Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

HYGIENE TRIBUNE | June 2011 Clinical 3E The benefit to this RFM model at this time in health care is a boon. Synchronizing new research is nearly impossible in the current dental practice model. Having a RFM on the team will make it a lit- tle easier as this person could also be tasked with monthly reporting of new findings during the team meetings. Keeping up with the advances in health care is everyone’s job in a small practice, which often turns out to have been “nobody’s job.” Having one person researching, considering and reporting on all of the changes, as well as having a total focus on managing patient risks while collecting diagnostic data, is a win for everyone in the office. HT hold up to the scrutiny of medical records. Actual diagnosis, not just treatment plans, will be part of the insurance model of payment as well. We won’t be able to be paid for periodontal therapy without a diagnosis of periodontal therapy and lab proof of an inflammatory response and pathogens. The cur- rent model of dental hygiene as a part of dentistry doesn’t allow time for this level of data gathering. We also know that there are many interrelationships between oral and systemic health. Patients don’t know all there is to know about the links, and we don’t expect them to. However, we do know that it sure would be nice to have that data. For instance, if we have patients present with periodontal disease and they do not know they have diabetes, or if they do know, it’s important to us. An interoperable electronic health record would allow us to go into their health records and find out before treat- ing diabetes as if it were periodon- tal disease. A RFM would have time to locate that information and share it with the dentist before the patient sees the dental hygienist. Here’s an example: There’s a new correlation between obstruc- tive sleep apnea (OSA) and peri- odontal disease. Having access to a patient’s health record could allow a dental practitioner to encourage that patient to have treatment for his/her OSA, which will allow the periodontal condition to improve. AD About the author Shirley Gutkowski, RDH, BSDH, FACE is an internation- al speaker and award-winning writer. She travels to speak on Minimal Intervention Dental Hygiene. Her work is also in nursing journals. She is co-cre- ator of Adopt A Nursing Home, a board member and Fellow of ACE and a member of the World Congress of Minimally Invasive Dentistry. Gutkowski is also co-director of CareerFusion, a retreat for clinicians inter- ested in evolving their clinical career. You may contact her at crosslinkpresent@aol.com. What’s your specialty? Whichever area of dentistry you practice in, you will find articles of interest at www.dental-tribune.com: Dental Hygiene The evolution of the toothbrush by Emily Sutter www.dental-tribune.com/articles/content/scope/specialities/section/ dental_hygiene/id/4578 Cosmetic Dentistry ‘Everyone can have a celebrity smile’ (dentist interview) by Fred Michmershuizen www.dental-tribune.com/articles/content/scope/specialities/section/ cosmetic_dentistry/id/4537 Practice Management Dental advertising on the Internet by Stuart J. Oberman www.dental-tribune.com/articles/content/scope/specialities/section/ practice_management/id/4695 www.dental-tribune.com