States and managed care organizations face real challenges when it comes to running a successful Medicaid program and helping people get and stay healthy. Medicaid leaders find themselves faced with extremely difficult decisions about how best to prioritize critical needs of the population – often times there are no silver bullets. Yet, Medicaid dental partnerships are a great step forward.
In the past, the dental component of a Medicaid program has fallen victim to tough decisions, receiving fewer resources and lagging behind when it came to ensuring access to needed care. And people suffered.
Recognizing this, states started to look at their Medicaid dental programs differently. They began seeking out industry experts like DentaQuest to help work directly with Medicaid agencies or to support managed care organizations to implement best practices.
The result was that more people got access to the medically necessary oral health they needed.
Rapidly expanding regulatory requirements and Medicaid budget pressures, as well as the tidal wave of value-based payment and care models initiated by the Affordable Care Act, mean states once again find themselves at a crossroads when it comes to their Medicaid dental programs.
Forward thinking states are moving past the notion that access to treatment is all it takes to improve the oral health of all. They recognize that an effective Medicaid dental program must achieve the Triple Aim: lower costs, improved population health, and better patient experiences.
Tennessee is a perfect example of a dental partnership focused on the triple aim.
In 2012, state Medicaid leaders recognized they were no longer meeting the oral needs of the people they served and set out to create a new Medicaid dental program model. They also recognized that they needed a new partner, not just a vendor, to help develop and implement a holistic approach to oral health.
Since partnering with TennCare in 2013, DentaQuest has saved the state $27.5 million by prioritizing preventive care, which helps to avoid extensive, costly future procedures. In the second year of the program, the number of children participating in the program increased by 8 percent to 810,000 enrollees. Through our dental home program, we’ve made sure that each and every one of the 810,000 children is connected to a dentist who is willing and able to provide care.
This successful model is built upon the idea that aligned incentives can improve outcomes.
DentaQuest has a shared responsibility when it comes to improving outcomes and reducing costs. This challenge should not fall on providers and states alone. DentaQuest must meet outcome benchmarks—set by the state—related to access, network adequacy, outreach, and cost.
DentaQuest met or exceeded benchmarks in all categories during the first two years and is poised to demonstrate success again in year three.
The results of this model are encouraging:
- Average distance to a provider is 3.7 miles, compared to a benchmark of 30 miles
- Wait times for routine, urgent, and emergency care are significantly lower than the state’s thresholds
- 100 percent of beneficiaries have patient-centered dental homes—providing accessible, comprehensive, and coordinated care to enrollees
DentaQuest has been able to succeed in part by educating and engaging patients and families—even hosting over 80 community events last year.
This type of patient-centric program should serve as a model for other state Medicaid programs and partners. Change and innovation should not mean complexity and burden.
There is a better way forward and DentaQuest has a roadmap to get there.