Developing An Oral Health Plan:

Alachua County Oral Health Coalition

Scott L. Tomar, DMD, DrPHDiane Dimperio

August 24, 2012

Elements and Processes

• Key Players-Instigators• Initial Planning• Coalition Building• Assessment• Program Plan• Implementation

Instigators-Alachua• UF-College of Dentistry

– Expertise – Professional in-kind contributions– Credibility

• Alachua County Health Department – Community relationship– Community assessment and planning– Program development

Planning-Alachua

• Funding: Year One– $70,000– Coalition Development – Assessment

• Collecting and analyzing data• Third grade screening (22 schools)

– Oral Health Plan

Planning • Dedicated resources for project

– Staff >0.5 FTE– Management/supervision– Oral health expertise– Professional volunteers– Resources

• Dental society• University/Community College• http://www.floridaoralhealth.com/• Regional Planning Council• AHEC

Coalition Building

• Broad-based membership– UF– Santa Fe College– County dental society – County health dept.– School Board– Day care/Head Start– Hospitals– Safety net providers

– United Way– Gainesville City

Commission – Policy makers– Faith based– AHEC– Other CBOs– Other coalitions e.g.

tobacco

Coalition Infrastructure

• VisionAll Alachua County residents will have good oral health

• Mission The Oral Health Coalition of Alachua County will foster oral health through public awareness, education, advocacy and ensuring access to care.

Coalition Infrastructure

• Organizational Guidelines– Description of member responsibilities – Coalition decision making and operations

• Membership form

http://www.floridaoralhealth.com/Oral-Health-Coalition-of-Alachua

Leadership

• Coalition – Chair: Scott Tomar DMD MPH DrPH, UFCD

Faculty– Vice Chair: Diane Dimperio, Director Program

Development, ACHD • Committees

– Recruited member as chair

Committees• Assessment

Conduct an assessment of the oral health status of Alachua County residents and resources available to the low income population

• Prevention Make recommendations regarding strategies to

expand and improve access to preventative oral health education and service

• Access Identify and recommend cost effective strategies to

expand and improve access to oral health care

Assessment • Interviews with providers - describe capacity and

experience • Analysis of ER data• Face-to-face interviews (N=102)• Third grade screening (N≈1800)• BRFSS• Claims data-Medicaid/other • Other local data or reports

– Many communities now doing CHIP and may include focus groups or other sources of info

Prevention Committee-Plan

• Described prevention strategies• Summarized current status in Alachua• Series of recommendations • Voted based on cost and effectiveness

Access Committee-Plan

• Cost effective recommendations for increasing access to care

• Increase access to Medicaid for children: • Increased participation of pvt dentists in Medicaid • Oral health services by MDs (F varnish)• Services offered in alternate locations (e.g. schools)

• Increase access to care for adults– Provide updated list of free/reduced fee options– Increase use of volunteer providers

Other Plan Components

• Messaging – Educate community regarding

• Importance of oral health• Oral health status of Alachua County residents

• Surveillance – Third grade screening – Use of ER for dental problems– Impact of Medicaid reform on access to care

Plan Considerations

• Think long term: 3-5 years • Develop several options• Optimistic but realistic • Stay within budget

• Contact – stomar@dental.ufl.edu

• Alachua County Oral Health Plan– http://www.doh.state.fl.us/chdAlachua/docs/

ACHDOralHealth.pdf