Wash. dentists face reimbursement cuts; new report slams VA clinic

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Washington dentists are scrambling to review their business practices and fee schedules after Washington Dental Service (WDS) -- a member of the Delta Dental Plans Association -- announced that it will cut its reimbursement rates for all dental procedures by 15% beginning in June. Click here to read what prompted WDS' decision and how the company expects dentists who participate with WDS to respond.

In other Practice Management Community news, when Brett and Irene Druger took over a 25-year-old family dental practice in New Jersey last November, they willingly took on a task many dental practitioners remain wary of: setting up a digital practice management system, including digital radiography and computers in every operatory. Six months later, they are thrilled with the results -- and so are their patients. Read more.

And in the latest development in the ongoing infection-control scandal at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Dayton, OH, a report released this week by the VA's Office of the Inspector General confirmed what has already outraged many: that the medical center's dental clinic failed to follow standard infection control policies for nearly 20 years, putting hundreds of dental patients at risk of exposure to hepatitis and HIV.

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