- Telehealth Study Recruiting Veterans Now
- USDA Delivers Immediate Relief to Farmers, Ranchers and Rural Communities Impacted by Recent Disasters
- Submit Nominations for Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) Committees
- Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation of the Medicare Program (Executive Order 14192) - Request for Information
- Dr. Mehmet Oz Shares Vision for CMS
- CMS Refocuses on its Core Mission and Preserving the State-Federal Medicaid Partnership
- Social Factors Help Explain Worse Cardiovascular Health among Adults in Rural Vs. Urban Communities
- Reducing Barriers to Participation in Population-Based Total Cost of Care (PB-TCOC) Models and Supporting Primary and Specialty Care Transformation: Request for Input
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule
- Rural America Faces Growing Shortage of Eye Surgeons
- NRHA Continues Partnership to Advance Rural Oral Health
- Comments Requested on Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit Draft
- Q&A: What Are the Challenges and Opportunities of Small-Town Philanthropy?
American Institute of Public Health Releases Dental Workforce Report
The American Institute of Public Health (AIDPH) released a research brief, “The Financial and Policy Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on U.S. Dental Care Workers.”
The brief evaluates trends and differences of the dental health care workforce before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and assesses the impact of dental health care worker shortages by state and geographic region. Executive Director Helen Hawkey and Dr. Sean Boynes are among the authors. An interactive dashboard is being developed to map the changes among dental health care workers.
Pennsylvania Pediatric Dentist Among 2022-23 White House Fellows
In a first, a dentist is among the broad cross section of highly accomplished professionals chosen to serve as White House Fellows. In the prestigious leadership program, fellows work alongside public servants at the highest levels of the executive branch of the United States government.
Jacqueline Burgette, D.M.D., Ph.D., joined elite company this summer when she was tapped to become one of 15 White House Fellows to serve in 2022-23. It’s an estimable club that has previously included award-winning presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, M.D., and the late former Secretary of State and Gen. Colin Powell.
Each year, fellows emerge from a rigorous and competitive selection process and hail from the private sector, local government, academia, the nonprofit sector, medicine, law and the armed forces. Dr. Burgette applied to become a White House Fellow with the primary aim of serving her country and furthering her interests in policymaking.
“I have been called to public service since childhood, volunteering in state government elections and serving as a page in the Washington State House of Representatives,” she said. “Since then, I have been involved in policymaking at every stage of my graduate education, including advocating during dental school for insurance coverage for children with cleft lip and palate, as well as spearheading involvement in national advocacy efforts as a pediatric dentistry resident.”
A 2010 graduate of Harvard School of Dental Medicine, she earned a pediatric dentistry certificate and a doctorate in health policy and management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Adams School of Dentistry in 2016. She is a diplomate with the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and an assistant professor in the department of dental public health and department of pediatric dentistry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine.
According to the mission statement adopted in 1964 by the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships: “The purpose of the White House Fellows program is to provide gifted and highly motivated emerging leaders with some first-hand experience in the process of governing the nation and a sense of personal involvement in the leadership of society.”
From her perspective, Dr. Burgette said, “The White House Fellows program has shown me that so many of us can make an impact by participating in our government and that my skills as a public health expert, researcher-clinician and educator are valuable, versatile assets.”
As a 2022-23 fellow, Dr. Burgette, who is from Issaquah, Washington, will work with the Office of the National Cyber Director. During her fellowship year, she will work under the mentorship of the office’s director, Chris Inglis, and its principal deputy, Kemba Walden.
“It is a privilege to learn from their incredible examples,” Dr. Burgette said. “In the Office of National Cyber Director, I am excited to learn about the security of our digital health information. This is a public health issue that affects all aspects of our health care system across the country, including and beyond dentistry. We all have a part to play in cybersecurity, and my experience caring for patients and performing research in many health care delivery systems — from private practices to community clinics to large health systems — empowers me to help advance the cybersecurity of our health care and public health infrastructure.”
To read more about Dr. Burgette, visit the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine website, and to learn more about the White House Fellows, go to whitehouse.gov
New Oral Health Resource Available: Older Adult Oral Health Resources for Collaboration
The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) has released a new resource, “Older Adult Oral Health Resources for Collaboration.” The resource was developed by individuals from state public health programs, academia, and clinicians caring for older adults in a variety of settings. It includes include information on the link between oral health and overall health, oral health and chronic disease, special populations, ventilator and non-ventilator pneumonia, nutrition, financing routine dental care, information for non-dental providers, teledentistry, and equity.
Report Finds Potential Medicare Dental Benefit Savings
The CareQuest Institute released a new report analyzing Medicare beneficiary data. Medicare does not include dental benefits, and dental coverage varies within Medicare Advantage plans. The report analysis concludes, adding dental coverage to Medicare has the potential to save the health care system billions of dollars per year in care for patients with diabetes and/or heart disease alone.
Brief Explores Barriers to Oral Health Equity
The Center for Health Care Strategies, with support from the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, published a brief, “Advancing Oral Health Equity for Medicaid Populations.” The brief describes common barriers for addressing oral health equity for Medicaid populations and outlines recommendations to improve oral health access and quality within four key areas: coverage and access, workforce capacity building, partnerships, and payment.
FDA Launches Vaping Prevention & Education Resource Center
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products announced the launch of their new Vaping Prevention and Education Resource Center. The online resource center provides science-based, standards-mapped materials that can be used to help middle and high school students understand the dangers associated with vaping and nicotine addiction.
National Dental Group Works to Improve Access for Patients with Disabilities
The American Dental Association (ADA) shared several ideas about how Congress can ensure greater health outcomes for people with disabilities by providing accommodations in health care settings and further developing a health care workforce that understands the needs of people with disabilities. The ADA also urged Congress to provide grants for the training and continuing education of dentists on treating patients with disabilities to dental schools, dental residency and fellowship programs, and dental associations.
Pennsylvania Publishes Updates to the Dental Fee Schedule
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Office of Medical Assistance Programs, has published an updated dental fee schedule effective August 29, 2022. Please review carefully as there are new codes that have been added to the schedule. Each provider should work with their managed care contracts
to ensure proper payment.
Mental Health in Dental Professionals: The Pandemic & Beyond
The American Dental Association (ADA) and the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) have been conducting ongoing research to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dentists and dental hygienists. Join the presenters on September 29th at 7 pm ET to discuss the findings of their study and the mental health challenges facing the oral health professional community.
Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Foundation Offers Access to Care Grants
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) Foundation is awarding Access to Care Grants of up to $20,000 to support community-based initiatives that provide dental care and ultimately serve as a dental home to underserved and limited access children up to age 18. Eligible applicants include, but are not limited to, nonprofit organizations, local health jurisdictions, county health departments, hospitals and clinics, state government agencies, colleges and schools of dentistry or medicine, and national, state, and local dental societies. The application deadline is October 3rd.