BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement and the Central Oregon Health Council recently brought together a group of medical clinic representatives to begin a two-year pilot of Medical Oral Expanded Care (MORE Care), a DentaQuest Partnership initiative, in Central Oregon. MORE Care works in selected communities to establish interprofessional oral health networks to integrate and coordinate person-centered oral health care in rural communities.
With funding provided by the Central Oregon Health Council, four clinics—Mosaic Medial, St. Charles Center for Women’s Health, St. Charles Family Care La Pine and Weeks Family Medicine—from three participating PacificSource health systems will work to improve medical-dental integration by including oral health in their primary care workflows and creating a two-way referral system with dental providers. The clinics will also test ways of improving health outcomes for patients by integrating oral health in primary care settings. Strategies that might be tested include medical providers assessing and discussing oral health risk during wellness/preventive visits; staff at medical offices applying fluoride varnish with pediatric patients; and medical providers working with dental providers to improve bi-directional communication and referrals.
Members of the Council’s Regional Health Improvement Plan Oral Health Workgroup helped bring MORE Care to Oregon, creating a unique opportunity for providers in Central Oregon to change the system of care for Oregonians in a way that recognizes the importance of treating the whole person rather than individualized parts. According to Workgroup Leader Mary Ann Wren, “The initiative incentivizes and encourages relationships between primary care and dentistry that have not existed in the past.” This first-of-its-kind partnership in Oregon between the Health Council and PacificSource creates the resources to invest in community experiments, like MORE Care, that help meet the Health Council’s Mission of Creating a Healthier Central Oregon.
“The DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement is excited to bring what we’ve learned through our first two MORE Care pilots in rural areas of South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Colorado to Oregon,” said Dr. Sean Boynes, Executive Director of Person-Centered Care. “At DentaQuest, we are committed to improving access to care and driving systems change. Medical-dental integration is an important part of that change effort, and we applaud the efforts of our partners in Oregon for helping to lead the change.”
For more information on MORE Care, visit https://www.dentaquestinstitute.org/learn/morecare/interprofessional-practice.
Click here to register for a webinar on MORE Care efforts and lessons learned in Pennsylvania.
About DentaQuest
DentaQuest is a purpose-driven oral health care company that is dedicated to advancing oral health for all. We bring a uniquely holistic perspective to our work – as we manage dental and vision benefits for more than 27 million Americans and provide direct care to patients through our network of more than 85 oral health centers in five states.
DentaQuest provides flexible and customized dental solutions for Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare Advantage, small and large businesses and individuals throughout the U.S. Our clients range from state governments to leading health plans.
At DentaQuest, we believe that business performance and social impact go hand-in-hand, and we have provided more than $200 million in funding for research, grants, and programs to advance oral health in communities across the country.
Our mission is bold – our commitment is strong. By advancing oral health for everyone, we will achieve better health for all. Welcome to Preventistry.
To learn more about DentaQuest and Preventistry, visit Preventistry.org, and follow us on social: Twitter @DentaQuest, Facebook www.facebook.com/DentaQuest, Instagram @Inside_DentaQuest, and LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/DentaQuest.
