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Biomedical subjects

Albert H Guay

Publications and source records attributed to Albert H Guay.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

The differences between dental and medical care: implications for dental benefit plan design.

BACKGROUND: Dental benefit plans have grown since they were introduced in the 1960s. More than one-half of the American population is covered by a private dental benefit plan today. In general, these plans have been designed to mirror medical insurance plans, despite the fact that dental care is significantly different from medical care. The author discusses the differences and how they should influence dental benefit plan design. CONCLUSIONS: The differences between dental care and medical care, how oral diseases are treated, the diseases' natural histories without treatment and the organization of the dental profession compared with that of the medical profession require that dental benefit plans be designed differently than medical insurance plans if they are to be effective. The operation of dental and medical plans requires different mind-sets. IMPLICATIONS: If they are to be effective, dental benefit plans and attempts to control the costs of those plans must be designed with the specific nature of oral diseases and the organization of the dental profession in mind.

Cost Control↗
PubMed2005

Dental practice: prices, production and profits.

BACKGROUND: This article explores the relationship of dental fee increases, physicians' fee increases and overall price increases. The author uses the applicable consumer price indexes (CPIs) for the past 30 years to determine whether any similarities in behaviors exist. The relationship between office operating costs, production and net income also are explored. CONCLUSIONS: Although there are quantitative differences, the CPIs move in parallel fashion. An abrupt change in the overall trend of all CPIs to a decrease in the degree of increases occurred in the 1980s and has continued. Increased production by dental offices is the key strategy being used to maintain office net income. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Dentists would be wise to track the CPIs for trend information that could be useful to them as they manage their practices and devise strategies to maintain net income.

Economics↗
PubMed2005

Improving the oral health of Alaska Natives.

There is a high prevalence of oral disease in the Alaska Native population, much of which goes untreated, creating a large discrepancy between the level of their oral health and that of the general population. The causes of this discrepancy are multiple--a major cause being the lack of access to care, especially in remote Alaska Native villages. Improving the oral health status of Alaska Natives will require treatment of current disease and initiation of an effective program to prevent oral disease. Cooperation between the Alaska Native organizations, dental health aides, the dental profession, and the government will be important. A strategy that combines addressing the disease currently present and preventing the occurrence of disease in the long run is the only strategy that offers a sustainable solution.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Self-reported satisfaction of enrollees in capitated and fee-for-service dental benefit plans.

BACKGROUND: This article examines the impact of capitated, or CAP, and fee-for-service, or FFS, dental benefit plans on the enrollees' satisfaction with their plans and their satisfaction with their dentists. METHODS: The authors selected four dental markets: California, New Jersey, Michigan and North Carolina. Eight Fortune 500 companies participated. Enrollees were selected randomly and interviewed about their experiences with their dental plans. The sample consisted of 2,340 respondents, of whom 42.3 percent were enrolled in CAP plans and 57.7 percent in FFS plans. RESULTS: The major findings were that those enrolled in FFS plans were four times more likely to be very satisfied than dissatisfied with their dental plans than were those in CAP plans. The FFS plan enrollees were 16 times more likely to be very satisfied than dissatisfied with their dentists than were those in CAP plans. CONCLUSION: Enrollees generally were satisfied with their plans and their dentists but those in FFS plans were the most satisfied. The higher the premium paid, the higher the level of satisfaction. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Enrollees with perceived unmet needs were less satisfied with their dental benefit plans and dentists. Taking care of needs is the most significant thing dentists can do to affect patients' satisfaction.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2004

Access to dental care: solving the problem for underserved populations.

BACKGROUND: Americans are enjoying an increasing level of oral health. However, oral health improvements are not being experienced evenly across the population. The poor, some minorities, institutionalized elderly people and other groups do not have adequate access to dental care. OVERVIEW: The author discusses the need to understand clearly the barriers to care affecting underserved populations and presents a framework for designing access-to-care programs. CONCLUSIONS: The author concludes that access-to-care problems are complex and will not be solved easily or quickly. A complete understanding of the barriers to care being experienced by any group under consideration must be achieved, and an improvement plan must be designed to address those specific barriers considering the demand for care, the dental work force and the economic environment. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Failure to understand the barriers to care and address them adequately will result in limited success in enhancing access to dental care for underserved populations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Access to dental care: the triad of essential factors in access-to-care programs.

BACKGROUND: Solutions to the problem of limited access to dental care for some segments of the population are being sought. Certain factors in access-to-dental-care program design are critical to the success of these programs. OVERVIEW: The author discusses the triad of factors that are essential in the successful design and operation of programs aimed at improving access to dental care for underserved populations. CONCLUSIONS: The author found that attention must be paid to creating an effective demand for dental care, an adequate dental work force to respond to that demand and an economic environment that enables patients and dentists to participate in any programs that are aimed at improving access to care. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Failure to adequately address demand, work force and economic factors will condemn any program designed to increase access to dental care to failure at worst, or to limited success at best.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed2004

Incorporating bioterrorism training into dental education: report of ADA-ADEA terrorism and mass casualty curriculum development workshop.

Numerous areas have been identified in which the dental profession may be called upon to assist in the event of a major terrorism attack. In order to successfully fulfill these roles, dentists and dental students must be adequately prepared. Dental schools play a vital role in this preparation. Participants in an ADA-ADEA workshop reached consensus that all dental students should be trained in a core set of competencies enabling them to respond to a significant bioterrorism attack, help contain the spread of the attack, and participate in surveillance activities as appropriate upon direction of proper authorities. Further emergency response training should be available to individuals interested in gaining additional knowledge and skills to assist in response to an attack. Participants also concluded that, where possible, training should be seamlessly implemented into the current curriculum without the addition of new courses; however, the group also recognized the possible need for alternative models at some dental schools. Challenges to implementing bioterrorism training into the dental school curriculum include regional variation, management of the basic science curriculum, and financial considerations. The development of an exportable training package will be considered and funding sources explored in moving forward with the development of a curriculum.

American Dental Association↗
PubMed2002

Dentistry's response to bioterrorism: a report of a consensus workshop.

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW: The possibility of a significant bioterrorist attack on the civilian population of the United States has become a focus of local, state and national attention since the fall of 2001. An appropriate role for dentistry in the response to a massive bioterrorist attack has not yet been established, even though dentistry's role in other disasters has been developed and proven to be effective. To develop a consensus on a potential role for dentistry in dealing with bioterrorism, experts in bioterrorism issues and representatives of key organizations that could play a role in dentistry's response met at the American Dental Association's Workshop on the Role of Dentistry in Bioterrorism in June. CONCLUSIONS: In the event of a bioterrorist attack, dentists may be called on to fulfill several functions: education, risk communication, diagnosis, surveillance and notification, treatment, distribution of medications, decontamination, sample collection and forensic dentistry. Local dental societies should develop a plan for the dental response to potential bioterrorist attacks that can be integrated into each community's mass disaster response plan. Educational programs for dentists should be developed to prepare them for providing services they may be recruited to perform in an emergency. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Dentistry has assets in personnel and facilities that can be of great value in responding to a major bioterrorist attack on the United States.

American Dental Association↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The impact of concentration in dental insurance markets on dental reimbursement in Minnesota.

The following article has been prepared by the American Dental Association (ADA) at the request of the Minnesota Dental Association (MDA). The article is the culmination of a rigorous national study by the ADA to measure the concentration of dental insurance in major dental marketplaces around the country. Five Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA's)from Minnesota were compared to other MSA's around the country. The results of this study are very significant for dentists and dental patients in Minnesota. Minnesota' practicing dental community may find the results of the study to be somewhat disturbing. Nevertheless, the MDA believes that it is important to share the results of this study with MDA members and others in the Minnesota dental community. It is important to consider both the study's short-term ramifications, as well as its long-term implications, as we attempt to better understand Minnesota's dental marketplace. It is also important for MDA members to know that the ADA brought the results of this study as they relate to the Minnesota Dental Marketplace to the appropriate federal agencies. The ADA believed that these agencies might choose to develop it into an anti-trust case. After reviewing the matter and working with the ADA over a long period of time, these agencies decided that they would not proceed with a Minnesota-based anti-trust case; additional information beyond what the ADA was legally able to provide was needed by the federal agencies in order for them to proceed. The MDA will continue to analyze and respond to these dental marketplace developments.

Cities↗