Good and Bad about Mid-Level Providers

I read the white paper from the Academy of General Dentistry regarding mid-level dental providers (also known as dental health providers). And it solidified my position regarding the introduction of DHPs in Washington.

I still feel DHPs are a bad idea in most respects. But there are some advantages to DHPs too. And I wanted to express some positive views along with my choice to prohibit DHPs at this point.

The legislators who drafted this bill are barking up the right tree when it comes to improving access to dental care. Our residents need better access.

As the white paper states, dentistry's #1 job is to promote prevention of dental diseases. That job is effective when done properly. DHPs could do a huge service to the under-served by being dental health coordinators, who link prevention and screening, and refer patients to licensed dentists for intervention. Just getting patients in to a dental office is a huge step to educating, celebrating, and creating habits for great preventive behaviors in patients.

The word came down from The Washington State Dental Association that the bill for DHP is dead for now. Below is the memo:

February 13, 2012

BREAKING NEWS All Mid-Level Practitioner Bills are Dead for 2012 SB 6126 and HB 2226, the dental practitioner bills supported by the Kellogg Foundation and the Children’s Alliance, are now dead. HB 2226 died in the House Health Committee two weeks ago and SB 6126 will not pass out of the Senate Rules Committee. The WSDA appreciates our members' strong efforts and we're especially thankful for the leadership from the Board, committees, grassroots advocates and lobbyists. If you have received positive responses from your local legislators on WSDA’s position, please send them a thank you for supporting our concerns about patient safety and our continuing efforts to reduce barriers to oral health care. While these bills will not move any further this legislative session, support for a dental therapist model continues to grow among legislators and advocacy groups. Supporters of the legislation continue to amend introduced therapist bills and build support for the concept among other stakeholders. Put simply, this issue will not go away. We must continue to build our influence in Olympia. This year several dentists joined the grassroots advocacy program for the first time, but we still need more support from the dental profession. If you are not a member of the grassroots program, take a moment to join the campaign and be ready to work with your local legislators to protect patients and the profession. To sign up for the grassroots program, email michael@wsda.org . Thank you for your advocacy and continued action on behalf of the WSDA.

DHPs need to be put in place to help Washington patients. But there is more work to do in refining the definition of care they will provide.

Stay tuned--