After New York state officials discovered they were making decisions about patients' dental care, Aspen Dental has agreed to pay $450,000 in civil penalties, according to a release from Attorney General Eric. T. Schneiderman.
Here are five things to know:
1. As part of the settlement, Aspen Dental agreed to be transparent about not being a provider of dental care.
2. The agreement also includes a ban on fee-splitting between Aspen Dental and dental practices.
3. Over 300 complaints since 2005 concerning patient experiences at Aspen Dental prompted the initial investigation.
4. The investigation found that Aspen Dental, in addition to providing business and administrative support to independent dental practices, also developed "what amounts to a chain of dental practices technically owned by individual dentists but which, in violation of New York law, were subject to extensive control by Aspen Dental Management," according to the release.
5. Aspen Dental issued a release, stating, "ADMI does not, nor has it ever, made decisions about clinical care for the 1.2 million patients who visited independently-owned and operated Aspen Dental-branded practices in New York State over the past 10 years," as posted in a WWNYTV report.
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