Patient Dismissal Letter
Author: Felicia Sprague, Co-founder Dental Hive
Download the printable version here.
There may come a time when you have to dismiss a patient from your practice. It’s important that you give the patient reasonable notice of the dentist’s intent to dismiss them, as well as why they are being dismissed.
To dismiss a patient, we recommend:
- Contacting your college and/or the Professional Liability Program to report any incidents
- Preparing a dismissal letter
- Sending the dismissal letter by registered mail
- Updating the patient file with the details of any incident in detail, prior to archiving the file
Dear [Patient],
We are writing to inform you that we have made the difficult decision to dismiss you as a patient of our dental practice. This decision was not made lightly, but rather as a result of a pattern of behavior that is not in line with our standards for patient care.
We believe that every patient should be treated with respect, honesty, and integrity. Unfortunately, your behavior during recent appointments has not reflected these values. Specifically, we have observed the following:
Failure to show up for scheduled appointments without prior notice
Disrespectful behavior towards our staff members
Refusal to follow our recommendations for oral health care
These behaviors have a negative impact on our ability to provide quality care to all of our patients. We believe that it is in the best interest of both our practice and your oral health to part ways.
Please be aware that we will provide emergency care for up to 30 days from the date of this letter to allow you sufficient time to find a new dental provider. We will also be happy to transfer any relevant dental records to your new provider upon request.
We wish you all the best in your future dental care and thank you for your past patronage of our practice.
Sincerely,
[Your Dentist’s Name]Resources: ChatGPT, then reviewed by Felicia Sprague
About the Author: Felicia Sprague
Felicia Sprague is a dental regional manager and co-founder of Dental Hive. Felicia is experienced team training, HR, dental systems development and implementation, and has a track record of increasing productivity in dental offices.
