A primary care dentist in Cedar Rapids, IA is the dentist that is the primary provider of care to an individual who has treatment covered by a maintenance organization insurance plan. This is the dentist that assumes the responsibility for coordination and the integration of any and all dental care for the insured patient. A patient’s primary care dentist is the gateway to specialists if necessary, the dentist is responsible for giving the insured patient a referral form before the patient can visit the specialist and revive care. The objective is the same as it is for an HMO, keep costs down for all concerned while giving the insured wider access to specialists that can provide high quality care.
In the past, dental insurance plans were very paltry, the best one could expect was to have routine dental maintenance covered, things like filling cavities and cleaning. Rarely was major dental work covered under the insurance plan although there were some medical insurance plans that integrated more complex dental work into their plan, in many cases these plans covered things like orthodontics. The primary difference in these health plans of old vs. the modern dental plans is access; today you work through your primary care dentist in Cedar Rapid, IA and in the past you could make a personal appointment with any dentist who accepted your insurance plan.
As the popularity and success of HMOs spread, the idea of selecting a primary care physician spread quickly to dental practice. DMOs, dental maintenance organizations provide a wide range of dental care but you cannot access it unless you go through the primary care dentist first. The insured is free to select his or her own primary care dentist and once the selection has been made, if the insured requires any specialist dental care, the PCD must first be consulted.
In an effort to control insurance costs, the insurance companies expect the primary care dentist to take control of what services the patient can have. It is thought by the insurance companies that if the insured has to go through various levels of approval that this will help eliminate unnecessary specialist care which will drive the costs down. In the event the insured is approved for specialist services, the records are kept by the PCD which will theoretically eliminate duplication of service and cost.
Adrian Rehak, D.D.S. is a dentist in Cedar Rapids, IA that welcomes patients with dental insurance. Once the services have been verified, Dr. Rehak will bill the insurance company direct removing th payment burden from your shoulders.
