Partnering to Preserve and Strengthen the Oral Health Safety Net
The Institute for Medicine, in its report, "America's Health Care Safety Net, Intact but Endangered," urges that, to preserve our network of safety net providers, we must "enhance and coordinate technical assistance programs targeted to improving the operations and competitive position of safety net providers...including improvements in management information systems, appointment scheduling systems, efforts to streamline operations, and reengineering of services so that they are more responsive to patients."
Safety Net Solutions partners with safety net dental programs to provide expert technical assistance in practice management, support that promotes community-based oral health care that is both effective and financially sustainable.
Balancing Mission and Business
We work with safety net dental programs because we believe in their mission of providing high-quality oral health care to underserved populations.
In today's challenging reimbursement environment, most safety net dental programs struggle to achieve sustainability. There is no question that safety net dental programs provide high-quality clinical care to our nation's most vulnerable residents. However, without a strong balance between mission-focused care and strong business practices, safety net dental practices can jeopardize their own sustainability.
By focusing attention on the business or oral health care, Safety Net Solutions helps safety net dental programs preserve the nobility of their mission and increase access to quality oral health services. Our practice management expertise, gained through many years of front-line experience in community health dental program leadership, helps strengthen the oral health safety net providing concrete and actionable strategies for enhancing sustainability.
What We Do
The Safety Net Solutions team, through program analysis and site surveys, assesses a wide range of operational elements, including financial and productivity data, revenue and expenses, services, payer mix, program leadership, billing, operations, policies, equipment, workflow and culture. Our approach allows us to look closely at both quantitative and qualitative data and emotional as well as rational information to design a practice enhancement plan that fits the unique environment of each safety net dental program. Our philosophy is to work collaboratively with administrators, dental directors and program staff to develop strategies that are realistic and achievable.
The Process
The Safety Net Solutions enhances a safety net dental program's approach to their practice through a systematic process, the goal of which is to create equilibrium between a safety net dental program's ability to provide access to care and its health as a business. Our process includes four major phases:
An in-depth assessment of the dental practice
Development and delivery of findings and recommendations, as well as an individualized plan to improve the practice
Support in implementation of the practice enhancement plan
Evaluation assistance to measure the impact of the changes and shape additional enhancements as needed
Sustainability IS Achievable
Safety Net Solutions helps safety net dental programs think about a range of issues that can help build accountability and sustainability. We promote business principles that help position safety net dental programs for success, including:
- Collecting good practice data
- Building clear and achievable business goals in the form of a strategic plan
- Creating a practice where business goals are understood and shared
- Establishing accountability
- Securing team trust
- Selling ownership
- Exhibiting leadership by example
- Rewarding success
Meet the SNS Team
Taken together, the experience of the Safety Net Solutions (SNS) team spans decades and reflects great success in building and improving access and quality in community-based care. The following biographies illustrate the backgrounds of each SNS team member.
Mark J. Doherty, DMD, MPH, CCHP - Project Director
Dori Bingham - Project Manager
How to Contact Us:
To learn about our National Network for Oral Health Systems Improvement, click here,
www.catalyst-safetynetsolutions.org.
Safety Net SolutionsCatalyst Institute2400 Computer DriveWestborough, MA 01581Tel: (508) 329.2280
To contact us via e-mail, click here, info@catalystinstitute.org.
