The Big PictureHygienists’ new roles
Section snippets
Background
Oral health care will change as a result of the influence of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is changing reimbursement, treatment approaches, record-keeping, and health care delivery. In this altered scenario, dental hygienists are poised to play a primary role in helping patients maintain their health—both oral and overall.
Reimbursement for Treatment
Rather than reimbursing individual procedures, in the future, health care providers will be reimbursed for care outcomes. This will require the practitioner to show that the patient’s disease or condition has improved after treatment. Tracking for this reimbursement system will be achieved by the collection of large amounts of data. These data will be used to indicate which procedures are unnecessary or ineffective, to better define standards of care, and to change the way dentistry is
Changes in Treatment
Caries and periodontal disease treatment will likely be altered as a result of the ACA. The recent advances in genomics means that precision medicine, and eventually precision dentistry, will be possible. Patients will see this as the best approach and demand such treatment, which is delivered as personalized care. Precision tests will lead to personalized treatment as well.
Inflammation is the link seen between oral health and systemic health, with many health issues now understood to be
Record-keeping
Data collection will rely on a couple of approaches. First, all prescriptions will be required to go through electronic web-based services only. Some states already have this system in place. In this way, large data banks tracking the use of medications will be created. Second, the health care professions, including dentistry, will be required to use electronic health care records (EHRs) to document their treatment. This will allow the system to monitor treatment outcomes and collect additional
Health Care Delivery
Oral health will no longer be left to the dentist alone. Large health care organizations, insurance companies, and governmental bodies have identified a need to integrate oral health into the entire health care system. As a result, health care teams will be formed, including nurse practitioners, social workers, and dental hygienists as well as doctors and dentists, and will deliver comprehensive health care to the patient. The primary care physician will provide an evaluation of the patient’s
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Fine JB: The integration of oral care into the greater healthcare system. Inside Dent Hyg vol 12, issue 8, special issue 1, pp 2-3
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