Everyday Ethics
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 EDITORIAL
Everyday Ethics
By Dr. Richard Galeone
EDITOR’ S NOTE: Leading up to the celebration of PDA’ s 150th Anniversary in 2018, we will be featuring reprints of Pennsylvania Dental Journal editorials. This issue features the September / October 2001“ throwback” editorial.
It was not very long ago that I thought that ethical dilemmas presented themselves only infrequently at my dental office. After all, it had been a long time since any patient asked me to change the date of treatment on an insurance form, or a dental supplier had made a billing error in my favor. Besides, I thought, I had a very structured and proper education, having attended religious schools from the first grade right up until graduation from college. I felt that my moral compass was firmly set toward justice, fairness and the American way, and I did not have to take an ethics course to demonstrate what was right and what was wrong.
This past Monday morning, one of our receptionists, a woman who has been with us for a long time, brought three charts to my attention. Over the previous weekend, each of the three patients had been attended to by a doctor from another practice with which we share call. One of the patients was a child who had experienced dental pain and apparently had an abscessed tooth. The covering doctor had prescribed an antibiotic and pain medication which proved to be the appropriate treatment. I wanted to see this patient that day, on Monday.
“ Do we have to call them?” asked the receptionist.“ They’ re a collection problem and they haven’ t been in here for over a year.”
I understood her frustration. We were probably going to have to wait long and try hard to be compensated for our care. But I was concerned that she had misinterpreted our insistence on sound business practice, and presumed I would not see the patient until the balance was paid. She did not differentiate between an emergency, an urgent and an elective visit. I do not remember ever discussing this with my staff. Maybe I assumed they would realize the difference. The truth is, however, that I never gave it any thought. But these are the risks that health professionals take when developing business-office policy.
48 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2017 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL