Atlantic City, N.J.-based AtlantiCare recently hired Srikar Vulugundam, DDS, to be its dental director as the health system prepares for the launch of its first-ever dental clinic.
The health system plans to open the clinic in Atlantic City at the end of this month as part of its federally qualified health center program. The initiative aims to reduce the number of dental-related emergency department visits and supports the organization's commitment to providing holistic care.
The health system expects between 9,000 and 10,000 patient encounters at the clinic each year, and between 3,000 and 3,500 unique patients, according to Dr. Vulugundam. Additionally, the clinic will soon provide off-site clinical rotations for students from the Rutgers University School of Dental Medicine in Newark, N.J.
Dr. Vulugundam recently spoke with Becker's about his new role, the goals of the clinic and how health systems can advance medical-dental integration.
Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What got you interested in this new role?
Dr. Srikar Vulugundam: I have a doctorate in dental surgery along with a master's degree in public health, and that's what really got me focused more on public health dentistry. So unlike other dental offices, it's a nonprofit model, so it is mainly focused on access to care rather than anyone's financial ability or whether they can afford to get their treatments. I worked at FQHCs for almost a decade, so I have a very good understanding of the patient population that we'll be treating. It is definitely very exciting. I always heard that it's very rewarding to be in a position like this and that's the reason I focus my career mostly toward public health. And again, it's different from private practices or any other dental practices. We take unlimited walk-ins to give access to care because anyone can reach out to us, walk in if needed or just call and schedule an appointment. We try to perform same-day procedures, which is not [typical] in other settings. We try to get as much done as possible for patients in a single visit while they're already here. I get an opportunity to establish a practice and then provide all this knowledge and skills that I have gained over the last 10 years into this practice here.
Q: What kind of specialties will be offered at the clinic?
SV: We are going to be providing preventive services, mostly for kids and also adults. The plan is to start off with preventive and basic dental [services], like hygiene exams, walk-ins and extractions. We are trying to focus on implementing oral health education as a big part of this program because prevention is better than cures, so we just want to try to prevent these problems, especially when we are seeing kids. By the time they turn into teenagers, they'll have a complete understanding of how to prevent dental disease and not have problems. Later in the year, we plan to expand our services to dentures. We plan to collaborate with local providers and see if we can find providers who would like to be on our team to basically have a referral basis in case we require an oral surgeon or a periodontist to take care of more complex situations. We will try to have that network created within the next six months.
Q: What are you hoping dental students gain from their experience doing rotations at the clinic?
SV: I worked with students on rotation from [The University of Tennessee Health Science Center] Memphis. I coordinated similar off-site rotations for students. So when they come through rotations, we are trying to give them exposure to community-based learning so they understand policies and protocols on how federally qualified health centers work. The hope is that we can educate students about the need for a federally qualified health center pool of providers and at some point they will consider working in public health dentistry. They'll definitely be having one-on-one training sessions and getting feedback on clinical procedures. They'll have a vast, comprehensive exposure to how to run a practice, the strategies that could be implemented for better productivity, and policies and protocols based on state and federal guidelines. They would also have exposure to the administrative side on how these things function so they can become tomorrow's dentists and dental directors in public health dentistry.
Q: What is the most important thing for people to know about holistic care?
SV: I think it's very important not to forget that the oral cavity is part of the human body first. Oral health is very critical to overall health. I think health education plays a significant role in achieving this ... Providing oral health education along with access to procedures that can lead to improved health is the goal of public health dentistry. We always collaborate with local physicians and other specialists to make sure our patients are receiving top-notch care.
Q: What are some of the best ways health systems can get more involved with advancing medical dental integration and collaboration?
SV: I think implementing certain strategies like having residents rotate through dental clinics so that on the physician side, they would have some exposure to how dentistry works. That would be one of the ways to integrate medical and dental education and give exposure to upcoming providers [so they] understand that oral health is part of overall health. Even from the schooling perspective, both medical and dental schools are striving hard to implement these kinds of programs of having rotations through various specializations so that medical physicians have a better understanding. At individual levels, we always work with physicians. We always do back-and-forth consults [with] cardiologists, neurologists and nephrologists to achieve that medical and dental integration and provide safe treatment for our patients.
Q: Is medical-dental integration progressing quickly enough in the healthcare industry?
SV: I think so. Medical and dental schools are working hard at implementing these changes where [students] get cross exposure to their specialties. Also, there is a lot of research that shows there is a significant impact of oral health on the general health of the patient. Even from the educational perspective and research-based practice, I think we are in a very good position, and both medical and dental professionals are trying really hard to create this integration for patients' safety and care.