The Medicaid-sized elephant in the room for the dental industry does not have an easy solution, but a move in the right direction is needed, according to this dental director.
There are too many plans, not enough consistency between the plans and the fees dentists earn from the program just are not worth it for many, Thomas Allen, DDS, told Becker’s. On top of the low fees, the administrative lift required to participate in the program turns providers off even further.
Dr. Allen, the dental director at Old Farm Dental in Salt Lake City, recently connected with Becker’s to talk about adapting to evolving patient expectations, and how he is keeping up.
Note: These responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is one problem in dentistry that no one has solved yet?
Dr. Thomas Allen: Medicaid reform is a problem that’s really not going to be easy to solve, but it’s going to take organized dentistry to do it. I think if there was a consistent program, decided at the federal level, and then have the money sent down to the states and have them develop a fixed system, that would help. Every state has to have three different administrators of Medicaid plans, and some states have even more than three. Then, each of those plans might have seven, eight plans within them. It just creates a lot of frustration from dentists.
Q: What are some potential fixes?
TA: There needs to be some kind of protocol or an algorithm that can create consistency. Medicaid is a constant headache. Providers don’t join the program because the fee reimbursements and administrative workload just isn’t worth it. If I know what the rules are across the board, I can deal with it, even with a lower fee.
You can tackle it with a uniform program and you can raise the fees. One way would be to look at each community or each city, and you get the fees in line with what works there. Then take out this administrative end. It’s really simple, either they need dental work or they don’t.
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