Private Practice Dentist, page 2

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Featured Dentist

Insurances: Dentist of Choice , Private Practice

Clinic: Aventurin dental practice

Address:

Graben 31,Top 11

1010 Vienna


Featured for
  • Tooth whitening and dental bleaching
  • Dental implant
  • Cosmetic dentistry

Featured for

  • Tooth whitening and dental bleaching
  • Dental implant
  • Cosmetic dentistry
At the moment no entries are available
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What is a private dentist?

Simply put, a private physician in any medical specialty is a doctor who does not have contracts with any of the health insurers here in Vienna and even across Austria. Contrary to the so-called panel dentists, who are also called contracted dentists, private dentists also do not have a license from any kind of insurance association and, thus, also do not maintain so called panel dentist seats. Though a patient may visit a private dentist at any time just like a panel dentist and irrespective of his or her insurance status, payment and reimbursement processes for private dentists are very different from those for panel dentists. This is because insurers do not reimburse any treatment costs, even for emergency cases. We will delve into more details on this in the following paragraphs. 
 
The profession of private dentist is classified as an independent (aka. free) profession here in Austria. After opening an own practice, a new private dentist has to register it with the local dental association and the local medical/health authority. 


What does a private dentist offer?

Private dentists offer, similarly to dentists of choice, in general a broader array of services than panel dentists because they do not have to adhere to the treatment catalogs that are dictated by the health insurers. Thus, a private dentist can circumvent the limited treatment spectrum offered by the health insurers and offer a broader selection of services, including some of the more innovative and new therapy approaches that may or may not have become mainstream yet (e.g., laser therapy).

The dental fee schedule serves as the basis for reimbursement of a private dentist and states that a dentist may only charge for services that are medically necessary for the effective and proper treatment of patients. Service that go beyond what is deemed medically necessary can only be charged for if they have been explicitly requested by a patient. Dental services that are purely cosmetic in nature (e.g., bleaching, dental jewelry, etc.) are never paid for by health insurers, even if they are explicitly requested by a patient with insurance coverage.  


Does reimbursement work differently with a private dentist than with a panel dentist?

Patients with governmental health insurance may also receive treatment fro ma private dentist and are then referred to as "self-payers". In such cases, a de-facto service contract is formed between private dentist and patient completely without the need to present the patient's insurance card. Should a patient have an additional private insurance policy, it may in some situations cover a part or all of his or her treatment costs. Otherwise, the patient has to pay for the entire treatment him- or herself, as we already mentioned. 

In order to support their patients with the reimbursement of their treatment costs, private dentists have a duty to prepare a detailed cost estimate for the patient which the patient may use to check whether his insurance will reimburse for the treatment. This is particularly useful in cases where expensive procedures are involved because, ideally, a patient should know for what part of his upcoming treatment his insurance will pay for, if for any. 


Is a private dentist better than a panel dentist?

Despite their generally higher costs for patients, private dentists offer several important advantages. First, there is the significantly broader spectrum of offered services, which includes novel and higher-efficacy treatment approaches that panel dentists do not offer. Also, private dentists may spend more time with their patients and, similarly to dentists of choice, one may also have an easier time with finding an appointment than one would have with a panel dentist. On top of that, most private dentists are specialists in their respective specialty areas (as opposed to general dentists) and perform their treatments with the latest and newest equipment and technology that are available on the market.

The greatest drawback is the treatment cost because it is usually very difficult to assess ahead of time and, especially, prior to a treatment. Also, since health insurers do not pay for even a part of the treatment costs, a private dentist visit usually turns into an expensive proposition. The high costs may in many cases be justified and outweighed by superior treatment quality but, nonetheless, private dentists do remain un-affordable for many people.

In an effort to help solve this dental treatment cost problem, DentalAce developed two unique functions – our Price Check and our personal request. Both allow treatment-seeking patients and capable private dentists to come together more seamlessly and without any aggravating treatment cost-related surprises.  

For more interesting stories, feel free to check out the DentalAce blog and join our online community via a free subscription online on our web portal whenever you choose to do so.

All the Best & see you soon, Ace!


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