INITIATIVE TO INTEGRATE ORALHEALTH AND MEDICINE:PROGRESS REPORT 2019

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The Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) is fortunate to have committed partners with whom we striveto transform dentistry and fully integrate oral health into health care education, delivery and financing topromote population health and well- being. Together, we launched the Initiative to Integrate Oral Health andMedicine in the fall of 2015 to engage in research and demonstration projects that contribute to theadvancement of medical/dental integration. We are pioneering new models for teaching health professionals,providing team-based care, financing comprehensive care, evaluating the health and economic outcomes ofintegration, and advocating for a comprehensive approach to disease management.

New Oral Health Summit In June of 2019, the Initiative to Integrate Oral Health andMedicine and the Center for Integration of Primary Care andOral Health (CIPCOH) partnered to create a learningcollaborative with attendees providing tools and technicalassistance to promote medical-dental integration. Thesummit, titled Interprofessional Education to Practice, was heldin Boston and focused on a practical approach toclinical integration of primary care and oral health andlaunching a peer-to-peer learning community. Speakers,panel discussions, and interactive case studies brought adynamic approach to integrating interprofessionaleducation in a practical and clinical setting. The collaborativework continues with our community of partners.

Introduction

Integration Fellow: John Ahern John Ahern, MD, DMD, MPH, PhD, hasreturned to HSDM to work with the Initiative toIntegrate Oral Health and Medicine. Ahern willserve as an Integration Fellow through thesummer of 2020. He is working with the data repository and withcolleagues at the Harvard’s T.H. Chan School ofPublic Health on integration issues and team-based care.

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The Harkin InstituteAmerican Dental Education Association International Association of Dental ResearchHealth Services Research Association ConferenceNational Rural Health Association ConferenceSociety for Medical Decision Making American Student Dental Association (ASDA) NationalLeadership ConferenceAcademy Health Annual MeetingAmerican Association of Public Health DentistryThe Santa Fe Group Annual Meeting

Presentations

The Initiative to Integrate Oral Health and Medicine and theCenter for Integration of Primary Care and Oral Healthpresented at or visited:

       

Save the Date

Leadership Forum 2020:Integration and Innovation

September 30- October 1, 2020

Joseph B. Martin Conference Center

77 Avenue Louis PasteurBoston, MA 02115

Visits and Collaborations

In May 2019, Dean Donoff and Associate DeanJane Barrow traveled to ProHealth to meetwith leadership and discuss integration ofmedical and dental care. The Initiative,ProHealth and ProHealth Dental arepartnering to measure and improve primarycare patients’ oral health literacy. In June 2019, Dean Donoff, Associate DeanJane Barrow, and Drs. Riedy, Ticku andBrennan traveled to California to meet withexecutives at CareMore. CareMore is aMedicare Advantage plan piloting theintegration of dental care for diabetic patients.The Initiative is exploring research anddemonstration project partnerships withCareMore. Sachin H. Jain, CEO of CareMore,will be speaking at the 2020 Leadership Forum. Initiative leadership and HSDM global healthfaculty members attended a special UnitedNations oral health event hosted by New YorkUniversity focusing on universal health care. The Initiative is currently collaborating withthe HMS Center for Primary Care and HMSBiomedical Informatics Department to developa data repository for research on medical-dental integration.

Integration Fell0w: Lisa Simon  Lisa Simon, DMD, continues to serve as anIntegration Fellow with the Initiative and willcontinue her work upon her graduation fromHarvard Medical School this spring. Herfocus is investigating cost effectiveness aswell as how disparities in care impact oraland overall health.

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The Initiative Welcomes New Board Members

The Initiative proudly welcomed the followingboard members over the last year: Nick Alexos(Dentsply Sirona), Terri Dolan (DentsplySirona), Myechia Minter-Jordan (DentaQuest),Norton Travis (ProHEALTH Dental), ColleenVan Ham (UnitedHealthcare Dental), andRobert Zou (Arrail Group).

Supporters

Pacific Dental ServicesPhilips Oral HealthcareProHEALTH DentalUnited Concordia CompaniesUnitedHealthcareHarvard T. H. Chan School of Public HealthHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard School of Dental Medicine

Arrail GroupBlue Cross Blue Shield MassachusettsColgate Palmolive CompanyDentaQuestDentsply SironaHenry Schein, Inc.Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the NorthwestLife and Specialty Ventures, LLC

We would like to thank the members of the Initiative for their generous support andcontinued collaboration in this important work.

Visits and Collaborations (continued) In December of 2019, Christine Riedy, PhD, MPH, and JaneBarrow, MS, attended the National Oral Health Value-basedCare Convening in Orlando, Florida.The event was sponsoredby DentaQuest and covered why moving toward value-basedcare in oral health is important, as well as the current anddesired states of oral health care and reimbursement. Executives from Anthem visited HSDM to explore researchcollaborations and a new partnership to further develop theevidence base for medical dental integration.

Launched Phase Two of the Nurse Practitioner andDentist Model for Primary Care, funded by a grant fromDentaQuestRecruited new collaboratorsCreated a policy brief based on our research formembers of Congress interested in healthcare issuesAssisted in drafting several sections of the 2020Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health, includingthe sections on the environment, integrated care,geriatrics, interprofessional education, andtechnologyDeveloped new pilot programs for 2020Published papers in dental, medical and nursingjournals Increased circulation of quarterly newsletter

Research, Grants, and Policy

Oral Medicine Fellowship

Alessandro Villa, DDS, PhD, MPH, assistantprofessor of oral medicine, infection andimmunity, received a grant from DentaQuest tosupport the second year of the Fellowship inOral Medicine and Oral Oncology. PaoloFantozzi, DDS, has been appointed the firstOral Oncology Fellow.

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Simon L, Choi SE, Ticku S, Fox K, Barrow J, Palmer N. Association of Income Inequality with OrthodonticTreatment Use. Journal of the American Dental Association. 2020. Ticku S, Starr J, DaSilva J, Elani H. Prescribing Patterns in a US Dental School From 2010 to 2017. Journal of DentalEducation. 2020. Elani H, Kawachi I, Sommers B. Changes in emergency department dental visits after Medicaid Expansion. HealthServices Research. 2020 Choi SE, Sima C, Pandya A. Impact of Treating Oral Disease on Preventing Vascular Diseases: A Model-BasedCost-effectiveness Analysis of Periodontal Treatment Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2020 Ahern J, Toner M, O'Regan E, Nunn J. The Spectrum of Histological Findings in Oral Biopsies . Irish Medical Journal.2019;112 (10). Interdisciplinary Approaches for Improved Oral Health: Building the Field Through Integrated and Community-based Health Practices. American Association of Public Health Dentistry. 2019. Dolce MC, Parker JL, Savageau JA, Silva DJ. Older Adult Patients' Experience of Care in a Dental School Clinic.Journal of Dental Education. 2019. Simon L, Tobey M, Wilson M. Feasibility of Integrating a Dental Hygienist into an Inpatient Medical Team forPatients with Diabetes Mellitus. Journal of Public Health Dentistry. 2019. Thompson L, Jiang T, Savageau J, Silk H, Riedy C. An Assessment of Oral Health Training Among GeriatricFellowship Programs: A National Survey. Journal of American Geriatrics Society. 2019.

Publications

The Initiative to Integrate Oral Health and Medicine convenes academics, students and leadersfrom the business and healthcare communities to advance innovative ideas around theintegration of oral health and primary care — a core academic mission of Harvard School ofDental Medicine. Research demonstrates that the benefits of providing oral health care includeimproved quality of life and a reduction of overall healthcare costs. Initiative BoardMembers provide informed guidance and serve as vital allies on issues related to theintegration of oral health and primary care.

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