Friday, January 28, 2011

Best Practice Management Consultant, 2011


My colleague, Safety Net Solutions founder and DentaQuest Institute Executive Director Mark Doherty, DMD, MPH, CCHP was recognized as Best Practice Management Consultant in Dr.Bicuspid’s 2011 Dental Excellence Awards. Dr. Doherty is a passionate advocate for oral health, and has a strong background in public health dentistry. Under his direction, the DentaQuest Institute’s Safety Net Solutions program has helped strengthen many dental clinics in communities across the country.

The Safety Net Solutions program is unique among dental management consultants because it is focused on the urgent need to preserve and strengthen the oral health safety net which serves 16 million+ uninsured and medically underserved Americans every day. Oral health safety net providers are the dentists who work at your local community health center. They are critical to good individual and community health. But they are very challenged by poor reimbursement, operational difficulties, and limited resources. Historically, these programs struggle to maintain financial viability.

The DentaQuest Institute’s Safety Net Solutions (SNS) program works collaboratively with program administrators, dental directors, and staff. Its advisors provide customized technical assistance to enhance the business infrastructure behind the delivery of care—with an appreciation for the uniqueness of safety net clients and their care needs. The SNS Improvement Model is especially helpful for programs in environments with low levels of public reimbursement because it teaches programs to operate more efficiently. Many public and private funders of safety net sites have started including Safety Net Solutions technical assistance in their plans to ensure that grantees implement sustainable, results-oriented business practices, and develop access metrics that deliver a return on the investment.

Since the program began in 2006, SNS has worked with more than 90 safety net dental programs in 19 states. And they are now advising the growing number of community health centers that are starting new or expanding existing dental programs, using critical resources mandated in health reform.

Safety Net Solutions is making a difference. Within one year of receiving SNS technical assistance, a dental care safety net program is stronger.

Overall, through technical assistance, sites experienced on average…
· 35,063 more dental visits in the past year
· An increase of 1,594 visits
· Gross productivity increased by $752,006
· Net revenue of dental services increased by $5,475,937

The Dr.Bicuspid award is a well-deserved recognition of Mark’s hard work and the DentaQuest Institute’s leadership in strengthening America’s dental safety net and innovating improvements to the care delivery system.
Learn more about the Safety Net Solutions program at www.dentaquestinstitute.org/safetynetsolutions