Silver Sands Veterinary

I want to thank this pet advocate for such a special review concerning our Urgent Care practice. In both Urgent Care and our General Practice, SSV works hard to make all visits timely with minimal waiting.Many times this is unavoidable because of the complex medical and surgical problems seen in urgent care and general practice triage daily.The nurses communicate with the clients if there is a delay and always apologize if there is a increased waiting time!As far as communication, SSV prides itself in having one of the most comprehensive communication systems in Ct. We have voice mail; text; two emails; and our new APP-Chat Room that clients love.We also utilize 24/7 back-up with the six 24/7 Critical Care Centers if we are not available to help.Our nurses show love and attention to all of our patients. The patients realize this and enjoy visiting SSV which becomes their home away from home.Compare this to human medicine. You call and only get a computer answering menu system that is exhausting to listen to and figure out with the inability to talk to a human.This client has a dispute, not with me, but with her insurance company. I think health insurance is very important and all pet advocates should pick a company that best fits their needs. As in human insurance, pet insurance many times is centered on non-coverage because of pre-existing conditions. This client has that problem. I took quite a bit of time to send all Problem Oriented Medical Records to the client’s home which were needed to clarify the issue. I never got a letter from her insurance company asking me to make a statement about pre-existing issuers. I cannot change an insurance company’s decision of pre-existing condition[s]! Insurance companies always ask me for complete records to make a final decision.With diligence and detailed review, I complied by providing the Problem Oriented Medical Records that the insurance company needed. The insurance company did not specify a letter was needed. We asked the client to provide such a letter and she told the staff she could not forward such a letter.The owner wanted to set up a conference call unannounced while we were in ER –Urgent Care triage.She did lose contact with us as we had to return to ER triage. Our nurses cannot stay on the phones for lengthy periods if there is an ER patient in our hospital. Most clients realize this and would never complain about us returning to our emergency patient.This communication was unnecessary because we had already sent all of the Problem Oriented Medical records to the client for her to forward to her insurance company. SSV prides itself as being a client advocate and providing all medical records to insurance companies. From that point forward, ,it is a dispute between the client and the insurance company that must be resolved. This is definitely NOT unprofessional as stated by the client. It actually is caring for the client; pet; and providing a professional summary for the insurance company.Doctors have no role in controlling decisions by insurance companies. That is why I tell the clients to thoroughly investigate the history of their insurance company before purchasing a policy.In review, I see no negativity in all that was done to assist this client with detailed medical records for insurance company review.At this time of Chanukah and Christmas, we would like to take a moment to wish all of our pet advocates and their fur babies a holiday of peace and happiness.Dr. Don DeForge 05Dec2023