Throughout the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a dramatic enhance in using teledentistryβa method that improved entry to oral well being companies regardless of full or partial closures of dental practices.
A latest report by the Oral Well being Workforce Analysis Middle (OHWRC) on the College at Albany’s Middle for Well being Workforce Research (CHWS) within the College of Public Well being explored using teledentistry by safety-net organizations, which embrace Federally Certified Heath Facilities (FQHCs), to bridge entry to care in the course of the pandemic.
Teledentistry presents an efficient method to conduct appointments involving triage, session, analysis, referral, follow-up and well being schooling, lowering the variety of in-person visits.
Though teledentistry companies are extensively accepted by suppliers and sufferers alike, probably the most important barrier stopping the adoption and enlargement of teledentistry companies is variability round teledentistry authorization and regulation. Whereas some states have particular legal guidelines and rules that assist teledentistry, others don’t. State-level variability in teledentistry regulation typically limits the flexibility of safety-net clinicians to supply digital oral well being care.
OHWRC researchers carried out interviews of safety-net oral well being suppliers and directors, who described their experiences utilizing teledentistry companies. The vast majority of key informants expressed curiosity in persevering with to supply companies through teledentistry past the pandemic. Nevertheless, obstacles to teledentistry enlargement have been recognized, together with lack of Medicaid reimbursement, which is vital for populations primarily served by safety-net organizations. Researchers discovered that after the expiration of the COVID-19 Public Well being Emergency on Might 11, 2023, solely 14 states are persevering with to supply Medicaid reimbursement for teledentistry companies.
State-level restrictions on who is permitted to ship teledentistry companies pose extra obstacles to service entry. In some states, solely dentists are allowed to ship teledentistry companies, limiting entry to dental companies that may very well be delivered by different oral well being suppliers, together with dental hygienists.
As a part of their examine, OHWRC researchers assessed state legal guidelines, rules and insurance policies associated to teledentistry within the 51 regulatory jurisdictions of the U.S. to compile a state-by-state comparability of the obstacles to and facilitators of using teledentistry. An interactive infographic was developed as an example present regulatory steering for teledentistry by every state within the U.S.
“Teledentistry proved itself in the course of the pandemic; we discovered that it expanded entry to care,” says CHWS Director Jean Moore. “Shifting ahead, we have to establish methods to cut back the variability in teledentistry regulation and authorization to allow its use and to enhance entry to high quality dental companies sooner or later.”
