Improving quality in oral health care
Boston Business Journal
Massachusetts prides itself on its health care “firsts” — first in the nation with universal coverage; and now first in the nation with trying to reign in health care costs by rethinking how we reimburse providers for care.
“Value” — aligning cost with improved quality — has become the new buzzword in health care. It’s no longer a question of how many patients you see or how many tests and procedures you perform. It’s much more about improving health outcomes by identifying higher-risk patients, and offering data and incentive programs to health care providers that ensure those patients get the preventive care they need, when they need it.
Prevention is a key element of that evolution. Preventive treatments improve oral health and overall health. Starting early with higher-risk children is critically important. Fluoride varnish treatments for children, for example, have helped reduce the number of kids nationally who have cavities from 70 percent in 1950 to 25 percent today. You’d think we could just declare victory. But we can’t. Even in this state, there are children who suffer from preventable dental disease and adults with advanced gum disease that could be prevented and treated.
At Delta Dental of Massachusetts, we’ve taken a first-in-the-nation step to support dentists in performing proven preventive treatments. We identify best practices and reward dentists who are providing that level of care to their patients. Despite their best efforts, there are patients who slip through the cracks. We are providing data and reporting to help dentists target patients at higher risk for dental disease to ensure they are receiving preventive treatments.
The response from Massachusetts dentists has been very positive. After the first year of this initiative, we have seen an increase of almost 30 percent in the number of higher-risk children in our programs receiving fluoride treatments. And there is a nearly 30 percent increase in the number of adults with gum disease who received preventive treatment. These results reflect dentists’ strong commitment to prevention and initiatives that promote higher quality care.
It seems pretty straightforward: Early identification of patients at risk and preventive care are key to improving oral health and keeping dental care affordable and accessible to all.
National health reform is moving medical health insurers to incorporate incentives for quality and prevention. While the idea of providing incentives for prevention in dentistry has been discussed for more than a decade, it has not happened in any meaningful way, until now. We are proud to be working with Massachusetts dentists to lead the way.
Fay Donohue
President and CEO of Delta Dental of Massachusetts