- CMS: Medicare Program; Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction Model
- CMS: Secretarial Comments on the CBE's (Battelle Memorial Institute) 2024 Activities: Report to Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
- HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- HRSA Announces Action to Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs for Life-Saving Medications at Health Centers Nationwide
- Public Inspection: HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- Increased Risk of Cyber Threats Against Healthcare and Public Health Sector
- Eight Hospitals Selected for First Cohort of Rural Hospital Stabilization Program
- Announcing the 2030 Census Disclosure Avoidance Research Program
- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- CMS: Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026
- CMS: Medicare Program; FY 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
Increasing Female Dentists Improves Health Equity
A study conducted by the Oral Health Workforce Research Center (OHWRC) at the University of Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies found that increasing the number of female dentists in the workforce improves health equity. The study, “Evaluating the Impact of Dentists’ Personal Characteristics on Workforce Participation,” found that the percentage of active dentists who are women is increasing with the mean age of female dentists as significantly lower than that of male dentists. Female dentists were also more likely to be racially/ethnically diverse compared to male dentists.
Increasing Female Dentists Improves Health Equity
A new study, Evaluating the Impact of Dentists’ Personal Characteristics on Workforce Participation: https://oralhealthworkforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OHWRC-Evaluating-the-Impact-of-Dentists-Personal-Characteristics-on-Workforce-Participation-2021.pdf conducted by the Oral Health Workforce Research Center (OHWRC) at the University at Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) builds on their previous work. A National Study of the Practice Characteristics of Women in Dentistry and Potential Impacts on Access to Care for Underserved Communities that suggested that “female dentists treat more children and more publicly insured patients than their male counterparts. The growth in the number of women in dentistry may expand the capacity of the delivery system to better meet the needs of the population, particularly the underserved.”
Delayed & Missed Child Preventive Checkups During the Pandemic
A new study from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) found that more than 1 in 4 households have delayed or missed children’s preventive checkups due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, “Missed and Delayed Preventive Health Care Visits Among U.S. Children Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” was published by Public Health Reports and uses data collected in April and May of 2021.
Primary Care and Oral Health Integration
A new article, “What Primary Care Innovation Teaches Us About Oral Health Integration” emphasizes the role of primary care and oral health integration in improving population health and addressing health inequities. The article was published in the in the January 2022 issue of the American Medical Association (AMA) Journal of Ethics. The article offers five lessons from the patient-centered medical home movement to inform primary and oral health care integration.
Dental Assistant Workforce Needs Assessment
The National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) is conducting a needs assessment to better understand the current state and needs of community health centers’ dental assistant workforce. The results of this needs assessment will inform the development of national resources to assist with the recruitment, retention and training of dental assistants. The needs assessment will take five minutes to complete and is intended for dental leadership and dental assistants working in community health centers. By completing the needs assessment, you will be eligible to enter a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card. The needs assessment will close on January 31, 2022. Click here to complete.
Oral Health Resources Available in Spanish
The National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) worked with the Puerto Rico Primary Care Association and released many of their popular oral health resources in Spanish. They are in the process of translating more materials that will be published in the coming weeks.
ASTDD to Launch National Oral Health Data Portal
The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) is working to create the nation’s first comprehensive oral health data portal. The ASTDD National Oral Health Data Portal will bring oral health status, workforce, access, cost, and quality of life information from existing federal, state, and other datasets into one consolidated, publicly-accessible website. ASTDD will be hosting a webinar on January 10th at 3 pm ET to launch the portal.
New Report Released on Oral Health in America
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIH) recently released “Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges.” The report is a culmination of two years of research and writing by over 400 contributors. It is a follow up to the Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health in America, which explores the nation’s oral health over the last 20 years.
NIH Report Details 20 Years of Advances and Challenges of Americans’ Oral Health
Despite important advances in the understanding and treatment of oral diseases and conditions, many people in the U.S. still have chronic oral health problems and lack of access to care, according to a report by the National Institutes of Health. Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges, is a follow-up to the seminal 2000 Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General. The new report, which is intended to provide a road map on how to improve the nation’s oral health, draws primarily on information from public research and evidence-based practices and was compiled and reviewed by NIH’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) and a large, diverse, multi-disciplinary team of more than 400 experts.
The report updates the findings of the 2000 publication and highlights the national importance of oral health and its relationship to overall health. It also focuses on new scientific and technological knowledge – as well as innovations in health care delivery – that offer promising new directions for improving oral health care and creating greater equity in oral health across communities. Achieving that equity is an ongoing challenge for many who struggle to obtain dental insurance and access to affordable care.
“This is a very significant report,” said NIH Acting Director Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D. “It is the most comprehensive assessment of oral health currently available in the United States and it shows, unequivocally, that oral health plays a central role in overall health. Yet millions of Americans still do not have access to routine and preventative oral care.”
The newly issued report provides a comprehensive snapshot of oral health in America, including an examination of oral health across the lifespan and a look at the impact the issue has on communities and the economy. Major take-aways from the report include:
- Healthy behaviors can improve and maintain an individual’s oral health, but these behaviors are also shaped by social and economic conditions.
- Oral and medical conditions often share common risk factors, and just as medical conditions and their treatments can influence oral health, so can oral conditions and their treatments affect other health issues.
- Substance misuse and mental health conditions negatively affect the oral health of many.
- Group disparities around oral health, identified 20 years ago, have not been adequately addressed, and greater efforts are needed to tackle both the social and commercial determinants that create these inequities and the systemic biases that perpetuate them.
“This is an in-depth review of the scientific knowledge surrounding oral health that has accumulated over the last two decades,” said Rena D’Souza D.D.S., Ph.D., director of NIDCR, which oversaw and funded the project’s three-year research program. “It provides an important window into how many societal factors intersect to create advantages and disadvantages with respect to oral health, and, critically, overall health.”
The COVID-19 pandemic emerged while the report was being written. The science around SARS-CoV-2 continues to come into focus in real-time, and, although data were only starting to surface about the oral implications of the disease, the authors included a preliminary analysis of it to assess initial impacts.
The authors make several recommendations to improve oral health in America, which include the need for health care professionals to work together to provide integrated oral, medical, and behavioral health care in schools, community health centers, nursing homes, and medical care settings, as well as dental clinics. They also identify the need to improve access to care by developing a more diverse oral health care workforce, addressing the rising cost of dental education, expanding insurance coverage, and improving the overall affordability of care.
“Although there are challenges ahead, the report gives us a starting point and some clear goals that offer reasons to be hopeful, despite those challenges,” added D’Souza. “It imagines a future, as I do, in which systemic inequities that affect oral health and access to care are more fully addressed, and one in which dental and medical professionals work together to provide integrated care for all.”
Scientists and public health professionals will use the report to identify areas of scientific inquiry and research as well as develop and implement programs that ultimately will improve the oral health of individuals, communities, and the nation.
To view or download the report, please visit the NIDCR website at www.nidcr.nih.gov/oralhealthinamerica.
Questions about the report? Email OralHealthReport@nih.gov or call NIDCR at 1-866-232-4528.
The Impact of Pandemics on Oral Health
An article in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) explores the role of pandemics on societal behavior and their impact on oral health care. The analysis explores the past, present, and future of pandemic and what measures the dental community should adopt moving forward. The latest issue also features articles about ultrasonic scaler aerosol and spatter mitigation, the use of teledentistry with older patients, and the promotion of community water fluoridation.