Dear Practice Management Insider,
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is swiftly changing the healthcare delivery system, will have a direct effect on dentistry. Click here to read what contributing writer William T. Brown, DDS, says about the key forces that are reshaping the dental landscape.
In a related story in the Practice Management Community, ADA members attending the recent meeting in New Orleans asked about the ACA, dental school costs, insurance, and the growth of corporate dental chains during a session hosted by ADA President Robert Faiella, DMD. Read how Dr. Faiella, incoming president Charles Norman III, DDS, and Executive Director Kathleen O'Loughlin, DMD, MPH, responded to members' concerns.
During the last nine years, Conan Murat has lived and worked as a dental therapist in a remote area of Alaska. Does Murat's example represent a model that could be replicated in other areas that also have access-to-care issues? Or does Alaska's extreme geography and environment make it unique? Read more here.
In a related story, Massachusetts is the latest state to consider legislation for midlevel providers (MLPs). Click here to read about a measure to address the shortage of dentists who provide care to people eligible for MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program. And a panel of academic experts has developed a set of evidence-based national standards for education programs that train MLPs, also known as dental therapists. Read about their recommendations and curriculum guidelines here.
Meanwhile, a New York judge has ordered a new trial in the Small Smiles case after ruling that an insurance company lawyer's misconduct intimidated jury members and probably influenced their verdict. Read about the judge's stinging rebuke in the case involving 30 children who allegedly endured "unnecessary, inappropriate, unsafe, and excessive dental procedures."
In other news, Texas orthodontist Terrence Ewing Syler, DDS, was sentenced to federal prison for Medicaid fraud after submitting $829,000 worth of claims for palatal expanders that were never provided to his patients. Click here to read about the case, the latest in the ongoing scandal involving Texas dentists and orthodontists accused of bilking the state Medicaid program out of tens of millions of dollars.
And the number of patients who have tested positive for hepatitis and HIV after they were exposed to blood-borne viruses by Tulsa, OK, oral surgeon W. Scott Harrington, DMD, has reached 100. Read about the ongoing infection scandal in which more than 4,200 people have been tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV.
Meanwhile, new ADA research shows that working adults got less dental care and a growing number of adults couldn't afford needed dental treatment during the last decade. Click here to read about the reports, which also reveal that more children and adults now get dental care through Medicaid, and access to dental care for the elderly is steadily increasing.
Finally, U.S. dentists should take the time now -- before the end of the year -- to consider ways to reduce their tax burden. Read about setting up special retirement plans and buying furniture and equipment before December 31, which can save a lot when tax time comes around.
