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Patient Information

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  • 8am-5pm

About the Dental Institute

The primary role of the Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine’s Clinical Education Program is the training of dental health professionals. The fees we charge cover the operating costs and services of the clinic.

The care performed by our student doctors and overseen by our faculty is completed in a manner that gives priority to education. However, this may result in longer treatment appointments for most procedures than would occur in a private dental office. Patients should consider the amount of time necessary to complete their care at the Dental Institute to make sure this will not impose any undue hardship. The student doctors will also have periodic educational breaks, similar to other teaching institutions. During these times, the patient clinics are not open for routine dental appointments.

The Dental Institute is open for patient treatment from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday, excluding holidays and scheduled academic breaks. Patient check-in will begin at 7:30 AM.

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Dental

How to Become a Patient

The first step in becoming a patient is to schedule a screening appointment. This appointment will be a brief examination by a faculty member to determine if your needs are compatible with the educational needs of our students.

If you are selected as a potential teaching case at the initial examination, you will be assigned to a student doctor in the Dental Institute. This appointment will consist of a review of your health history, a comprehensive examination, and x-rays to determine what treatment you require.

Your student doctor, under the guidance and supervision of an assigned faculty member, will complete your examination using comprehensive diagnostic techniques and specialty departmental consultations as needed.

The length of time to complete treatment depends on the individual needs of each patient. We offer quality dental care, but as a teaching facility, such care may require longer appointments than you may be accustomed to in a private dental office. These longer appointments should be taken into consideration when selecting the Midwestern University Dental Institute. However, the cost of dental care at the Dental Institute is reduced to offset the training and educational needs of dental students.

What to Expect On your First Visit

We start with a 20 minute no-cost screening to determine whether or not your needs meet our ability to provide treatment. If accepted as a teaching case, you may continue with the comprehensive exam and radiographs that same day(s) or schedule an appointment at a convenient time.

Throughout your exam, we keep you informed. Findings are reviewed by student and faculty, and then we discuss treatment plan options — carefully explaining the exam results, the anticipated costs, and scheduling.

What To Bring With To Your Appointment

Please bring photo identification such as a valid Driver’s License or Personal Identification Card, a form of payment (we accept cash, personal checks, American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa), your dental insurance card if applicable, a list of your current medications. If you had recent x-rays, please request that the dental provider’s office send them to us before your initial screening appointment. In addition, if you are pregnant and require dental care, please bring a note from your doctor.

Appointment Guidelines

To ensure the safety of children, they will not be permitted to accompany you into the treatment area or be left unattended in the waiting area. Children must be supervised by another adult in the waiting area at all times. If your children are left unattended, your appointment will be cancelled. Therefore, please make prior arrangements for appropriate childcare.

Appointments should be cancelled only when it is absolutely necessary. Your student doctor will give you the clinic phone number to call directly.

We require 48 hours of notice for an appointment cancellation. If you cancel with less than 48 hours notice of your scheduled appointment, it would be considered a “no show” appointment. Patients who fail three scheduled appointments will be dismissed from the Dental Institute and will not be permitted to continue in the teaching program.

Please remember that your student doctor depends on you to make your appointments as there is a limited amount of time for your student doctor to achieve the necessary clinical experiences required for graduation.

Special Needs

Please advise us in advance if you have a special need such as a hearing impairment or availability of a wheelchair.

Non-English-Speaking Patients

For the benefit of your understanding of the treatment provided, we encourage you to bring a translator with you to your appointment if you do not speak English.

Payment for Dental Services

There is an initial fee to evaluate you as a potential teaching case after your screening appointment. This initial fee includes an examination and x-rays. Payment is due at the time the service is provided. For your convenience, we accept personal checks with valid identification, cash, MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express, and Care Credit. There is an additional $30.00 charge for returned checks. Patients will not receive treatment until all fees and outstanding charges are paid in full.

Fees are expected and due at time of service. However, multi-step appointment services (e.g. crowns, bridges, complete and partial dentures, implant procedures or root canal procedures) require payment of 50% of the fee at the time of the start of treatment. The remaining balance for that treatment is due at the beginning of the appointment when the restoration is completed or the appliance is delivered.

Dental Insurance

If you have dental insurance, please bring your insurance information with you on your first appointment. This should include a valid insurance card, an address for submitting claims, the name, date of birth and identification number of the subscriber. The Midwestern University Dental Institute currently only accepts a very limited number of dental insurance plans. However, as a courtesy, we will provide a copy of the dental claim form for you to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement once services are paid in full.

Referrals and Prior Authorizations

It is your responsibility as the patient to verify with your insurance whether you need a referral or prior authorization. If a referral or prior authorization is required by the insurance, you need to obtain the referral or prior authorization and bring it to your appointment.

THE DENTAL INSTITUTE IS NOT OBLIGATED TO PROVIDE ANY TYPE OF CARE, COMPREHENSIVE OR LIMITED, WHICH IS NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PATIENT ACCORDING TO THE JUDGMENT OF THE CLINICAL FACULTY.

Fee Estimates

Patients will be advised of their recommended treatment and its estimated cost, as well as any alternative treatment. The accepted Treatment Plan will be signed by the patient and attending faculty member. This Treatment Plan will be entered into our dental patient management computer program, which will allow the clinic administration to track the progress of your care.

Fee estimates are based on the current fees at the time the treatment plan was signed. However, the fee charged at the time any service or procedure is started will be the fee that is currently in effect.

At each visit, you will be advised of the costs of each succeeding procedure so that you are prepared for the subsequent charges. Please ask your student doctor if this is not clear.

It is ultimately the patients’ responsibility to review their insurance policies regarding any limitations, exclusions, alternative benefits, deductibles, co-payments, annual maximums, and pre-authorizations prior to treatment.

MWU Cares Program

We are here to serve the community, and we offer a program to assist the public in times of financial hardship. Please contact the Assistant Manager of Patient Accounts at 623-537-6000 for information.

Non-Payment

The Dental Institute will attempt to make payment arrangements when necessary. However, if a payment plan has been established and no payment activity has occurred on the patient account, this may result in dismissal from the Dental Institute and other Midwestern University Clinics and the account being sent to a collection agency.

Comprehensive Care

After your initial appointment, you will be given an appointment to determine your treatment needs. Alternate treatment plans may be presented. Each treatment plan will be explained to you so that you understand what you can expect, how much each plan will cost, and your risk of treatment and non-treatment.

Patients will not have the option to select only limited portions of the recommended treatment plan for dental care or to split services between the Dental Institute and a private dentist, except in the following instances:

  1. Emergency Treatment Only: Care would be limited to the relief of pain and suffering and necessary steps to assure that the situation would not recur.
  2. Referral by an outside dentist for specialty care including, but not limited to endodontic (root canal), periodontic (gums), oral surgery, implants, orthodontics (braces), and oral pathology services.

Medical & Dental Records

Dental records are the property of the Dental Institute. As the patient, you have a right to view them and have reasonable access. Copies of your records and x-rays will be provided to you or forwarded to another practitioner upon your signed written request. There is a nominal fee charged for the duplication of records.

Records Release Form

Patient Inquiry

If you have any questions about your treatment, fees, or rights, you should first contact your student doctor.

Resolution of non-financial patient problems and/or complaints should be attempted to be resolved while the patient is in the Dental Institute and the immediate faculty supervisor is present. In the event that this effort is unsuccessful, you should consult the Assistant Dean for Clinical Education.

Problems of a financial nature should be directed to the Patient Accounts Office.

All patients, students, faculty and staff will be alert to potential conflicts and will try to identify them early and resolve them as soon as possible.

Patient Bill of Rights

The Midwestern University Clinics are committed to providing quality care and service for our patients. As a health sciences university, we also provide training for future healthcare professionals who are supervised by our faculty. As a partner in this educational process, you have the right to:

  1. Impartial access to treatment without regard to race, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, or diagnosis.
  2. Receive care in a safe setting, be treated with dignity, respect and consideration, and receive treatment that supports and respects the patient’s individuality, choices, strengths, and abilities.
  3. Receive privacy in treatment and care for personal needs, including the right to request to have another person present during certain parts of a physical examination, treatment or procedure performed by a health professional of the opposite sex.
  4. Review, upon written request, the patient’s own medical record as set forth in A.R.S. §§ 12-2293, 12-2294, and 12-2294.01, and ask that your doctor amend your record if it is not accurate, relevant or complete.
  5. Receive a referral to another health care institution if Midwestern University Clinics are not authorized or not able to provide physical health or behavioral health services needed by the patient.
  6. Participate or have the patient’s healthcare power of attorney/guardian on file participate in the development of, or decisions concerning treatment, including an explanation of the prescribed treatment, treatment alternative, the option to refuse or withdraw consent for treatment before treatment is initiated (except in an emergency), the risk of no treatment, and expected outcomes of these treatments, and to be told, in language you can understand, the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  7. Participate or refuse to participate in research or experimental treatment.
  8. Receive assistance from a family member, the patient’s representative, or other individual in understanding, protecting or exercising the patient’s rights.
  9. Receive accurate and easily understood information about your healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities.
  10. Ask for and receive an itemized bill and receive an explanation of your bills.
  11. Consent to photographs before a patient is photographed.
  12. Receive continuing care by your healthcare provider, under certain circumstances, when your health plan changes and your healthcare provider is not included in the new plan or your healthcare provider terminates his or her relationship with the health care plan.
  13. A prompt and reasonable response to any complaint you have against your healthcare provider. This includes complaints about waiting times, operation hours, the actions of healthcare personnel, and the adequacy of healthcare facilities.

Responsibilities as the Patient or Guardian of Patient

  1. You have the responsibility to provide accurate and complete information about your medical history.
  2. You have the responsibility to question treatment or instructions you do not understand.
  3. You have the responsibility to keep scheduled appointments and provide at least 48 hours of notice if you need to cancel an appointment.
  4. You have the responsibility to provide information about payment for services and work with the Dental Institute to ensure that financial obligations are met.
  5. Provide, to the best of my knowledge, accurate and complete information about current medical complaints, past illnesses, hospitalizations, medicines and other issues relevant to my care, and changes to these.
  6. Inform my provider promptly if you do not understand information relating to my care and treatment or I receive instructions that I cannot comply with.
  7. Keep appointments, or call when I cannot keep a scheduled appointment by providing 48 hours of notice of appointment cancellation.
  8. Observe Midwestern University’s no smoking policy.
  9. Follow Midwestern University’s rules and regulations.
  10. Provide information regarding changes in my dental insurance.
  11. Accept responsibility for my actions, if I refuse treatment or do not follow my provider’s instructions.
  12. Be considerate of other patients and Midwestern University’s property.
  13. Show courtesy and respect to Midwestern University’s personnel.
  14. Behave reasonably and appropriately, showing respect for the professional atmosphere of Midwestern University.
  15. Provide information about payment for services and meet all financial obligations.

Patient Expectations

  1. No patient will be denied treatment based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or public assistance status.
  2. The patient shall be treated in a courteous manner, with dignity and respect for the patient’s right to confidentiality.
  3. Patients presenting for admission to the Dental Institute during the posted operating times for patient admission will be seen for screening as quickly as possible, with assignment, initial treatment where indicated, and follow-up appointments scheduled as soon after the screening appointment as is practical.
  4. If during the screening appointment the supervising dentist/faculty member determined that the person seeking care will not be accepted as a patient, that person will be immediately informed of the decision.
  5. The patient shall have access to emergency, incremental, and comprehensive care as appropriate for the patient’s presenting condition(s).
  6. The patient or parent/legal guardian shall receive an explanation of the results of the examination, alternative treatment options, sequence, and costs of treatment, and the option to pursue treatment elsewhere if dissatisfied with the planned treatment.
  7. The patient shall be advised of the risks of the treatment planned, including risks of individual procedures and the consequences of no treatment.
  8. The patient shall receive continuity of care and completion of treatment.
  9. The patient shall receive care at the Dental Institute during posted clinic hours or shall receive emergency consultation by phone or, if deemed necessary, treatment at a designed location after regular clinic hours.
  10. Treatment shall be supervised by faculty and shall be consistent with the standards of care in the community.
  11. The patient shall be seen as close as possible to the previously agreed to appointment time and have on-going treatment rendered in a timely manner.
  12. Every patient will receive a copy of the Patient Bill of Rights at the time of admission.
  13. The patient shall have access to a Patient Advocate should there be any questions or concerns related to the patient’s treatment on previously addressed by those directly participating in the patient’s care.
  14. Patients whose treatment is discontinued will be notified in writing by the College of Dental Medicine. Alternate treatment options may be suggested.
  15. At the time of admission as a patient, an individual patient record will be established. This record will contain diagnostic and therapeutic information related to the patient’s care and will be updated at every appointment according to the guidelines of the Midwestern University Dental Institute Patient Record Protocol.
  16. Upon completion of treatment, random examinations will be conducted to determine the completeness, timeliness, and appropriateness of care, the patient’s level of satisfaction with care, and the completeness of the patient record. This information will be monitored by the Quality Assurance Committee and corrections will be instituted as needed.

After-Hour Emergencies

After-hour emergencies for active patients of record are handled by the doctor on call. If you have an emergency, please call the office and the answering service will locate the doctor on call, who will return your call as soon as possible. Please do not call the after-hours emergency service for prescriptions refills, appointment cancellations, routine questions, or issues that can wait until regular office hours. If you have a life-threatening emergency, please call 911 or go to the nearest hospital emergency center.

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