The following information will help to acquaint you with our office policies and procedures.

It is the intent of this office to provide for your oral surgery needs in a way that ensures your comfort. We believe that service to our patients is best when there is a complete mutual understanding, informed consent, trust and co-operation.

Generally, the procedure for a new patient in our office is as follows:

1. The initial consultation appointment (except in cases of emergencies) is spent ensuring Dr. Harris is aware of all of your medical, dental and surgical needs. This includes a complete health history, any necessary examinations, viewing any x-rays, along with an informed consent process and possibly even an informed consent video.  For your safety, please be as complete and honest about your health history.

2. During the consultation we will discuss your oral surgery condition and recommend proper treatment. The fees for that recommended treatment will be outlined and any financial arrangements and insurance estimates can be discussed. At this point, predeterminations for your insurance can be sent.

3. The fee for each service is based on the service to be rendered, as well as the time and risk associated for its completion. You will find our fees are in keeping with the quality of the service and the amount of contact time you have with Dr. Harris.

4. When you have decided upon a treatment, you and our staff will make an appointment for that care which is agreeable for everyone involved.

5. Unless Dr. Harris is treating an emergency, you should expect him to be on time, and we would appreciate the same courtesy.  If you are excessively late for your appointment we may not have enough time to provide the quality service you deserve.  We reserve the right to reschedule late arrivals. This ensures we may still provide the next patient with quality care.

Everyone at High Desert Oral Surgery and Implant Center feels strongly that our patients deserve kind, open and comfortable care.  It is our priority to listen to your needs and help you in anyway we can.  Please don’t hesitate to let Dr. Harris or any member of the team know about your concerns, needs or questions.

In Return, We Believe We Must Expect From Our Patients:

1. Commitment to making and keeping appointments. Should it be necessary to change an appointment, our patients give us forty-eight (48) business hours notice so that we can appoint the time to another patient. There will be a charge for last minute cancellations or if you do not show up for your appointment.
   
   
2. A conscientious effort to follow all pre and post-operative instructions.
   
   
3. An understanding that surgical treatment carries inherent risk and complications can and do occur.
   
   
4. An open willingness to let us know if there is a way to make your experience at High Desert Oral Surgery more pleasant and comfortable.
   

Office Hours

Our regular office hours are:  Monday thru Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm.

Lunch is generally taken between 12:00 and 1:00 pm.

After Hour / Emergency Calls
(480) 575 - 0844

After hour/emergency calls are forwarded directly to Dr. Harris’ cell phone. We do not utilize an answering service so that Dr. Harris can better serve your post-operative needs.  Should he not be immediately available please leave a message, Dr. Harris will return your call within 2 hours, if not much sooner.  If you believe your condition is life threatening, please go immediately to the emergency room or call an ambulance.  However, the treatment or care that is available at an emergency room is extremely limited for oral and maxillofacial emergencies.  Dr. Harris will not call in drug refills without an examination to ensure you are not experiencing a complication.

Please reserve insurance, billing and other business related calls until regular business hours as Dr. Harris will be unable to answer your questions or aid you when not in the office.

Insurance/Billing Procedures

Insurance:

We will contact your insurance company to get an estimate of your benefits. Your insurance company will never guarantee payment or benefits over the phone or fax. While we will endeavor to provide you with an accurate assessment of what your insurance company says they will provide you, we can not be responsible if they ultimately deny anything for any reason. 

Once we receive information from your insurance company, we will incorporate that information into your treatment estimate.

At your request, we can submit for a Pre-Determination of Benefits before any treatment begins. This is a significantly more accurate way to determine what benefits may be paid by your insurance company. Response time to receive information back from an insurance company is approximately 4-6 weeks. Remember, a pre-determination does not guarantee an insurance payment; it is only a more accurate way to attempt to determine what your insurance plan will pay.

We do not accept HMO or DMO insurance plans.

We will make every effort to help you manage your relationship with your insurance company; however, you will always be responsible for ensuring your bill is paid.

Billing:

Statements are prepared and mailed on or about the 1st day of every month. After your insurance pays High Desert Oral Surgery, any patient who has a balance will automatically be sent a statement. Accounts not paid in full within ninety (90) days may be referred to a collection agency and are subject to interest charges.  Should your insurance pay more than estimated, High Desert Oral Surgery will issue a refund within 30 days.

Financial Policy / Procedures

The treatment plan is only an estimate.  On rare occasions, Dr. Harris may detect surgical issues which must be corrected to ensure a successful outcome of the procedure. Every effort will be made to discuss these issues prior to or during the procedure.  Any additional cost associated with those needs will be explained by Dr. Harris to the patient and/or responsible party who will be responsible for those additional costs.

Payments

High Desert Oral Surgery is a fee for service office. Therefore, all fees are due at the time of treatment. If you do not have insurance, the total fee for your treatment is due at the time of service. We accept cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.

Payment Plans

High Desert Oral Surgery, in cooperation with CareCredit, offers several payment plans to meet your needs.  Financial arrangements made with CareCredit must be approved and received by our office prior to the day of treatment.

Implants

Our estimate for dental implants does not include the cost associated with the restorative treatment (i.e.the crown, abutment or denture placed on the implant(s)). This work will be billed directly by your general dentist who will be performing that work.  Dr. Harris has no role in the fabrication of dental implants, screws, abutments or the final restoration and does not warranty the care provided by another practitioner or warranty the medical devices / dental implants. 

As Dr. Harris will explain, implants or parts of implants can and do fail, bend or loosen.  This rare occurrence is out of the control of Dr. Harris.  Should an implant be rejected by the patient, the patient is responsible for the full cost associated with the redo of the implant or crown, should you choose to do so.

Biopsies

Our estimate for biopsies does not include the cost associated with the laboratory and pathologist. We will request a copy of your medical insurance information to send to the laboratory and pathologist so they can directly bill your medical insurance.  High Desert Oral Surgery is not responsible for the billing practices of that third party.

Cancellation Policy

A cancellation fee of $150.00 may be charged to your account for not showing up for your appointed time or for cancellations or rescheduling your appointment without a 48 hour notification.

Leaving a message does not meet these requirements;

We prefer you call the office and speak directly with a staff member so that we may better serve your scheduling needs. We will charge for continual changes in schedule or broken appointments. If there are unusual circumstances surrounding the need to change a scheduled appointment, please let us know.

"Deep Sedation is Our Specialty"

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 FINANCE YOUR DENTAL IMPLANTS OR ORAL SURGERY

Send me an e-mail: dr.harris@highdesertoralsurgery.com