MOH acts against dentist over wrong Medisave claims

He claimed for costlier procedures that he did not do
By Salma Khalik Senior Health Correspondent, The Straits Times, 2 Dec 2014

THE Ministry of Health (MOH) has suspended a dentist from making claims against Medisave for his patients after he repeatedly tried to hoodwink the system.

Dr Sng Wee Hock had claimed for more costly surgical procedures that he did not do, instead of the actual procedures he had performed.

A statement from the MOH said it is working with Dr Sng to refund the excess money claimed to the patients' Medisave accounts.

It is the first such case of a dentist or doctor being suspended from making claims.

Dr Sng, who owns the three WH Dental Surgeons clinics, was warned by the MOH in February against making any more inflated claims.

He was told his accreditation to Medisave would be suspended if he was caught making two more such "non-compliant" claims within 12 months.

Practitioners are given warning letters for the third and fourth infringements, and suspended if there is a fifth occurrence. As Dr Sng continued to submit wrong claims, the ministry acted to stop him from making claims on behalf of patients at his Punggol Field and Hougang clinics between January and June next year. His third clinic has no Medisave accreditation.The suspension does not affect his ability to continue his dental practice.

Two other dentists working at his clinics at Punggol Field and Hougang can continue making Medisave claims for their patients.

MOH said it takes a serious view of such non-compliant claims and doctors and dentists with repeated offences must be taken to task "to remind them of their duty to safeguard their patients' Medisave savings".

MOH conducts regular audits to ensure that claims are correctly made, and any errors caught, usually inadvertent, are rectified and monies returned to patients' Medisave accounts.

Dr Sng has been hauled up over Medisave claims before. In January, he was called before the Singapore Dental Council's disciplinary committee for wrongly telling his patient that the full cost of a dental implant could be claimed against her Medisave account. This is not true. Medisave could provide only $1,250 for the procedure, which was estimated to cost $4,000. If bone grafting was needed, Medisave could pay another $950. The disciplinary committee said what he did amounted to professional misconduct "because the misrepresentation made was likely to have an impact on a patient's decision to undergo the treatment", and fined him $15,000.

MOH was not able to say by press time if it plans to file a complaint to the council against Dr Sng.



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