I went to see Dr. Skevas once, and my overall impression was that they seem to be running some sort of billing fraud and have shady patient record-keeping. At first the hygienist was very nice / gentle when she performed a cleaning. Then the dentist came in briefly, told me I needed braces, and handed me some brochures. They were both pleasant when they thought I might agree to sign up for the braces. I said I would be willing to do it if my insurance covered the cost, but no- she said they weren't covered and it would cost me 5k out of pocket. When I told them I didn't have money for such an expense, they had me meet with a man in another office to discuss financing. When I still did not sign up for braces, they were all done with me and stopped being friendly. Dr. Skevas said there was nothing I could do at all to help my teeth except to get the braces and to "never bite into an apple again". I felt pressured and anxious about losing my teeth so 6 months later, when my insurance would cover another visit, I decided to see a different provider (in my neighborhood, and to get a second opinion on the prognosis of "needing braces"). I found a local dentist, and they told me to have my digital X-rays from Dr Skevas' office emailed to their office. Because my X-rays were so recent I would be able to use them instead of paying for new ones. My insurance would only pay for one set of X-rays every 3 years.
When I called Skevas' office (twice!) asking for them, each time the receptionist said no, she would not send them. She said "We don't do it that, you have to come pick them up". So I went to the Bronx (2 hrs from my Bklyn location). I called the day before, to confirm that she had my X-rays ready for me to pick up. When I got there, she handed me a piece of 8.5 x 11 inch printer paper folded up in a regular business envelope and said "Here you go". I opened it and it was just a printed out thumbnail view with tiny low-res images, none of the images were labeled with any information. Very strange. I asked for my real X-rays and she said that was all they had. Then I called my new dental provider, who had been waiting for me to get my X-rays so we could schedule our first appt, and told her the situation. The receptionist at my new dentist even got on the phone with the Skevas' staff to ask for my real X-rays on my behalf, and she explained that a small paper printout is not diagnostic and isn't what I am entitled to. I found out that patients are legally the owners of their own X-rays and should be given them on demand. Yet, the Skevas' staff still would not comply. No one in the office was willing to help me or explain why they couldn't supply my file or X-rays.
I finally had to go see my new dentist and pay out of pocket for new ones. The new dentist saw the little printout and said it was useless, not diagnostically relevant, and was incredulous that I couldn't obtain my X-rays from Skevas. He said it is crazy, illegal and against patients' rights to be refused these documents. I am not sure what Dr. Skvas or her staff are hiding, but there is clearly some extremely shady activity going on. I absolutely would NEVER recommend Dr. Skevas' practice. I will also be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau, for withholding my medical records.
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