Collaboration among dental professionals and medical-dental integration are some of the biggest aspects of the dental industry that leaders feel need an update.
The leaders featured in this article are all speaking at Becker's 2024 dental conferences. This includes our Spring Future of Dentistry Roundtable, which is set for June 19-21 at the Swissotel in Chicago, and the Fall Future of Dentistry Roundtable, which is set for Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.
If you work at a DSO or dental practice and would like to be considered as a speaker, please contact Randi Haseman at rhaseman@beckershealthcare.com.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is something in the dental industry that you feel is outdated or needs to be changed/updated?
Will Alexander. Senior Vice President, Enterprise Operations and Chief Information Officer of Benevis (Atlanta): As the technology and enterprise operations leader at Benevis, I believe an area for improvement in the dental industry is the integration of dental health records with broader healthcare systems. Currently, the separation between these records often leads to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for providing comprehensive care. By fostering better connectivity and data exchange between these systems, we can enhance patient outcomes and ensure that dental health is not isolated but integrated into the overall healthcare strategy. This approach will not only improve the speed and accuracy of patient care but also elevate the role of dental health within the wider healthcare ecosystem. Emphasizing this integration is vital for advancing healthcare delivery and better supporting patient wellness.
Bryan Carey. CEO of Benevis (Atlanta): Even though oral health and our broader physical health and well-being are innately connected, dental and medical care are not. There are two entirely different systems of professional training schools, insurance coverage and care networks for dental and medical care, resulting in very different access and outcome levels. We know that tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of childhood in the U.S., yet it is often neglected due to cost and inaccessibility. Americans spend $2.7 billion on dental-related visits to the emergency department each year. Bringing dental care and medical care together would not only help improve our nation’s oral health, but it would also improve the health of our economy.
Mark Doherty, DMD. CEO and Owner of D4 Practice Solutions and Partner of Southcoast Endodontics (New Bedford, Mass.): An update to the referral process in dentistry would improve communication between the general dentist and specialist while expediting the completion of patient care. For decades, the process has followed a consistent pattern, wherein a paper document is sent from the general dentist to the specialist. Shifting from paper to electronic processes, such as integrating our electronic dental records, would significantly enhance efficiency compared to the frequent misplacement or forgetting of paper referrals by patients. General dentists would benefit from having knowledge about their patient’s visit to a specialist, the completion of treatment, and the patient’s ability to return to their office for further care.
Sodabeh Etminan, DMD. Senior Director of Oral Health of UI Health Mile Square Health Center-South Shore (Chicago): Having provided care in an interdisciplinary setting, I have felt that dental health record platforms have room to grow, especially when compared to the broader health management platforms. It would be helpful to have more options for dental systems that seamlessly connect to existing medical software. Some companies out there provide this service, and I am looking forward to upgrading our dental health record system in the near future. Better reporting from our software would help us with our quality metrics, practice growth and program implementation.
Alan Law, DDS, PhD. President of the Dental Specialists (Woodbury, Minn.): The lack of integration of electronic dental records with electronic health records needs to be addressed. As the relationship between oral health and systemic health becomes more apparent, the need to integrate oral health records and medical records becomes more important. Integrating the records would provide more accurate health and medical information for dentists, and potentially provide more current health measures (e.g., blood pressure, presence of oral infections that could impact systemic health).