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Research ArticleCritical Issues in Dental Hygiene

Oral Health Screening by MassHealth Accountable Care Organizations: An opportunity for equity-focused interventions

John Ahern, Laura Sullivan, Caleb Tam, Kara Keating Bench and Benjamin Le Cook
American Dental Hygienists' Association June 2024, 98 (3) 25-30;
John Ahern
Department of Family Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA
MBBCh, BDentSc, MSc, PhD
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  • For correspondence: [email protected]
Laura Sullivan
Department of Family Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA
MD
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Caleb Tam
Department of Dental Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA
DDS
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Kara Keating Bench
Department of Family Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA
MD, MPH
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Benjamin Le Cook
Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA
PhD
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Abstract

Establishing reliable access to dental services for publicly insured patients is an important part of achieving equitable oral health care. In 2023, an oral health screening requirement was added to the MassHealth Accountable Care Organization contract, which has the capacity to affect over 1.3 million members enrolled in MassHealth Accountable Care Organizations throughout the state. The goal of the oral health screening requirement is to identify MassHealth-insured patients who do not have reliable access to dental services and to provide them with resources to establish a dental home with a MassHealth-participating dentist. Primary care providers were surveyed, and results indicate a need for a care coordination mechanism to assist MassHealth-insured patients with establishing a dental home, in addition to an option to request telehealth-enabled and/or urgent dental appointments. This report describes the oral health screening program at one MassHealth Accountable Care Organization and presents some of the data collected during the first year of its implementation, in addition to discussing how this data is being used to guide equity-focused interventions with the potential for policy implications.

Keywords
  • access to care
  • oral health services
  • dental home
  • teledentistry
  • oral health equity
  • Received May 27, 2024.
  • Accepted June 1, 2024.
  • Copyright © 2024 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association
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American Dental Hygienists' Association: 98 (3)
American Dental Hygienists' Association
Vol. 98, Issue 3
June 2024
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Oral Health Screening by MassHealth Accountable Care Organizations: An opportunity for equity-focused interventions
John Ahern, Laura Sullivan, Caleb Tam, Kara Keating Bench, Benjamin Le Cook
American Dental Hygienists' Association Jun 2024, 98 (3) 25-30;

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Oral Health Screening by MassHealth Accountable Care Organizations: An opportunity for equity-focused interventions
John Ahern, Laura Sullivan, Caleb Tam, Kara Keating Bench, Benjamin Le Cook
American Dental Hygienists' Association Jun 2024, 98 (3) 25-30;
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Keywords

  • access to care
  • oral health services
  • dental home
  • teledentistry
  • oral health equity

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