A dental practice in New York accused of misappropriating $500,000 in management fees is being sued by its dental management firm and a dental practice, according to a story published on February 25 in the Westfair Business Journal.
Collaborative Management Systems and practice I Dental in Elmhurst, NY, filed a lawsuit on February 2 in the Westchester Supreme Court accusing Gentle Dental in New City, NY, of unjust enrichment and breach of contract. Collaborative Management and I Dental are seeking unspecified damages.
Collaborative Management, which handles payroll, billing, and administrative services for dental practices, alleges that Gentle Dental misappropriated funds, used deceptive billing practices, and on multiple occasions shortchanged the firm for dental services it rendered, according to the story.
In 2017, Collaborative Management began handling administrative and business duties for Gentle Dental for a management fee of 12.5% that was based on employee compensation. In October 2024, Gentle Dental allegedly stopped paying the fee, according to the story.
Collaborative Management claims it learned that Gentle Dental avoided fees by paying employees off the books and removing some from the payroll, hiding patient treatments, and other actions. The firm estimated that Gentle Dental allegedly sidestepped paying at least $281,702 in management fees in 2024 and another $172,500 it reportedly owed for the remainder of the contract, according to the story.
I Dental, a dental practice formed by Collaborative Management founder Dr. Joseph Fertucci, accuses Gentle Dental of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars that should have been paid to I Dental for services it provided.
Both dental practices use the same back-office system to bill and collect for their services, however, Gentle Dental purportedly collected payments from patients and insurance companies that should have been paid to I Dental, according to the story.
