A dental management firm has sued a New City dental practice for allegedly misappropriating more than $500,000.
Collaborative Management Systems accused Gentle Dental of New City of unjust enrichment and breach of contract, in a Feb. 2 complaint filed in Westchester Supreme Court.
Collaborative Management claims it has discovered that Gentle Dental misappropriated funds, used deceptive billing practices, and on many occasions “short paid CMS for services rendered.”
A Gentle Dental office manager did not immediately reply to a message asking for the dental practice’s side of the story.
Gentle Dental was founded in 2017 by Dr. Sridhar Saidapet, according to a state business registration record. It is based in the County Dental building at 151 North Main Street, New City.
Collaborative Management, of Fishkill, was founded by Dr. Joseph Fertucci. It handles payroll, billing and collections, and other administrative services.
In 2017, Gentle Dental agreed to let Collaborative Management handle administrative and business tasks, for a 12.5% management fee based on employee compensation.
In October 2024, Gentle Dental stopped paying the management fee, without explanation, according to the complaint.
Collaborative Management says it has discovered that Gentle Dental avoided management fees by paying employees off the books, concealing patient treatments, removing employees from the payroll, and other methods. It estimated that Gentle Dental dodged at least $281,702 in management fees last year, and another $172,500 it owed for the remainder of the contract.
I Dental P.C., a dental practice formed by Dr. Fertucci, also is a party to the lawsuit. It claims that Gentle Dental siphoned 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 to bill and collect for their services, the complaint states. But Gentle Dental allegedly collected payments from patients and insurance companies that should have gone to I Dental.
Collaborative Management and I Dental are demanding unspecified monetary damages.
Although Collaborative Management and I Dental are based in Dutchess County and Gentle Dental is based in Rockland County, their management contract requires disputes to be litigated in Westchester County.
