Implementing care coordination in a large dental care organization in the United States by upskilling front office personnel.

BACKGROUND: Care coordination is a key strategy used to improve health outcomes and efficiency, yet there are limited examples in dentistry. A large dental accountable care organization piloted care coordination by retraining existing administrative staff to coordinate the care of high-risk patients. Following the pilot's success, a formal "dental care advocate" (DCA) role was integrated system-wide. The goal of this new role is to improve care, patient engagement, and health outcomes while integrating staff into the clinical care team. We aim to describe the process of DCA role implementation and assess staff and clinician perceptions about the role pre- and post-implementation. METHODS: Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, semi-structured interviews with clinical and operational administrative staff and observation at the company-wide training session were combined with pre- and post-implementation electronic surveys. Descriptive statistics and mean scores were tested for significance between each survey sample (t-tests), and qualitative data were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: With preliminary evidence from the pilot and strong executive support, a dedicated leadership team executed a stepwise rollout of the DCA role over 6 months. Success was facilitated by an organizational culture of frequent interventions deployed rapidly through a centralized system, along with supportive buy-in from managerial teams and high staff acceptance and enthusiasm for the DCA role before implementation. Following implementation, significant changes in attitudes and beliefs about the role were measured, though managers held stronger positive impressions than DCAs. DCAs reported high confidence in new skills and dental knowledge post-implementation, including motivational interviewing and the ability to confidently answer patients' questions about their oral health. Overall, the fast-paced implementation of this new role was well received, although consistent and significant differences in mean attitudes between managers and DCAs indicate more work to fine-tune the role is needed. CONCLUSIONS: Successful implementation of the new DCA role was facilitated by a strong organizational commitment to team-based dentistry and positive impressions of care coordination among staff and managers. Upskilling existing administrative staff with the necessary training to manage some high-risk patient needs is one method that can be used to implement care coordination efforts in dentistry.

Dental adverse effects of sublingual buprenorphine and naloxone.

Overview of: Etminan M, Rezaeianzadeh R, Kezouh A, et al. Association between sublingual buprenorphine-naloxone exposure and dental disease. JAMA. 2022;328:2269-71.

Measuring quality: caries-related emergency department visits and follow-up among children.

OBJECTIVE: This study validated two Dental Quality Alliance system-level measures of oral healthcare quality for children - caries-related emergency department (ED) visits and timely follow-up of those visits with a dentist - including formal validation of diagnosis codes used to identify caries-related ED visits and measurement of follow-up care. METHODS: The measures were specified for implementation with administrative claims data and validated using data from the Florida and Texas Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs. Measure specification testing and measure score validation used administrative data for 7,007,765 children. We validated the diagnosis codes in claims data by comparisons with manual reviews of 300 records from a Florida hospital ED and calculation of the kappa statistic, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS: Overall agreement in caries-related ED visit classifications between the claims data and record reviews was 87.7 percent with kappa = 0.71, sensitivity = 82 percent, and specificity = 90 percent. The calculated measure scores using administrative data found more than four-fold variation between programs with the lowest and highest caries-related ED visit rates (6.90/100,000 member months and 30.68/100,000 member months). The percentage of follow-up visits within 7 days and 30 days ranged from 22-39 percent and 34-49 percent, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These National Quality Forum endorsed measures provide valid methodologies for assessing the rate of caries-related ED visits, an important system-level outcome indicator of outpatient prevention and disease management, and the timeliness of follow-up with a dentist. There is significant variation in caries-related ED visits among state Medicaid programs, and most ED visits do not have follow-up with a dentist within 30 days.

Health services utilization in the Brazilian Amazon: panel of two cross-sectional studies

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To investigate the use of health services among adults living in Manaus, Amazonas. METHODS This was a panel of two cross-sectional studies conducted in Manaus in 2015 and 2019. Individuals aged ≥ 18 years were selected by probabilistic sampling and interviewed at home. The study outcomes were doctor visits and hospitalizations in the previous 12 months, and unmet surgical needs. Variations between 2015 and 2019 were tested using chi-squared goodness-of-fit test. Poisson regression with robust variance was employed to calculate the prevalence ratios (PR) of the outcomes with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). RESULTS The surveys included 5,800 participants in total. Visits to the doctor decreased from 2015 (78.7%) to 2019 (76.3%; p < 0.001), hospital admissions increased from 2015 (7.9%) to 2019 (11.5%; p < 0.001), and unmet surgical needs decreased in the period (15.9% to 12.1%; p < 0.001). These variations were particularly observed in vulnerable individuals - sicker; poorer; non-whites; and those belonging to lower social classes, with less access to education, formal jobs, and health insurance (p < 0.05). Doctor visits were higher in people with fair health status (PR = 1.09; 95%CI 1.06-1.12), health insurance (PR = 1.13; 95%CI 1.09-1.17), and chronic diseases (p < 0.001) but lower in men (PR = 0.87; 95%CI 0.84-0.90) and informal workers (PR = 0.89; 95%CI 0.84-0.94). Hospitalizations were higher in people with worse health statuses (p < 0.001), without partners (PR = 1.27; 95%CI 1.05-1.53), and with multimorbidity (PR = 1.68; 95%CI 1.33-2.12) but lower in men (PR = 0.55; 95%CI 0.44-0.68), older adults (p < 0.001), informal workers (PR = 0.67; 95%CI 0.51-0.89), and unemployed (PR = 0.72; 95%CI 0.53-0.97). Unmet surgical needs were higher in older adults (p < 0.001), middle-class people (PR = 1.24; 95%CI 1.01-1.55), worse health statuses (p < 0.001), and chronic diseases (p < 0.001) but lower in men (PR = 0.76; 95%CI 0.65-0.86). CONCLUSIONS From 2015 to 2019, less people visited the doctor, more were admitted to hospitals, and less were in need of surgery or aware of that need, potentially indicating poorer access to health services.

Patients' Perceptions of Endodontic Treatment as Part of Public Health Services: A Qualitative Study.

Evaluations by patients constitute an important part of the process of improving health services. This study examined patients' perceptions of secondary dental care in three cities in Minas Gerais, Brazil based on the endodontic treatment received. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews (addressing access, treatment and results) and a field diary (direct observations and report of professionals). The interviews were audiotaped, fully transcribed, and analyzed using content analysis. Two principal themes were identified: access to service and quality of service. The difficulties in accessing service were associated with the insufficient number of professionals to meet the high demand for endodontic treatment, problems in referring from primary to secondary care and geographic barriers. Service quality was related to the presence/absence of pain and anxiety that patients experienced, the time and number of sessions required to complete treatment, how patients were treated by dentists, and whether those patients would recommend the service to other patients. Access to endodontic treatment was a problem emphasized by users, and satisfaction with the quality of the service was more related to how patients were treated than to the technical competence of the dentist.

Brazilian Oral Health Policy: metasynthesis of studies on the Oral Health Network / Política Nacional de Saúde Bucal: metassíntese dos estudos sobre a Rede de Saúde Bucal

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE Analyze the performance of the oriented oral health care network from its implementation, in 2004 to 2020, according to publications on the subject. METHODS This is a research with a methodological description of metasynthesis. RESULTS The searches resulted in 600 complete publications (586 in the first search and another 14 in the second search), according to the established criteria. 539 articles were excluded: 151 after duplication analysis, 236 after reading the title, 45 by type of publication and 107 after reading the abstract, as they did not fit the research theme. Thus, 61 original publications and another 29 publications in snowball sampling were selected and analyzed, totaling 90 publications. From this selection, we chose to use the model proposed by the Projeto de Avaliações de Desempenho de Sistemas de Saúde (PROADESS — Health Systems Performance Assessment Project). The study will use its guiding principles on the dimension "Health Services Performance". CONCLUSION The analyzed set allowed us to identify that the way the Brazilian State organizes and finances oral health care made it possible to expand access and the number of procedures performed, but not the creation of an effective comprehensive care network, after more than a decade of implementation of Brasil Sorridente (Smiling Brazil).

RESUMO OBJETIVO Analisar o desempenho da rede de cuidados em saúde bucal orientada a partir sua implantação, em 2004 até 2020, segundo publicações sobre o tema. MÉTODOS Trata-se de uma pesquisa com descrição metodológica de metassíntese. RESULTADOS As buscas resultaram em 600 publicações completas (586 na primeira busca e mais 14 na segunda busca), de acordo com os critérios estabelecidos. Foram excluídos 539 artigos: 151 artigos após análise de duplicidade, 236 artigos após a leitura do título, 45 pelo tipo de publicação e 107 artigos após leitura do resumo, por não se enquadrarem na temática da pesquisa. Dessa forma, foram selecionadas e analisadas 61 publicações originais e mais 29 publicações em snowball sampling, totalizando 90 publicações. A partir dessa seleção,optou-se por usaro modelo proposto pelo Projeto de Avaliações de Desempenho de Sistemas de Saúde - PROADESS. O estudo se utilizará de seus princípios norteadores sobre a dimensão "Desempenho dos Serviços de Saúde". CONCLUSÃO O conjunto analisado permitiu identificar que a forma como o Estado brasileiro organiza e financia o atendimento em saúde bucal possibilitou a ampliação do acesso e do número de procedimentos realizados, mas não da criação de uma efetiva Rede de cuidados integrais, após mais de uma década de implementação do Brasil Sorridente.

Desempenho dos municípios brasileiros quanto à oferta de serviços especializados em saúde bucal / Performance of Brazilian municipalities in the supply of specialized oral health services / Desempeño de los municipios brasileños respecto a la oferta de servicios especializados en salud bucal

Objetivou-se analisar em nível nacional os fatores associados à disponibilidade de serviços odontológicos especializados nos municípios brasileiros. É um estudo ecológico, com amostra de 776 municípios que participaram do 1º ciclo do Programa de Melhoria do Acesso e da Qualidade dos Centros de Especialidades Odontológicas (PMAQ-CEO) realizado em 2014. As variáveis dependentes do estudo consistiram em um coeficiente criado com base nas variáveis de número de profissionais e carga horária semanal de cirurgiões-dentistas atuando nas especialidades mínimas por 10 mil habitantes. Realizou-se uma análise fatorial exploratória para a criação de um escore que mensura o desempenho dos municípios quanto à disponibilidade de serviços odontológicos especializados. A fim de avaliar os fatores associados ao desempenho dos municípios utilizou-se o teste do qui-quadrado de Pearson, tendo como variáveis independentes os seguintes indicadores municipais categorizados em tercis: renda per capita, Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano Municipal (IDH-M), população residente, despesa total com saúde por habitante e equipes de saúde bucal por 10 mil habitantes. O maior desempenho quanto à disponibilidade de serviços especializados em saúde bucal esteve associado a municípios com menor porte populacional (67,3%; IC: 61,6-73,0; p < 0,001), com menor IDH-M (41,9%; IC: 35,8-48,0; p < 0,001) e com menor renda per capita (41,2%; IC: 35,2-47,3; p < 0,001) e maior média de equipes de saúde bucal por 10 mil habitantes (50,6%; IC: 46,0-58,4; p < 0,001). Os resultados demonstram impactos positivos da implantação da Política Nacional de Saúde Bucal no país, como o cumprimento do objetivo de ampliação da oferta dos serviços de atenção secundária sob o princípio da equidade na assistência.

The study aimed to analyze factors associated with the availability of specialized dental services in Brazilian municipalities. This was an ecological study with a sample of 776 municipalities that participated in the first cycle of the Program to Improve Access and Quality of Dental Specialization Centers (PMAQ-CEO, in Portuguese) survey held in 2014. The study's dependent variables consisted of a coefficient created with variables on the number of professionals and the workweek of dentists in the minimum set of specialties, per 10,000 inhabitants. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to create a score for the municipalities' performance with the availability of specialized dental services. Factors associated with the municipalities' performance were assessed with Pearson's chi-square test, with the following municipal indicators as independent variables, categorized in tertiles: per capita income, Municipal Human Development Index (HDI-M), resident population, total health spending per inhabitant, and Oral Health Teams per 10,000 inhabitants. Higher performance with the availability of specialized oral health services was associated with municipalities having smaller populations (67.3%; CI: 61.6-73.0; p < 0.001), lower HDI-M (41.9%; CI: 35.8-48.0; p < 0.001), lower per capita income (41.2%; CI: 35.2-47.3; p < 0.001), and higher mean number of oral health teams per 10,000 inhabitants (50.6%; CI: 46.0-58.4; p < 0.001). The results show positive impacts from the implementation of the National Oral Health Policy in Brazil, meeting the goal of expanding the supply of secondary care services according to the principle of equity in care.

El objetivo fue analizar nacionalmente los factores asociados con la disponibilidad de servicios odontológicos especializados en municipios brasileños. Se trata de un estudio ecológico, con una muestra de 776 municipios que participaron en el 1er ciclo del Programa para Mejorar el Acceso y la Calidad de los Centros de Especialización Odontológicas (PMAQ-CEO, en Portugués), realizado en 2014. Las variables dependientes del estudio consistieron en un coeficiente creado a partir de las variables de número de profesionales y carga horaria semanal de cirujanos-dentistas, ejerciendo en las especialidades mínimas por 10.000 habitantes. Se realizó un análisis factorial exploratorio para la creación de una puntuación que midiera el desempeño de los municipios, respecto a la disponibilidad de servicios odontológicos especializados. Con el fin de evaluar los factores asociados con el desempeño de los municipios, se utilizó el test de chi-quadrado de Pearson, teniendo como variables independientes los siguientes indicadores municipales categorizados en terciles: renta per cápita, Índice de Desarrollo Humano Municipal (IDH-M), población residente, gasto total por habitante en salud y equipos de salud bucal por 10.000 habitantes. El mayor desempeño respecto a la disponibilidad de servicios especializados en salud bucal estuvo asociado a municipios con menor tamaño poblacional (67,3%; IC: 61,6-73,0; p < 0,001), con menor IDH-M (41,9%; IC: 35,8-48,0; p < 0,001) y con menor renta per cápita (41,2%; IC: 35,2-47,3; p < 0,001) y mayor media de equipos de salud bucal por 10.000 habitantes (50,6%; IC: 46,0-58,4; p < 0,001). Los resultados demuestran impactos positivos de la implantación de la Política Nacional de Salud Bucal en el país, como el cumplimiento del objetivo de ampliación de la oferta de los servicios de atención secundaria, basados en el principio de la equidad en la asistencia.

Diagnosis, treatment, and notification of syphilis during pregnancy in the state of Goiás, Brazil, between 2007 and 2017 / Diagnóstico, tratamento e notificação da sífilis durante a gestação em Goiás, de 2007 a 2017

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the evolution of syphilis during pregnancy notification regarding clinical classification, diagnosis and treatment in the state of Goiás, Brazil, between 2007 and 2017. METHODS This is a time-series study, analyzing data provided by the Health Secretariat of the state of Goiás. The variables related to the diagnosis and treatment of pregnant women and their partners were analyzed, and their evolution trend during the years. Descriptive statistics and percentage calculation were used. Cochran-Armitage test with a significance level α = 0.05 was used to determine increase and decrease trends. RESULTS During the period, 7,774 cases were notified. The highest percentage of notifications occurred in the second trimester of pregnancy (39.8%) and corresponded to primary syphilis (34.1%). The most frequent treatment prescribed was benzathine benzylpenicillin with a dosage of 7.2 million (43.8%). Between 2007 and 2017, there was an increasing trend in the notification percentage of latent (14.1% to 30.7%), secondary (5.2% to 19%), and tertiary syphilis (4.4% to 11.4%). The treatment with benzathine benzylpenicillin with a dosage of 7.2 million also increased (19.3% to 59.6%). The percentages of primary syphilis decreased (43.4% to 22.1%), as well as other treatments' percentages. CONCLUSIONS Latent syphilis notification of pregnant women and treatment with penicillin at the dosage of 7,200,000 IU increased. Notification forms' data completeness also increased for the variables clinical classification and treatment, suggesting improvements in the notification process.

RESUMO OBJETIVO Analisar a evolução das notificações da sífilis durante a gestação em relação à classificação clínica, ao diagnóstico e ao tratamento no estado de Goiás, entre 2007 e 2017. MÉTODOS Estudo de série temporal com análise de dados fornecidos pela Secretaria Estadual de Saúde de Goiás. Foram analisadas as variáveis relacionadas ao diagnóstico e tratamento das gestantes e seus parceiros, e sua tendência evolutiva ao longo dos anos. Utilizou-se estatística descritiva, cálculo de porcentagens e verificação das tendências de aumento e diminuição por meio do teste de Cochran-Armitage com nível de significância α = 0,05. RESULTADOS Ao todo, 7.774 casos foram notificados no período. A maior porcentagem das notificações ocorreu no segundo trimestre de gestação (39,8%) e correspondeu à sífilis primária (34,1%). O tratamento prescrito com maior frequência foi a penicilina benzatina em dose de 7,2 milhões (43,8%). Entre 2007 e 2017, observou-se tendência crescente nas porcentagens de notificações de sífilis latente (14,1% para 30,7%), secundária (5,2% para 19%) e terciária (4,4% para 11,4%), assim como no tratamento com penicilina benzatina em dose de 7,2 milhões (19,3% para 59,6%). Tendência decrescente foi observada nas porcentagens de notificação de sífilis primária (43,4% para 22,1%) e nos demais esquemas de tratamento. CONCLUSÕES Houve aumento no número de notificações de sífilis latente em gestantes e no tratamento com penicilina na dose de 7.200.000 UI. Também foi observado aumento na completitude dos dados da ficha de notificação nas variáveis de classificação clínica e tratamento, sugerindo melhora no processo de notificação.

Infrastructure and work process in primary health care: PMAQ in Ceará / Infraestrutura e processo de trabalho na atenção primária à saúde: PMAQ no Ceará

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the quality of the infrastructure and work process of the Family Health Strategy in the municipalities of Ceará between 2012 and 2014. METHODS Cross-sectional study, using secondary data from the external evaluation of the 1st (2012) and 2nd (2014) cycle of the National Program for Improvement of Access and Quality of Primary Care in Ceará. A total of 20 composite indicators were used to verify the quality of infrastructure and work process. RESULTS Data from 183 (99.4%) of the 184 municipalities of Ceará were collected in both cycles. A total of 1,441 teams were evaluated for the infrastructure and 800 for the work process. Among the 20 composite indicators evaluated, 18 presented an improvement, but in a non-homogeneous way, ranging between 0.0 and 413.5%. We observed that the lower the initial value of the indicator, the greater the variation in quality between 2012 and 2014. The indicators of infrastructure and work process were influenced by the regional health system and population size of the municipality, being more evident the influence on the variables of the work process. CONCLUSIONS We identified that quality improvements related to infrastructure and work process occurred in the period of implementation of the program in the state of Ceará in an equitable manner, being influenced by population size and regional health system, showing the influence of the context in the implementation of public policies of this nature.

RESUMO OBJETIVO Analisar a qualidade da infraestrutura e do processo de trabalho da Estratégia Saúde da Família nos municípios do Ceará entre 2012 e 2014. MÉTODOS Estudo transversal, utilizando dados secundários da avaliação externa do 1º (2012) e 2º (2014) ciclo do Programa Nacional de Melhoria do Acesso e da Qualidade da Atenção Básica no Ceará. Vinte indicadores compostos foram utilizados para averiguar a qualidade da infraestrutura e do processo de trabalho. RESULTADOS Dados de 183 (99,4%) dos 184 municípios foram avaliados nos dois ciclos. Avaliaram-se 1.441 equipes para infraestrutura e 800 equipes para processo de trabalho. Dentre os 20 indicadores compostos avaliados, houve melhoria em 18, porém de forma não homogênea, variando de 0,0 a 413,5%. Observou-se que quanto menor o valor inicial do indicador, maior a variação na qualidade entre 2012 e 2014. Os indicadores da infraestrutura e do processo de trabalho foram influenciados pela região de saúde e porte populacional do município, sendo mais evidente a influência nas variáveis de processo de trabalho. CONCLUSÕES Identificou-se que melhorias da qualidade referentes à infraestrutura e ao processo de trabalho ocorreram no período de implantação do programa no estado do Ceará de forma equitativa, sendo influenciadas pelo porte populacional e pela região, demonstrando a influência do contexto na implementação de políticas públicas dessa natureza.