Health Partners of Western Ohio: Integrated Care Case Study.

Health centers are unique health care delivery organizations in which multiple disciplines, such as primary care, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, podiatry, optometry and alternative medicine, are often located at the same site. Because of this characteristic, many health centers have developed systems of integrated care. This paper describes the characteristics of health centers and highlights the integrated health care delivery system of one early adopter health center, Health Partners of Western Ohio.

Interdisciplinary collaboration: what private practice can learn from the health center experience.

Ideas on what medical-dental integration can look like on a practical level can be gained from studying efforts made in Federally Qualified Health Centers (Health Centers). Over the last 15 years, Health Centers have embarked on several initiatives that incorporated the development of infrastructure for medical-dental integration. This paper reviews these efforts and highlights successes, challenges and best practices that can bolster efforts in all dental practice settings.

Oral health and dental care during pregnancy.

Current research shows that women tend to receive less dental care than usual when they are pregnant. In 2012, the first national consensus statement on oral health care during pregnancy was issued, emphasizing both the importance and safety of routine dental care for pregnant women. This article reviews the current recommendations for perinatal oral health care and common oral manifestations during pregnancy. Periodontal disease and its association with preterm birth and low birth weight are also discussed, as is the role played by dental intervention in these adverse outcomes.

Oral health disparities and the workforce: a framework to guide innovation.

INTRODUCTION: Oral health disparities currently exist in the United States, and workforce innovations have been proposed as one strategy to address these disparities. A framework is needed to logically assess the possible role of workforce as a contributor to and to analyze workforce strategies addressing the issue of oral health disparities. METHODS: Using an existing framework, A Strategic Framework for Improving Racial/Ethnic Minority Health and Eliminating Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities, workforce was sequentially applied across individual, environmental/community, and system levels to identify long-term problems, contributing factors, strategies/innovation, measurable outcomes/impacts, and long-term goals. Examples of current workforce innovations were applied to the framework. RESULTS: Contributing factors to oral health disparities included lack of racial/ethnic diversity of the workforce, lack of appropriate training, provider distribution, and a nonuser-centered system. The framework was applied to selected workforce innovation models delineating the potential impact on contributing factors across the individual, environmental/community, and system levels. The framework helps to define expected outcomes from workforce models that would contribute to the goal of reducing oral health disparities and examine impacts across multiple levels. However, the contributing factors to oral health disparities cannot be addressed by workforce innovation alone. CONCLUSION: The Strategic Framework is a logical approach to guide workforce innovation, solutions, and identification of other aspects of the oral healthcare delivery system that need innovation in order to reduce oral health disparities.

The funding of community health center dental programs in California.

The financing of dental services in community health centers, CHCs, is a mystery to most dentists in private practice, and this lack of knowledge has resulted in misconceptions that hamper mutual support. This review seeks to explain and demystify how CHC dental clinics remain financially viable. The mechanisms of financing dental care in CHCs are described including types of revenues received, financing constraints unique to CHCs and how services to indigent patients are funded.

Cultural factors and children's oral health care: a qualitative study of carers of young children.

OBJECTIVE: This qualitative study sought to identify cultural beliefs, practices and experiences that influence access to preventive oral health care for young children from different racial and ethnic groups. METHODS: Four to six focus groups in each of the African-American, Chinese, Latino and Filipino communities in San Francisco, California were included in the study. Participants were carers of children aged 1-5 years. The 22 groups (n = 177 participants) were stratified by carer's age and, except in the African-American community, by whether US or non-US born. Sessions were conducted in different languages as needed. RESULTS: Lack of knowledge and beliefs about primary teeth created barriers to early preventive care in all groups. In Chinese groups more than others, health beliefs regarding disease causation and prevention influenced access to preventive dental care. In all groups, multiple family carers, especially elders, influenced access to preventive care. Dental fear, whether derived from prevailing community beliefs or personal negative dental experiences, greatly influenced attitudes regarding accessing preventive care. CONCLUSION: There are both similarities and differences between racial/ethnic groups in how cultural beliefs and experiences influence young children's access to dental care and how it might be improved.