still at my parent's home and my husband was in charge. The biggest problem as TVguy mom's mentioned, it's a pain if that husband died or divorced. When we divorced and I lived in the house with the kids, The utility companies wanted me to pay deposits because I was a new person on the account. Things have come a long way but there is still some that need to work on it.