dentiste lapointe

May - June 2011
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-in-Chief..........................
A Word from the Editor
• The Power of Experience
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Editorial .........................
dic of the
• Our Efforts with the Syn
Bear Fruit
tes
Ordre des denturologis
ry
tist
Den
of
• Modernization
........................... 4
n ...................................
Dental Consultant Colum
es for Recipients of
• Authorization of Dentur
istance
Ass
ial
Last Resort Financ
ns
ts with Two Insurance Pla
ien
Pat
for
n
Pla
• Treatment
rs
• Treatment Plan Answe
m
rim Federal Health Progra
• Administrator of the Inte
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........................................
Member Services...........
ent
• Consumer Taxes Docum
as a Team
the Challenges of Working
g
etin
Me
–
sh
Fla
.
H.R
•
sus
• Statistics Canada Cen
............................ 6
........................................
Legal Viewpoint ..........
of Employment or Layoff
• Notice of Termination
........................ 8
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Progident .........................
and Mobility Era
• Progident in the Web
...................... 10
........................................
Focus on Insurance ..........
rhead Insurance:
• Disability – Office Ove
ner!
t It If You Are a Business Ow
hou
Wit
Do
You Cannot
.................... 12
.....
........................................
Net+ ACDQ ....................
ough the Internet:
• Claim Transmission Thr
nomical
Eco
and
Safe, Effective
....................... 14
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Dentaide .........................
s
age
ant
ent with Numerous Adv
• Dentaide: An Achievem
......................... 16
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Focus on Finance ..........
r Children’s Future!
• The RESP: Invest in You
Volume 17, Number 3
A Word from the Editor-in-Chief
Paul Massicotte, DMD, MSc.
The Power of Experience
I
have already talked about the way
our professors instilled their knowledge in us so that we would be able
to help the public manage its oral health.
Once out of university, the very next day
after the graduation ceremony, we are
like artists who have just graduated from
the conservatory. Certain values and
knowledge have been passed on to us.
Our potential has been confirmed. The
only thing left to do is immerse ourselves
in the “real” practice of our profession.
As you know, just like a violinist, we get
better with experience.
But let’s be realistic. At university, we
had three hours to perform an O.D.
surface on an understanding and cooperative patient. Our main concern then
was to perform the perfect surgery. But
in private offices, we have to deal with
quite a different reality. We return to the
learning phase. Like an actor making
first appearances on television, we have
to put our foot on the accelerator of our
dexterity to fulfill the demands of our
new reality.
The Contact Point, an Association des
chirurgiens dentistes du Québec
bimonthly publication
425 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Room 1425
Montreal, Quebec H3A 3G5
Telephone: 514 282-1425 – 1 800 361-3794
Fax: 514 282-0255
Editor-in-chief: Dr. Paul Massicotte
Editorial Board: Carole Bourguignon, Mireille Doyon
Translation: Traductions Betty Howell inc.
2
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
It is frightening, but normal. With practice, we improve our craft. We slowly discover that certain treatments come easier
to us and are more interesting than others, and we develop our expertise faster,
which builds our reputation and our
pride. Some of us will go into highly specialized fields, while others, without ever
really advertising it, will push their ability
to greater heights in one specific aspect
of dentistry and succeed in setting themselves apart. However, we must recognize that some treatments must be done
by those who specialize in them: the best
musician cannot play every instrument in
the orchestra. He will hone his craft over
time on one instrument and acquire the
renowned skill that will make him a star
and inspire admiration. That is what we
call “experience.” Wow, is my dentist experienced or what! In the ten years that
he repeats the same delicate treatments
almost every day, he demonstrates what
brilliance is...inevitably.
perform them as effectively as possible.
Ability and speed in diagnosis and treatment characterize our daily work, just
like the violinist who achieves excellence
after years of practicing, playing his instrument and listening to fellow professionals. Just like the way artists draw
their real inspiration from their public,
the main motivation for dentists is their
patients.
Yet, there comes a time when you do not
see as clearly, your back hurts and you
execute a treatment a bit more slowly
than usual… The effort to maintain your
quality when performing a dental treatment becomes quite strenuous. That is
when you have to be willing to accept,
adapt to and plan on passing the torch to
a young practitioner, whose enthusiasm
merely needs a bit of guidance.
Continued on page 19
When dentists become comfortable
and follow a healthy routine, nothing
can slow down the cruising speed they
reach. The treatments that tormented
us the most at the beginning of our career stop scaring us at some point. The
most delicate cases no longer put us off.
Instead, our experience motivates us to
Legal deposit: 1996 – ISSN 1481-8884
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
National Library of Canada
Publications Mail Agreement No: 40063501
All rights reserved.
Your opinion is important
To share your observations, concerns and
suggestions, write to us at the
ACDQ head office or send an e-mail to
cbourguignon@acdq.qc.ca.
Editorial
Serge Langlois, DDS
President
Our Efforts with the Syndic of the
Ordre des denturologistes Bear Fruit
O
n August 28, 2007, the Association requested that an
inquiry be conducted by
the syndic of the Ordre des denturologistes du Québec concerning some of
its members, particularly Yves Lapointe,
Larry Lapointe, Ghislain Lapointe, and
the denturologists that work for Centres dentaires Lapointe at one of their
fourteen locations. We then repeatedly
emphasized to the syndic that he should
consider the issues that we raised in our
request. On October 27, 2009, the assistant syndic decided to file a complaint
with the disciplinary council of his professional order against advertising that
promoted twenty-five denturologists at
these centres.
We received the decision of the disciplinary council, which found these denturologists guilty of advertising that violated the law and regulations because it
used “endorsements” and “statements
of gratitude” in 2007, 2008 and from
January 1 to October 27, 2009 and had
“engaged in, or allowed the use of advertising that is false, deceptive, appealing
to public emotionalism or liable to mislead it”. And this notwithstanding the
fact that the denturologists concerned
had, by any means whatsoever, no say in
the advertising, which is fully managed
by the Centres dentaires Lapointe.
Yet, the disciplinary council mentions
in its judgment that due to their status,
professionals must assume responsibility
for the aspects of their practice that they
entrust to a third party. In other words,
they must make sure that the third party
complies with their code of ethics and
may not disobey the laws and regulations
under the guise of anonymity provided
by a corporation or management company, even if they are not mentioned by
name or identifiable in the advertising.
Professional services are not consumer
products like other services, which is
essentially what the disciplinary council
is arguing. This judgement offers added insurance to the public, which does
not have all the information it needs to
evaluate the health care services offered
to it. This is a step forward, which required patience and determination. Rest
assured that we will stay vigilant.
Modernization of Dentistry
The issue of modernization of the profession is still very much on the agenda.
As theses lines were being written, we
are pursuing our meetings with various
instances in order to let them know that
the Quebec dentists we represent oppose
the changes suggested by the Office des
professions aimed at modernizing the
practice of dentistry in dental offices and
the public health care system. This gave
us an opportunity to make a number of
arguments that will spark some serious
contemplation about the relevance of
these changes and the effects that this
project may have in its current form. If
you would like to re-examine all of the
documents concerned by this matter,
you will still find them all in one file on
our website. Your comments are welcome. ■
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
3
Dental Consultant Column
Benoit Desrosiers, DMD, MBA
Dental Consultant
Authorization of Dentures
for Recipients of Last
Resort Financial Assistance
Treatment Plan for
Patients with Two
Insurance Plans
In the note included in the authorization
given to your patients, which comes with
various other RAMQ documents and informs them that they have only 30 days
from the date indicated to submit their
authorization to a provider, there is no
mention of a period of time between the
date entered on the authorization and
the delivery of the dentures. In fact, you
must begin to make the dentures within
30 days of the date of the authorization,
not finish and invoice the RAMQ for
them within 30 days.
Patients are occasionally covered by two
insurance plans. Usually, the first payer
(the contract held by the patient) reimburses the portion set out in the contract
and the second (family insurance held
by the spouse) reimburses the difference (coinsurance). However, patients
may notice when they submit their treatment plans that only one of the two contracts reimburses the care. The contract
clauses are what decides that. Take a
bridge for example. Some contracts will
only reimburse an acceptable alternative
treatment. In other words, one of the
contracts will reimburse the bridge only
for an amount equal to a partial removable denture, while the other will accept
the bridge. In that case, contrary to the
usual procedure, the patient may not be
reimbursed 100%. Let’s consider a different example of a patient with a congenital absence of tooth 13. If one of the
contracts does not cover this anomaly,
the patient will receive two different answers to the treatment plan. The first will
state that the company will reimburse
the percentage provided in the contract
for the FPP, and the other will say that
there will be no reimbursement. As a result, the patient will have to assume the
larger portion of the fee for the bridge
and nothing can change the answer of
the second insurer (even if the first pays
for the bridge), since there is a clause addressing this matter in the contract.
Note that if your patient is no longer eligible for dental care when the dentures
are delivered, you can still insert them.
The claim will then be considered an error, but the error processing procedure
of the RAMQ specifically states that the
rejection will not be taken into account
if the person was actually eligible on the
date of the authorization. Therefore,
you will be paid, but the RAMQ must
have sufficient information about the
claim, particularly the authorization date
and number.
4
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
Treatment Plan Answers
When you send a claim to an insurer that
has previously accepted a treatment plan,
it is important to describe the care in the
exact same way as that insurer. For example, if you make a crown and submit
your treatment plan as suggested by the
ACDQ, which means dividing your fee
from the laboratory fee as follows:
Code
Tooth
Fee
27200
13
$709
99111
13
$321
Total
$1030
some insurers, such as those affiliated
with ESI Canada, may answer as follows:
Code
Tooth
Dentist
fee
Lab
fee
Total
27200
13
$709
$321
$1030
If you send the claim in the same way
you submitted the treatment plan and
not in compliance with the insurer’s answer, the insurer may cover only your
fee and not include the lab fee. We are
now talking to the insurers in an effort
to convince them to accept treatment
plans as they are submitted. But for the
time being, we suggest that you send
all treatment plans in the same way that
they answer you in order to avoid any
delay in patient reimbursements.
Continued on page 19
Member Services
Hélène Guinois, B.A.A.
Director of Administrative Services
Consumer Taxes Document
We soon expect to add a reference document to our Documentation Center that
discusses issues related to the Goods and
Services Tax (GST), Quebec Sales Tax
(QST) and the Harmonized Sales Tax
(HST). We are currently working with a
team of specialists in the Canadian commodity tax field in order to design a tool
adapted to dentistry, without neglecting
general everyday business. Watch for it!
H.R. Flash – Meeting the
Challenges of Working as a
Team
There is a difference between a group
of people who work together and those
who work together effectively as a team.
In a successful team-oriented environment, everyone feels that they are part
of something bigger than themselves.
However, there are several obstacles. Diversity is often cited as one of the biggest
challenges modern teams face. Perceptual, cultural and language barriers may
need to be overcome.
lenged by conflict, and this needs to be
addressed early on and transparently.
In short, effective team leaders must facilitate healthy group dynamics, motivate and inspire the members, and move
the situation forward towards new solutions. Remember that fun is also a key
factor! The team who laughs together
stays together.
Your Practical Human Resource Management Guide talks about the various factors that promote successful teamwork.
I urge you to read section 2 “Asserting
yourself as a manager”, and especially
section 3 “Management and communication”. The concepts described there
are anything but magic, but after reading
them, it will almost seem as if they are. ■
Statistics Canada Census
The Census and new National Household Survey (NHS) by Statistics Canada
will begin in early May. The data collected is important for planning services for
citizens: schools, daycare centres, police
and firefighter services, housing, roads,
public transportation, vocational training and much more.
Therefore, we encourage you to fill out
this questionnaire and return it as soon
as possible in order to support the fair
allocation of resources. ■
Psychological assistance and well-being
514 875-0720 • 1 800 361-4858
24 hour, 365 days
Coping with change can be very destabilizing for team dynamics: it could be
that a new employee joins the team, new
technology is installed or the nature of
a procedure changes. It’s important for
the team leader to understand that each
person deals with change differently.
At some point teams may also be chal-
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
5
Legal Viewpoint
Nathalie Massicotte, LL. L.
Legal Counsel
Notice of Termination of Employment or Layoff
Y
ou often ask me about the amount
of notice that you need to give to
your employees when you want to
dismiss or lay them off. The goal of the
notice is to allow employees to find another suitable job without experiencing
financial loss.
Here is some information that will help
you give notice.
The legislator has set out provisions concerning the notice of termination in the
Act respecting Labour Standards, hereinafter the ALS, and the Civil Code of
Quebec, hereinafter the CCQ.
Basically, the following are the cases in
which a notice of termination of employment must be given:
Dismissal for just cause ➞ minimum
notice stipulated in the ALS
Dismissal without just cause ➞
reasonable notice stipulated in the
CCQ, including the minimum notice of the ALS
a) Some cases exempt you from giving notice
Section 82.1 of the ALS provides that
employers are exempt from giving notice
in the four following cases:
- When the employee has less than
three months of uninterrupted
service
6
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
-When the contract is for a fixed
term and expires
- When the employee has committed a serious fault (inexcusable
fault or one that is likely to harm
the proper functioning of the
business, such as theft or fraud)
- When the end of the employment
contract or layoff results from a
case of superior force
Attention:
-When employers eliminate a position because there is a lack of
work, for example, or for any other economic reason, they are not
exempt from giving reasonable
notice since that is considered a
dismissal without just cause.
- In the case of a dismissal for just
cause, you must comply with the
principle of progressive discipline
(verbal warnings, written warnings, suspensions) in order to give
employees an opportunity to correct their behavior and inform
them of what they can expect if
they slip up again. Dismissal is the
final step in the process.
-Employees who have two years
of uninterrupted service in an organization may not be dismissed
without just and reasonable cause.
In short, for lack of a serious fault, employers are required to give employees
written notice of termination of employment, whether the dismissal is done with
or without just and reasonable cause.
b) Evaluate the length of the notice
under the ALS
Section 82 of the ALS defines the length
of notice that employers must give to
employees based on the number of years
of their service as follows:
(…)
“The notice shall be of one week
if the employee is credited with
less than one year of uninterrupted
service, two weeks if he is credited
with one year to five years of uninterrupted service, four weeks if he is
credited with five years to ten years
of uninterrupted service and eight
weeks if he is credited with ten years
or more of uninterrupted service.”
c) Evaluate the length of the notice
under the provisions of the CCQ:
the concept of reasonable notice
period
After determining the length of the notice that you have to give to the employee concerned under the ALS, evaluate
whether it is better to give that employee
more notice under the provisions of the
CCQ.
Section 2091 of the CCQ states the following:
d) Notice or compensatory indemnity
(…)
Once employers have determined the
length of reasonable notice that they will
give to their employee, they must decide
whether it will require the employee to
remain at work for the duration of the
period or end the employment contract
immediately by paying an indemnity to
serve as a notice. The compensatory indemnity has to be equal to the regular
pay of the employee, not including overtime, for a period equal to that of the
length of the notice to which the employee is entitled. The allowance must
be paid at the time of the termination
of employment or layoff. Both of these
methods can also be combined, i.e. a
working notice and the payment of an
indemnity.
“The notice of termination shall be
given in reasonable time, taking into
account, in particular, the nature of
the employment, the special circumstances in which it is carried on and
the duration of the period of work.”
Employers must examine several criteria
in order to determine what is a reasonable notice. Every case is different, and
there is a lot of jurisprudence on this
matter.
Some of the criteria used by the courts
to establish a reasonable notice include:
-
The duration of the work
The more years of service by the employee concerned, the longer the notice.
-
The age of the employee
The age of the dismissed employee is another major factor in the evaluation of
a reasonable notice, especially when the
employee is nearing retirement. The age
of employee may actually be considered
a handicap in a job search.
-
The nature of the position held
The more specialized or the higher the
position held by the employee, the more
difficult it will be for the employee to
find an equivalent position with a new
employer.
However, if it involves a dismissal for just
cause, we recommend that you pay the
compensatory indemnity immediately,
since keeping the employee at work may
have a negative impact on your case if
you end up in court.
f)Recourses
Should you not comply with the provisions respecting the notice, employees
may enforce their rights under the ALS
and lodge a complaint with the Commission des normes du travail or seek a remedy before a civil court. But keep in mind
that an employee who enforces his or her
rights under the ALS, meaning that he
or she has at least two years of uninterrupted service, may be given free use of
the services of a lawyer provided by the
Commission des norms du travail.
I will close with a warning: dismissal must
be done so that the employee’s dignity is
respected. Dismissing an employee in a
humiliating, degrading or injurious way
may constitute an offence, in which case
you will have to pay damages, in addition
to the notice.
I am available to answer all your questions on this topic. ■
e)Release
Whenever you give a notice that exceeds
the notice imposed by the ALS, make
sure that you have the employee sign a
release protecting you against any subsequent legal proceeding. We can send
you a model for a release at your request.
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
7
Progident
Daniel Girard, Eng., M.B.A.
President
Progident in the Web and Mobility Era
T
he whole issue of mobile access to information has developed parallel to social networks
(Twitter, Facebook and others). In fact,
you have to wonder which of these two
phenomena triggered the other or acted
as a catalyst for the growth of the other.
It is the paradox of which came first, the
chicken or the egg.
In short, everyone now wants to stay in
touch at all times with their social circles
no matter where they are, which pretty
much defines the concept of mobile
communication.
Now add to this phenomenon the latest
advances in the Web, which target the
world of commercial opportunities for
geolocalization. The objective is quite
simply to increasingly personalize the
way that information is presented so that
content issuers can find out more about
the people who seek it. For example, the
geographical location of users, their language, and even their consumer profile.
For example, the Radio Canada Web site
can automatically detect your geographical position and provide you with adapted content and other features, in addition to relevant regional information.
Google is another example of a Web
site that usually suggests the branches of
your favourite supermarket that are nearest you.
8
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
Your patients, and more importantly,
your future patients, are some of the adepts of mobile communications. Thus,
it is essential that you understand the
importance of new possibilities with the
Web and mobility.
site and its referencing in various pertinent directories, mobile communications
may have a surprising impact on your office’s development. Patients looking for
a dentist may soon choose your office for
that very reason.
Below are some of particularities of the
Web interface (“Web Service”) of Progident/Clinic:
Feel free to talk to us at the upcoming
Journées dentaires internationals du
Québec to learn about all of the new
possibilities that we can offer you.
You can consult your schedule at any
time from your mobile telephone.
Your patients have access to a summary of their file using an access code
and a password that they set with
you. That way, they can check their
appointments and recalls at any time
through a secure connection.
Your patients’ appointments can be
confirmed by sending them an email, and you will be automatically
informed by a note that is automatically entered in their file.
In addition, since the features required to
carefully manage this type of strategy exist in Progident, you can eventually open
up free time slots for appointments. In
other words, patients could view the free
sections of your schedule and request an
appointment with you from the Web or
their mobile telephone.
This last option is an effective way for
you to get even closer to your clientele,
and even your future patients. Combined
with a solid design strategy for your Web
Progident provides the most widely used
dental management software in Quebec
and has a team of professionals that can
assist you with all of your technology
projects. Progident is a service of your
association. ■
THE
complete management software
for dental clinics
Progident: the clever choice once and for all.
Call us at 1 800 650-0143 or visit us online
at www.progident.com
Focus on Insurance
René Caron
Financial Security Advisor
Sogedent Assurances inc.
Disability – Office Overhead Insurance: You Cannot
Do Without It If You Are a Business Owner!
M
any dentists confuse this
coverage with dental office package insurance. As a
result, they are covered by only one of
these insurance products, when both are
actually necessary.
Disability – office overhead insurance,
commonly known as office expense insurance, is designed to compensate dentists during disability by reimbursing
their eligible expenses if their revenues
are no longer enough to cover them.
Eligible expenses are all expenses incurred in the regular operations of a dental office. However, expenses incurred
for representation, training, travel and
personal insurance, dental supplies and
laboratory fees when there is no dentist
working on a percentage basis or replacement dentist during the disability period,
as well as all investment and property
improvement costs not incurred by the
dentists concerned before their disability
are excluded.
10
Many dentists believe that they will be
able to easily find someone to replace
them if they become disabled. However,
they are taking a huge risk.
Furthermore, the cost of the disability –
office overhead insurance is very affordable and tax deductible.
Coverage that provides a benefit of
$20,000 per month over a period of
twelve months and has a 30-day waiting
period (period during which no compensation is payable) costs a male dentist
aged 43 just $869.82 per year, tax included, while the same coverage in individual insurance costs nearly $4,600 per
year. The difference is even greater for
a female dentist, since our annual premium is $1,043.78 compared to $6,800
for individual insurance.
Sogedent Insurance offers four options
to dentist-owners or associates. The
first is specifically intended for dentistowners or associates who hire a dentist
on a percentage basis and want to be
compensated if that dentist becomes disabled. The three other options provide a
maximum benefit of up to $33,500 per
month, indexed annually according to
the consumer price index. Furthermore,
unlike individual insurance, we offer coverage with a 7 or 14-day waiting period.
To find out more about disability – office
overhead insurance, feel free to contact
me. ■
Net+ ACDQ
Patrick Beauchamp
Director of Net+ ACDQ and Réseau ACDQ Services
Claim Transmission Through the Internet:
Safe, Effective and Economical
M
ore than 70% of Quebec
dentists use electronic transmission to send their patient
claims through the Réseau ACDQ, and
many still use the analog modem (56K)
and a standard telephone line. Although
this technology has served data transmission well for many years, it reached its
limits some time ago and is now on its
way to disappearing due to the development of the Internet and the arrival of
high-speed Internet service. Your technician will tell you that manufacturers
stopped integrating analog modems in
computers some time ago. For that reason, it is often necessary to find an external analog modem, which is increasingly
rare, expensive and obsolete. Let’s only
mention the fact that its transmission
speed has been the same for fifteen years.
Net+ ACDQ includes many basic services
and is compatible with most management software. We provide the equipment used to secure the connection
and your technician installs it. For $20
a month, which is less than it costs for
a telephone line, you receive high-tech
service.
By setting up a private network and
a secure connection with insurers,
Net+ ACDQ is moving into a new generation of transmission: the speed of light.
Depending on your Internet connection,
the transmission speed can be one hundred times faster than that of a normal
telephone line. Therefore, a transmission
that once took 30 to 60 seconds can now
be done in less than a second. Result: less
of a wait for patients and better employee performance.
In addition, using your Internet line
means that you no longer have to use
your telephone line, fax line or POS for
electronic transmission. Receptionists
can now send several transactions and
use the fax and POS simultaneously.
Net+ ACDQ is also compatible with IP
technology. That means that you no longer need to have a standard telephone
line for electronic transmission if you
want to convert to this new technology.
12
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
One telephone call to Net+ ACDQ has
allowed some offices to save several hundreds of dollars a year just in terms of the
cost of the telephone line and employee
performance. Therefore, you should call
us before buying and configuring an analog modem, replacing your computer
or renewing your telephone contract.
We can give you all the information you
need to save time, money and complications! ■
Peak Season. Low Season.
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of their respective owner(s). † To receive the 15,000 bonus RBC Rewards points, your application form must be received by October 31, 2011 and approved by us. Upon enrolment, 15,000 bonus RBC
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Dentaide
Chantal Tétreault
President and chief executive officer, Société de services dentaires (ACDQ)
Dentaide: An Achievement with
Numerous Advantages
F
or over 25 years, the Société de
services dentaires (ACDQ) inc.
(SSD) has offered the Dentaide
service. You may at times confuse the
two, but Dentaide is in fact a group of
services offered to dentists through the
Société de services dentaires (ACDQ)
inc.
Dentaide was born in 1984. It was created by the Association des chirurgiens
dentistes du Québec (ACDQ), in other
words by dentists, for dentists, to pursue the primary goal of helping them
protect their professional independence.
Another of its goals was to make it easier
for a larger number of patients to access
dental care by creating an insurance concept that authorizes them not to have to
pay their dentists for the insured portion of their treatments. Dentaide lets
participating dentists enjoy guaranteed
payment for the insured portion of the
treatments that they give to their insured
patients. That way, they can reap the
benefits of Dentaide’s services and send
their insurance claims for dental treatments electronically or submit them by
telephone, a service option that will be
discontinued on December 31, 2011.
Net+ subscribers can also rapidly and
safely submit their claims over the Internet.
14
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
I should remind you of all the advantages that this can bring to your day-to-day
activities.
The Dentaide system allows group and
guaranteed payments of the insured portion. It is the only system in the field
of private dental insurance where rights
and obligations are delimited by contracts signed by participating dentists
and insurers who have agreed to comply with them. As a result, participating
dentists receive just one cheque with the
payments for all treatments performed
and certified by a confirmation number.
Claims are processed in real time using
a user-friendly method and cheques are
sent out twice per month. Since March,
dentists participating in Dentaide who
are also Net+ ACDQ subscribers can
take advantage of payment by direct deposit: the payment can be deposited in
their choice of an individual or group account. Therefore, they enjoy the many
advantages of direct deposit: simple,
practical,
secure,
environmentallyfriendly and free.
By grouping all participating
dentists together in one organization,
Dentaide makes it easier to represent
them with participating insurers. In
fact, Dentaide acts as an intermediary
between participating dentists and insurers. Participating dentists have only
one contract to sign with Dentaide. On
the other hand, Dentaide operates on a
standard agreement basis with all participating insurers, which guarantees that all
administrative procedures are identical.
Imagine for a moment if the Dentaide
service contract with insurers did not exist and each insurer could dictate its own
procedures? That would cause a lot of
red tape for the administrative staff of a
dental office, not to mention the many
errors that may occur. With the Dentaide
service contract, dentists are protected
from these disadvantages, since Dentaide
and participating insurers agree to harmonize many of their administrative procedures. This harmonization concerns,
among other things, the payment of the
insured portion of care, the correction of
payments to dentists, the acceptance or
not of electronic claim cancellations, and
the settlement of disputed issues.
What happens when Dentaide’s participating dentists have to deal with a dispute with a participating insurer? They
need only inform us of it and our specialized agents will act as an intermediary
between the participating dentist and insurer. If this dispute requires more technical assistance, our dental consultant
will be fully impartial in handling the
case. That way, dentists are relieved from
disputed issues, since the insurer concerned will only be able to contact them
through Dentaide, according to the rules
stipulated in their service contract. As a
result, they will have more time to spend
on their practice instead of getting lost
in administrative problems and red tape.
Dentaide is the sole point of contact for
participating dentists. Moving? Changing offices? Want to see a list of participating insurers? Need to make changes to
your personal information? There’s just
one number to dial: Dentaide’s number.
Our competent specialized agents are
available five days a week and pleased to
answer your questions, update required
information and send it on your behalf
to insurers participating in Dentaide.
Naturally, as in any system, there are obligations that come with the rights granted to participating dentists and insurers.
Under the rules of the Dentaide contract
that dentists agree to follow, they are required to inform patients of the insured
and non-insured portion of the treatments the patients have received. They
may only charge for the uninsured portion of the care. Finally, they must be
diligent in providing any information
or document related to a claim whenever the Société de services dentaires
(ACDQ) inc. deems it necessary.
patients. Finally, they are required to pay
the claims that have already received a
confirmation number.
We can confirm that Dentaide promotes
the rights granted to dentists. There are
many benefits, and the rights of dentists
are well protected by the requirements
that are imposed on insurers. The vast
majority of dentists have clearly understood this since more than 3,300 dentists
have joined to date. We would also like
to take this opportunity to thank them
for their trust in us and for realizing the
privileges that come with using Dentaide
and the resulting visibility.
Haven’t joined Dentaide yet? Don’t wait
any longer. Call us today at 514 2841985 or 1 800 361-5305. We will be
pleased to explain to you how it works. ■
Finally, it is absolutely necessary for dentists to sign the Dentaide contract in
order to be entitled to the benefits that
come with its services. Moreover, participating dentists must not directly or
indirectly transfer one or more Dentaide
services to another dentist in their office
if that dentist is not a participating dentist.
As for participating insurers, under the
Dentaide service contract, they may not
contact dentists directly without the
prior consent of SSD, except for when
they need to obtain additional information concerning an initial claim. They
must respect the freedom of practice and
professional autonomy of dentists and
recognize that dentists alone are able to
determine the best treatment for their
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
15
Focus on Finance
Alain Doucet - Grace El-Hayek - Lise Filion - Raphaël Hainault - Robert Naoum - Shahla Tabti - Alan Verge
Financial Solutions Advisors
Professionnals’ Financial
The RESP: Invest in Your Children’s Future!
T
he Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is the ideal
tool to set aside and raise the
funds you may need to pay for your children’s tuition fees. It is primarily a contract between the subscriber (most often
parents and grandparents) and the beneficiaries (children or grandchildren).
This plan allows you to save funds for
your children’s education that will grow
in the tax shelter of a special savings plan
registered with the Canada Revenue
Agency and obtain a grant, subject to
specific criteria, administered by Human Resources and Skills Development
Canada (HRSDC) until the designated
beneficiary enrols in a post-secondary
education program.
Here are its main features:
• An RESP allows parents or grandparents who subscribe to this plan to
finance the post-secondary education
of their children or grandchildren
who are designated as beneficiaries.
• It is possible to set up a family RESP
for several children and pay contributions on behalf of each of them on
condition that the beneficiaries are
related to the subscriber by blood or
adoption.
16
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
• Children 17 years of age and younger
(includes calendar year of 17h birthday) are eligible for this plan. The
maximum contribution permitted per
child is $50,000, without an annual
ceiling.
• The government awards a grant equal
to 20% of the amount contributed up
to $500 per year (or $1,000 if you
have unused room), and $7,200 for
life.
• Quebec also has additional measures that encourage education savings, such as the Quebec Education
Savings Incentive (QESI), which
amounts to half of the federal grants.
• Contributions to an RESP are not tax
deductible.
Its main advantages:
• Grandparents can subscribe to an
RESP for their grandchildren.
• Unlike an individual RESP, a family RESP can include more than one
beneficiary, which makes it easier to
transfer the funds raised for one child
to another if a child decides not to
pursue post-secondary education.
• An RESP, like the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), is not
subject to any foreign content rule.
What happens if, for various reasons,
your child does not pursue post-secondary education?
• It is better to wait a while, since it is
always possible that your child will
decide to resume his or her studies
later. Since RESP accounts can remain open until the end of the 35th
anniversary of the plan’s creation, it is
better to wait.
• You can transfer the amount into the
RESP of a brother or sister.
• You can transfer the funds into an
RRSP in anticipation of your retirement, if you have unused contribution room.
• All funds received as a Canadian education savings grant must be paid
back to the Canadian government.
However, they can be used for the
education of a brother or sister on
certain conditions.
• The amount received as a tuition
voucher must be paid back to the
Canadian government. It may not be
transferred to another child.
• You can withdraw your contribution
without paying taxes.
• When you close your RESP because
your child has decided not to pursue post-secondary education, you
have to pay taxes on the gains you
have made on your investment in the
RESP, plus an additional 20% in tax.
It is possible to reduce your taxes by
transferring your “accumulated income payment” into your own RRSP
when you have an equivalent amount
of unused contribution room.
If you care about the education of your
children or grandchildren, an RESP is an
excellent solution to consider. You can
subscribe to one from the Professionals’
Financial – Mutual Funds. Contact your
financial solutions advisor who will open
your RESP account and answer all your
questions. ■
Robert Naoum, BAA
Financial Solutions Advisor
Professionals’ Financial
PubPgdJodq2011-eng.pdf 4 2011-03-08 15:35:05
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Continued...
The Power of Experience
Dental Consultant Column
Continued from page 2
Continued from page 4
I can only assure new graduates of one
thing: You are going to develop an astonishing ability to perform treatments that
you dreaded at the beginning of your career. You will become master artisans of
the most wonderful achievements in the
art of dentistry. Be patient because you
will have to master this new world. But
you will be the better for it. It will make
you happy and proud. And to achieve
all that, you will have to be rigorous in
continuing to learn. Regardless of the
discipline, sports, art, etc., there is only
one rule that you must follow in order to
achieve success and wellbeing: continue
to practice without every letting yourself
get discouraged. The secret is to keep a
cool head, accept the inevitable mistake
and allow for a certain amount of slowness when you perform treatments in
the beginning. And little by little, your
confidence and enjoyment in practicing
the art of dentistry will fill your lives. You
have been persistent until now, but you
must continue to be persistent! Nothing
has been won yet. So stay diligent, read,
listen, and observe those who have come
before you, and you too will become
one of those sought-after professionals
known as “experienced dentists.” ■
Administrator of the
Interim Federal
Health Program
Please note that since January 17, 2011,
the new administrator of the Interim
Federal Health Program has been Medavie Blue Cross, which you can reach
at 1 888 614-1880 from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, if you
want to find out about the eligible treatments covered by the program or other
information. It is important to note that
cheques from FAS Benefits Administrators Ltd. for treatments performed before January 17, 2011 must be cashed by
July 15, 2011. ■
The Contact Point − May | June 2011
19