Minnesota Extends Oral Healthcare Delivery to Impact Population Health.

UNLABELLED: Collaborative leadership and stakeholder engagement have created the concept of dental therapist intraprofessional dental team members who are expanding and extending the reach of oral health care to help meet the public need in Minnesota. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Partially owing to inadequate access to affordable oral health care, health disparities exist within Minnesota's population with significant numbers of residents lacking access to basic oral health care. Policymakers, advocacy organizations, and dental professionals recommended action to address these issues. In 2009, Minnesota became the first state government in the United States to license 2 levels of practitioners, the dental therapist and the advanced dental therapist to primarily treat underserved patients. The purpose of this article is to explain the evolution of the dental therapist and guide other constituencies toward innovative dental hygiene-based workforce models. METHODS: The evolution and educational preparation of the dental therapist and advanced dental therapist are explained in the context of a unique working relationship between educators, legislators, educational institutions, and the Minnesota Department of Health. Pivotal societal, public health, and legislative issues are described from the initial stages in 2005 until 2014 when early data are emerging regarding the impact of dental therapists. CONCLUSIONS: Dental therapist oral health care providers are working in a variety of settings in Minnesota including community clinics, hospitals, and private practices. As of early February 2014, there were 32 licensed dental therapists, and 6 of whom also held certifications as advanced dental therapists. Initial public health impacts are positive; research regarding the benefits to the public is in its infancy. Further evaluation of outcomes will ascertain the viability of this new professional.

Integrating tobacco dependence counseling into electronic dental records: a multi-method approach.

Dentistry has historically seen tobacco dependence as a medical problem. As a consequence, dentistry has not adopted or developed effective interventions to deal with tobacco dependence. With the expanded use of electronic dental records, the authors identified an opportunity to incorporate standardized expert support for tobacco dependence counseling during the dental visit. Using qualitative results from observations and focus groups, a decision support system was designed that suggested discussion topics based on the patient's desire to quit and his or her level of nicotine addiction. Because dental providers are always pressed for time, the goal was a three-minute average intervention interval. To fulfill the provider's need for an easy way to track ongoing interventions, script usage was recorded. This process helped the provider track what he or she had said to the patient about tobacco dependence during previous encounters and to vary the messages. While the individual elements of the design process were not new, the combination of them proved to be very effective in designing a usable and accepted intervention. The heavy involvement of stakeholders in all components of the design gave providers and administrators ownership of the final product, which was ultimately adopted for use in all the clinics of a large dental group practice in Minnesota.

Computer-assisted guidance for dental office tobacco-cessation counseling: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Decreases in smoking prevalence from recent decades have slowed, and national goals to reduce tobacco use remain unmet. Healthcare providers, including those in physician and dental teams, have access to evidence-based guidelines to help patients quit smoking. Translation of those guidelines into practice, however, remains low. Approaches that involve screening for drug use, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) are a promising, practical solution. PURPOSE: This study examined whether dentists and dental hygienists would assess interest in quitting, deliver a brief tobacco intervention, and refer to a tobacco quitline more frequently as reported by patients if given computer-assisted guidance in an electronic patient record versus a control group providing usual care. DESIGN: A blocked, group-randomized trial was conducted from November 2010 to April 2011. Randomization was conducted at the clinic level. Patients nested within clinics represented the lowest-level unit of observation. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Participants were patients in HealthPartners dental clinics. INTERVENTION: Intervention clinics were given a computer-assisted tool that suggested scripts for patient discussions. Usual care clinics provided care without the tool. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcomes were post-appointment patient reports of the provider assessing interest in quitting, delivering a brief intervention, and referring them to a quitline. RESULTS: Patient telephone surveys (72% response rate) indicated that providers assessed interest in quitting (control 70% vs intervention 87%, p=0.0006); discussed specific strategies for quitting (control 26% vs intervention 47%, p=0.003); and referred the patient to a tobacco quitline (control 17% vs intervention 37%, p=0.007) more frequently with the support of a computer-assisted tool integrated into the electronic health record. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical decision support embedded in electronic health records can effectively help providers deliver tobacco interventions. These results build on evidence in medical settings supporting this approach to improve provider-delivered tobacco cessation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.govNCT01584882.

The effect of electronic health records on the use of clinical care guidelines for patients with medically complex conditions.

BACKGROUND: The emergence of health information technology provides an opportunity for health care providers to improve the quality and safety of dental care, particularly for patients with medically complex conditions. METHODS: The authors randomized each of 15 dental clinics (HealthPartners, Bloomington, Minn.) to one of three groups to evaluate the impact of two clinical decision support (CDS) approaches during an 18-month study period. In the first approach--provider activation through electronic dental records (EDRs)--a flashing alert was generated at the dental visit to identify patients with medically complex conditions and to direct the dental care provider to Web-based personalized care guidelines. In the second approach--patient activation through personal health records--a secure e-mail was generated or a letter was mailed to patients before dental visits encouraging them to ask their dental care provider to review the care guidelines specific to their medical conditions. RESULTS: The authors evaluated the rate of reviewing care guidelines among 102 providers. Participants in the provider and patient activation groups increased their use of the system during the first six months, which had a generalized effect of increasing use of the guidelines for all patients, even if they were not part of the study (P < .05). The study results showed that provider activation was more effective than was patient activation. However, providers did not sustain their high level of use of the system, and by the end of the study, the rate of use had returned to baseline levels despite participants' continued receipt of electronic alerts. CONCLUSIONS: The study results demonstrated that review of clinical care guidelines for patients with medically complex conditions can be improved with CDS systems that involve the use of electronic health records. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: As the U.S. population ages, dentists must be vigilant in adapting care for patients with medically complex conditions to ensure therapeutic safety and effectiveness. Expanded use of CDS via EDRs can help dental care providers achieve this objective.