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Volume 95 Number 1 wiNter 2010A Publication of the Kansas Dental Association Www.ksdental.org

Senate Bill (SB) 389 has cleared signifi-cant hurdles through the first half of the 90-day Kansas legislative session. At the writing of this article, our bill to prohibit insurance companies from setting fees in provider contract for non covered services has been passed by the Senate 40-0. A hearing is now pending in the House Committee on Insurance. Pas-sage is needed by both the Senate and House before the Governor signature is needed for the bill to become law. Please continue to contact members of the House of Representatives on this important issue affecting dentistry. The KDA will keep its members updated on the progress of this and other important

KDA Bill (SB 389) to ProhiBit inSurAnce BillS to SetFeeS on non covereD ServiceS Moving ForwArD

KDA President Dr. Brett Roufs (Newton) served alongside his healthcare pro-vider peers from across the state on Friday, February 12. Meeting in a newly restored committee room at the Kansas Statehouse, the House Commit-tee on Health and Human Services Provider Round-

table included one or more physician, optometrist, psychiatrist, chiroprac-tor, nurse practitioner, pharmacist and dentist. The free-flowing roundtable format discussed a variety of issues such as health insurance coverage’s and practices, patient responsibility, HIPAA, prescription drugs, cost containment, care to underserved populations/Med-icaid, evidence-based healthcare and transparency. Dr. Roufs did an admirable job of interjecting dentistry’s perspective and ideas on HIPAA and some other topics of the discussion dominated mostly by a few on the panel. The several topics discussed were informational in nature and designed to educate the legislative members of the Health Committee on the variety of issues affecting healthcare today. Earlier roundtable topics cov-ered the issues of insurance and hos-pitals. No legislation is expected as a result of the discussions.

Dr. roufs Serves on legislative health Provider roundtable

legislative issues via the KDA enews and the KDA Video Minute. If you are not receiving these important informa-tion resources, please contact the KDA office to verify your email contact infor-mation is correct in your records. Use the following talking points on SB 389 to help you discuss this issue with your member of the Kansas House. Background and Talking Points: SB 389 – Prohibiting Caps on Non Covered Services

Delta Dental (national) has ad-• opted as a national policy and is MANDATING its state plans (like Delta Dental Plan of Kansas) to amend provider contracts in a way

that allows Delta to control what dentists charge, even for services Delta DOES NOT cover. This new national trend will interfere with the basic free • market model of supply and demand and set caps on dentists’ fees for services not covered by the insurance plan. Dentists do not “negotiate” contract provision with • insurance companies. Dentists are simply given the option to take-it-or-leave-it. “Leaving it” is not a viable option for dentists as existing patients may already be

Registration is available online at www.ksdentalfoundation.org

continued on page 5

The Kansas Dental Association will host the 2010 Real World Transition Brunchin conjunction with the Midwest Dental Conference on March 19, 2010. This is the second year for this event which provides the op-portunity for dental students and currently practicing den-tists to network and discuss joining or purchasing a practice upon graduation. Dentists and professionals in the industry will be present to answer students’ questions as they prepare to transition to the “Real World”. We are pleased to have professionals representing the fields of practice financing, insurance, KDA membership, tran-sition specialists, the Wichita State University Advanced Education in General Dentistry program, public health, and financial management. Kansas dentists are invited to attend to meet UMKC, Univer-sity of Nebraska, and Creighton University dental students as they explore their practice options. We thank our spon-sors for the event: Guardian Insurance, Banc of America Practice Financing, and Tax Favored Benefits. Please visit our website ksdental.org or call the KDA office at 785-272-7360 and ask for Jennifer, Membership Coordinator, for more information.

Dr. Brett Roufs represented dentistry and participated in a free-flowing roundtable discussion of the House Committee on Health and Human Services

In This Issue...

KDA Bill SB 389 Moving Forward 1

President’s Message 2

Dental Board News 3

KDA Dental Day Wrap Up 4

Mid-Level Activity in Kansas 5

From the Office 6

KDCF Update 8

Classified Advertisements 11

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Welcome to the spring edition of the JKDA 2010. The start of this year has been very busy for your KDA staff and executive committee. As usual the New Year brings another opportunity to look at the finances of the KDA. After get-ting through the issues of the bank clos-ing that the KDA used, our finances are in good shape thanks to the staff.The start of 2010 has brought about the opportunity to work with our state legislature to protect our practices from further intrusion by insurance com-panies. The KDA introduced Senate bill 389 and at the time of this writing everything was going well in the Senate and we are looking forward to SB 389 moving on to the House and eventually to the Governor. Our original bill was written and presented to keep insurance companies from setting fees on services that they do not cover. While this is not an issue at this time it is something that a major dental insurance company in Kansas is going to implement January 1, 2011 if this legislation does not pass. If you have not contacted your legislators PLEASE do so as soon as possible. If you need your legislators information contact the KDA office. A big Thank You goes out to KDA dentists who testified before the Senate Committee: Drs. Ted Mason, David Hamel, and Hal

Hale. We all appreciate their time and effort in helping get our bill out of committee and on to the full Senate.Other issues your KDA is staying involved with are the ever-present access to care, health care reform, and mid-level pro-viders. I was recently invited to join a round-table discussion on health care with members of the House of Representatives and many other health care providers from chiropractors, to pharmacists, to orthopedic surgeons. From this discussion, it is very apparent that very little consideration is given to dentistry in the overall health care reform picture. We can consider this both a good and bad thing but will keep you abreast of anything the KDA hears about. The access issue keeps coming up but there doesn’t seem to be an agreeable definition of what we mean by access to care and there are no solid ideas on how to solve any of the issues without funding of projects from somewhere.On the mid-level front; there are organizations out there that want mid-level providers in Kansas. The KDA and other states in our region will be getting together in March to dis-cuss and hopefully develop strategies to prevent these mid-level providers from becoming a viable option to answer the

so called access to care issue. The KDA does not support this idea and will work to ensure that the dentist is always the leader of the dental team and providing dental homes for the people of Kansas.In closing I hope that all is well in your practices and look forward to seeing everyone at the Mid-West Dental Con-ference, March 18-21. Plan on attend-ing some continuing education and the Board of Delegates meeting that week-end in Kansas City. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for KMOM Indepen-dence, April 16-17 and the LAST Heart of America Dental Symposium in Branson at the Chateau on the Lake, June 24-27. I thank everyone for the support and work you do for your association.

Dr. Brett A. RoufsKDA President

PresIdenT’s Message

KDA Dues increase recommended for 2011The KDA Council on Finance and Budget met on Wednes-day, February 3 and began the process of preparing the 2010-11 KDA Budget. The Council is recommending that 2011 full active membership dues be increased for the first time in four years from $460 to $510. This $50 increase represents a very modest 2.3%/year. The Board of Delegates

will review the 2010-11 budget at its meeting on March 19 before the entire General Assembly ultimately reviews and takes final action on it during the Annual Meeting in Branson, Missouri on June 27.

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JKdaJournal of the Kansas Dental Association

ISSN# 08887063

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BYKansas Dental Association5200 SW HuntoonTopeka, KS 66604-2398

EDITOREugene F. McGill, D.D.S.

MANAGING EDITORKevin J. Robertson, CAE

PRINTINGJostens4000 SE AdamsTopeka, KS 66609

PRODUCTION Niki Gustafson

KDA Executive Committee

PRESIDENT Dr. Brett Roufs

PRESIDENT-ELECTDr. David Hamel

VICE PRESIDENTDr. Hal Hale

SECRETARYDr. Jason Wagle

TREASURERDr. Craig Herre

IMM. PAST PRESIDENTDr. Robert Herwig

Although the KDA publishes authoratative news, committee reports, articles and essays, it is in no respect responsible for contents or opinions of the writers. Advertising rates and circulation data will be furnished by request.Annual subscription price is $5.00 for member den-tists, $25.00 for non-members, and $40.00 for Canada and foreign mailings. Single issue price is $10.00.

March5-6 Access Summit, Austin, TX18-20 UMKC Midwest Dental Conference, Kansas City, MO18 Assorted KDA Council Meetings, Kansas City, MO19 New Member Orientation, Kansas City, MO19 Real World Transition Brunch, Kansas City, MO19 KDA Board of Delegates Meeting, Kansas City, MO

april12-14 ADA Washington Leadership Conference, Wash. D.C. 16-17 KMOM-Independence

May14-15 South Central States Meeting, Little Rock, AR

June24-27 Heart of America Dental Symposium, Branson, MO

July19-23 ADA Management Conference, Chicago, IL

KdaCalendarof events

Minute Briefs

Executive CommitteeKDA OfficeFebruary 3, 2010

Approved the Agenda as pre-• sentedApproved the Minutes of the Oc-• tober 28, 2010 MeetingRecommended to the Board of • Delegates that the Executive Director Agreement between Mr. Kevin J. Robertson and the Kansas Dental Association be extended from July 1, 2010 to June

On February 23, 2010, the Pew Children’s Den-tal Campaign released a report card on dental policies in each of the 50 states. Pew rated the states on

eight topics, including water fluoridation, Medicaid coverage of and payment for dental services, and school dental sealant programs. Kansas received a grade of C, primarily based on too few school sealant programs, inadequate water fluorida-tion and low Medicaid rates for dental services.The KDA sees this report card as an opportunity to shine light on some of the issues we have been fighting for dur-ing the past few years. In particular, more effort needs to be placed on ensuring people who are on Medicaid receive access to dental services. The Pew report accurately points out the already low Medicaid dental services rates in Kan-

Kansas’ ranking in Pew oral health report card

30, 2011 with an increase in salary of 3%

The Kansas Dental Board made dental history in Kansas on Friday, February 12, 2010 when it elected Denise Maus, RDH, BS, a dental hygiene member of the board, as President. This is the first time in Kansas that a dental hygien-ist has served as board President! Ms. Maus has served on the board since July 15, 2004; she has held the position of secretary for 3 years, since February 2007. She succeeds Dr. Richard Darnall,

DDS, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, and we thank him for his service this past three years as our President. Two of our newest members were also elected into officer positions. Dr. Glenn Hemberger, DDS, a pediatric dentist, was elected vice president; and Dr. Michael Milford, DDS, an oral and maxil-lofacial surgeon, was elected secretary of the board.The board also approved the new sedation regulations with a very minor change. Future board meeting dates are: in Topeka April 23 - 1:00 pm, August 20 - 9:00 am, November 5 - 9:00 am

Dental Board news

sas. This further erosion of rates will limit access severely to the few people who still have some access to Medicaid dental services. Three years ago the state Legislature provided funding for dental services for Kansas seniors and people with disabilities who are on the Medicaid Home and Community-Based

Services waivers. In January of this year, those services were eliminated as part of the state’s budget cutting efforts. Ad-ditionally, all provider Medicaid rates were cut by 10% on January 1, 2010 and no raise is expected until July 1, 2011 at the earliest.

A test group of Kansas dentist are looking at an alternative approach to providing dental care to Medicaid eligible chil-dren through a pilot project headed by KDA President-Elect Dr. Dave Hamel. The model might look similar to the Give Kids a Smile proj-ect, but it is intended to be an ongoing effort to provide den-tal care through a coordinated local effort. “We would work with our local community to identify those children who need dental care and who are eligible for Med-icaid,” Dr. Hamel said. “Rather than treat them and bill Med-icaid for each procedure, we think it would be more economi-

cal for us to treat as many patients as we reasonably

hAMel’S Pilot Project coulD SAve StAte Moneycan on a given day and settle for a daily fee for those services.”That is the ultimate goal Hamel and others hope to demonstrate during this pilot project.“We won’t be receiving any compensa-tion during the pilot. Instead we will track the procedures we perform and come up with a total.”Hamel believes the total of the services he would bill under Medicaid would actually be more than the daily com-pensation he would seek under his proposal. In exchange, he believes the

process would be more efficient, saving the State of Kansas millions of dollars.“If we can save a substantial amount of money, we can potentially expand the program to adults who aren’t currently covered.”The dentists will provide dental care to Medicaid eligible children in the last few weeks of February and do a day of follow up care in March. Once they evaluate this pilot project, they hope to do another pilot before asking the state to grant a waiver for an expanded state-wide pilot.

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A group of dedicated dentists attended Dental Day 2010, the KDA’s legislative day in Topeka, on Thursday, Febru-ary 4. The 35-40 dentists that attended the day-long event were interested in a variety of dental issues including restor-ing the recent 10% cuts to dental Med-icaid, dental access and establish recent insurance activity to amend provider contracts to set fees on non covered services. The day began with a briefing on legislative and dental issues before attending the actual hearing in the Sen-

ate Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance on the KDA’s bill (SB 389) to prohibit insurance companies from setting fees in provider contracts on non cov-ered services. The support of the dentists in attendance was well received and felt strongly by the members of the committee and others in attendance. The strong turnout bolstered the testimony of Drs. Dave Hamel, Hal Hale and Ted Mason who all made excellent points in their prepared statements to the committee. Following the hearing, the KDA hosted a buffet luncheon for all Legislators. Un-fortunately, another luncheon held down attendance as many of the 90 legislators that had previously RSVP’d were unable to attend. Members did have the oppor-tunity for significant one-on-one time with legislators to discuss the KDA’s many legislative issues and all in attendance were quite satisfied with the day’s activities. On Wednesday evening, February 3, the KDA Executive Committee hosted mem-bers of the House and Senate health and insurance committees for an intimate dinner experience as part of the Dental Day activities. Below are the main issues the KDA is focusing on this session.

PROHIBITING INSURANCE COMPANIES FROM CAPPING FEES FOR NON-COVERED SERVICESIssue: Delta Dental (national) has adopted as a national policy and is MANDAT-ING its state plans (like Delta Dental Plan of Kansas) to amend provider contracts in a way that allows Delta to control what dentists charge, even for services Delta DOES NOT cover. KDA Position: This new national policy will interfere with the basic free market model of supply and demand and set caps on dentists’ fees for services not covered by the insurance plan. The KDA SUPPORTS SB 389 which would prohibit an in-surance company from capping the fees a provider dentist can charge a patient for a non-covered service. Patient care will be hindered as provider dentists may opt not to provide care for these artificially discounted prices causing patients to seek care elsewhere.

RESTORE 10% MEDICAID CUT Issue: FY 2010 Medicaid rates were slashed by 10% on January 1. KDA Position: The 10% Medicaid cut will impact the dental health of Kansans. Dentists that provide significant Medicaid in their offices are being forced to scale

2010

Dental Day

continued on page 7

About 40 dentists attended Dental Day which started at the Senate Suites in Topeka with a briefing before going to the capital

After member dentists visited with their legislators at the capital, the KDA hosted a luncheon for them at the Dillon House

If your association or component society wants to learn more about politics and what members can do to get in-volved and influence the process, considering hosting a grassroots education seminar put on by American Dental Political Action Committee (ADPAC.) These half-day or full-day seminars educate membership on why it’s impor-tant to be involved politically, and give them the tools to be players in our political system. For more information, con-tact Brian Sodergren in the American Dental Association’s Washington Office at 202-789-5168.

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covered by the insurance program in question with a long estab-lished dentist-patient relationship. Under anti-trust laws, dentists cannot organize to collectively • fight or complain against such contract provisions. Legislation is the only remedy. Delta Dental Plan of Kansas actually voted in opposition to this • national policy, and as such asked for and received an extension from Delta (national) to hold off implementation of this policy for its Kansas providers until January 1, 2011. Though Delta Dental of Kansas is not actively supporting SB 389, the KDA worked with Delta Dental of Kansas during the drafting of the bill and they are neutral or have “no position” on SB 389. SB 389 is not a mandate as it does not require an insurance carrier • to cover any certain type of claim, condition, illness, etc. It pro-hibits certain language in insurer-provider contracts. It is pre-sumed that other insurers will soon follow Delta’s (national) lead unless the playing field can be leveled for all insurance companies by SB 389. Those representing the insurance companies argue that this • policy will reduce costs to dental patients, but will it? Reducing the amount allowed to be charged is an erroneous method to re-ducing costs. This is the simple zero-sum theory that we learn in high school economics…. costs are simply passed on; they do not evaporate. Artificially reducing the cost of a product or service most certainly has an economic impact, but at whose expense? Reducing the maximum allowable charge is not a logical and proper method to reduce ACTUAL costs. The KDA does not believe it is appropriate for a third party • insurer to minimize financial barriers when the very same third party has no participation in sharing in the real cost. They accept no financial participation—but certainly enjoy the benefits of the marketing at no expense to them. This potential new policy is a marketing tool that is financed solely upon the backs of the pri-vate practitioner/small business owner or private consumer/pa-tients. The employer providing jobs in the community is forced to put their private fees on permanent “sale” and find some way to make up for the loss in revenue. As the legislature is only too aware this can only come from reducing costs (possible dental of-fice staff layoffs) or increasing income on others’ services. According to the study, “The Economic Impact of Dentistry,” • published in the Journal of the American Dental Association in 2004, the average dental office contributes $1.2 million annually to a local community’s economy through salaries, purchases, etc. The ability to compete and attract dentists into Kansas is a real • issue. With ZERO dentists actually educated in Kansas, we must

KDA Bill SB 389 Moving Forwardcontinued from page 1

continued on page 11

Three consumer advocate organizations - The Kansas Action for Children, Kansas Association of Medically Underserved and the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition – have together received a three-year grant estimated at $450,000 from the Kellogg Foundation to develop and implement at dental mid-level in Kansas. As reported in the in the last issue of JKDA, Kansas is one of six state targeted by the Kellogg Foundation for such a workforce grant. The KDA has learned that several of the state’s major health foundations have pledged some $247,500 to assist in this effort as well.

At this time the advocate organizations are beginning their plan-ning and fact finding regarding a dental mid-level….it is common knowledge that the Kellogg Foundation grant specifications closely describe a dental health aide therapist (DHAT) as their preferred model. The Kansas Dental Association (KDA) is not privy or even been asked to participate in any of the mid-level activities or discus-sions at this time.

Mid-level Activity in Kansas

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Kevin Robertson, CAEKDA Executive Director

FroM The oFFICeAt the writing of this editorial, SB 389 has been passed by the Senate Com-mittee on Financial institutions and the Full Senate by UNANIMOUS vote. This

certainly is good news for Kansas dentists and the KDA that our message is being heard and understood by legislators on this important issue. Drs. Dave Hamel, Hale Hale and Ted Mason all did a fantastic job with their comments before the Senate Committee. Most importantly, we were able to explain to the Senators that provider-insurance contracts are NOT openly negotiated contracts that give dentists any say or choice. Insurance companies present provider agreements as take-it-or-leave it propositions and “leaving it” for a dentist means abandoning many long-time patients and interrupt-ing the continuity of care. Of course many other issues were discussed as well. KDA members must now remain vigilant in their support of SB 389. The significant majority in the votes in the Sen-

ate could leave some to think “that was easy” and “no problem getting through the House.” This thinking can kill SB 389 as surely as the insurance lobbyist lining up to oppose it. As you know a bill must pass both Houses of the Legislature. Passage by one House and the total vote count is often ignored as it moves to the next Chamber. There are a variety of maneuvers that can be employed to kill a bill and a single op-ponent Legislator can sometimes even make that happen. As we reach the halfway point in the Kansas Legislature, we should take time to applaud the fact that SB 389 is on a track that could lead to ultimate passage and maybe even pat ourselves on the

back for the many Legislative contacts that the membership has had regard-ing this bill. Be warned, the insurance lobby is powerful, they don’t like to lose and they are reforming a new line of defense in the House. KDA Members NEED to keep calling their House members and make them aware of this issue. This is especially important in the 125 member House because it’s hard for your KDA staff and legislative consultants to talk one-on-one to that many people. Bottom line….be happy, but stay fo-cused and keep fighting so we can celebrate an ultimate victory on this important issue for Kansas dentistry.

By Charles F. Squire, DDS, PresidentKansas Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped555 N Carriage Parkway Wichita, KS 67208 877 683-2535 - cfsquire@aol.com - www.nfdh.org

The lack of state funding for certain programs do in fact hurt real people as an example, when they can’t access dental health care. Since 1996 many Kansas dentists and dental laboratories have gener-ously collaborated quietly by participating in the Kansas Donated Dental Services Program (DDS Program). The DDS Program provides compre-hensive dental care in the offices of private practice dentists to the el-derly, the physically and mentally disabled and medically compromised individuals who would otherwise fall through the cracks of eligibility for other government/private assistance programs. These are the invisible, most vulnerable people in our society who live on subsistence payments of only a few hundred dollars per month and have no other financial resources to secure even the most basic dental care.Since its inception in 1996 the DDS Program has been wisely and gra-ciously funded by the Kansas Health Policy Authority (KHPA). That funding has assisted Kansas dentists and dental laboratories in provid-ing more than $6 million worth of totally donated dental care. During the first half of the current fiscal year, volunteers contributed $13.94 worth of care for every administrative dollar spent – one of the high-est rations of all 40 DDS Programs nationwide! The total administrative operating budget this fiscal year is less than $70,000 for the Kansas DDS Program!Unfortunately the KHPA was forced to cut its funding in half for the cur-rent fiscal year and has totally eliminated all funding for the proposed coming fiscal year.The DDS Program was honored that the United Methodist Health Min-istry Fund (UMHMF) agreed to provide “bridge” funding for the second half of this current fiscal year.Due to the lack of funding from the state of Kansas, this wonderful co-operative program may be forced to cease operations. In all states where

when real Budget cuts hurt real People - reAlly!state funding has been withdrawn totally, the programs were never able to resume caring for the most vulnerable individuals in our society.The board of directors of the foundation that ad-ministers the Kansas DDS Program can only hope that the wisdom and compassion of the members of the Kansas House and Senate will prevail and provide enough additional supplemental funding (only $35,000) directly to the KHPA for support of at least half of the administrative budget of the Kansas DDS Program for the coming state fiscal budget. The directors are well aware of and sym-pathetic to the fiscal crisis facing the state of Kansas and don’t want to supersede the efforts of the KHPA but respectively ask where else in the State budget can a program be found that returns almost $14 in real ben-efits for every dollar used only for administration of the DDS Program.

State Legislators are grappling this session with an ongoing budget shortfall in the state’s general fund. Simply put, the state must fill a $400 million dollar gap between expected income and expenses for the FY 2011 budget. The Governor has recommended a number of revenue enhancements (aka taxes) to make up this revenue shortfall including a 1% sales tax increase and an increase in the tobacco tax. At this point in the session there are as many ideas floating around as there are legislators (165) on how this significant state issue will be resolved. The KDA is very interested in this as restoring the 10% provider Medicaid cut, funding of Donated Dental Services and some adult dental programs are at stake. On the revenue (tax) side, propos-als such as removing exemptions taxing services and sweeping money from fee Boards like the Kansas Dental Board have all been suggested. All which could impact dental office overhead.

Kansas Budget dominates session

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back the amount of care they provide as the reimbursement on services does not meet their actual costs. This could significantly reduce the strides that have been made over the past few years in increasing the number of dentists accepting Medicaid. Unfortunately, this will be another reason mentioned as a barrier to more dentists accepting Medicaid.

FUNDING FOR THE DONATED DENTAL SERVICES PROGRAMIssue: Funding from the Kansas Health Policy Authority for the Donated Dental Service (DDS) program provides free dental care to disabled and elderly Kansans has been cut. Through a modest $70,000 expense Kansas dentists have been providing approximately $850,000/year in dental care to the state’s most vulnerable citizens. The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund (UMHMF) stepped forward and provided funding for the latter half of FY 2010 after funding was cut on January 1. KDA Position: UMHMF has agreed to provide another half-year “bridge” grant, however, a $35,000 allocation is needed by January 1, 2011 or the entire DDS program may be in jeop-ardy of ending, leaving many without dental care.

ACCESS TO A DENTIST FOR KANSANSIssue: All Kansans should have access to dental care by a licensed DENTIST. KDA Position: Providing access to a dentist for all Kansans is a significant and ongoing ef-fort of the KDA. Advocating for a loan bridging program in underserved areas, encouraging dentistry as a profession to high school children, promoting an increase in the class size at UMKC School of Dentistry to include more Kansas students, working with the UNMC Col-lege of Dentistry on dental rural access issues, advocating for more dental seats for Kansans at schools other than UMKC, supporting efforts to establish the WSU Advanced Education in General Dentistry program, and undertaking one of the largest ongoing dental clinics in the world – the Kansas Mission of Mercy – are some of the many efforts promoted by the Kansas Dental Association to assist all Kansans to receive appropriate dental care!

FEE FUND SWEEPSIssue: The Kansas Legislature has made a habit of raiding fee funded professional licensing boards (including at times the Kansas Dental Board) by sweeping their funds into the state general fund. KDA Position: This activity should stop. Sweeping fee funds is simply an added tax on licensed professionals.

KANSAS MISSION OF MERCY CHARITY DENTAL CLINIC The KDA’s Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation will hold its ninth Kansas Mission of Mercy (KMOM) charity dental clinic on April 16-17 in Independence, Kansas. Over 900 total volunteers (including 150 dentists) are expected to provide around $800,000 in dental care to approximately 1,500 patients during the two-day event. In all, the eight previous KMOM events have provided $7.4 million in free dental care to 16,325 Kansans.

Dental Day 2010continued from page 4

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KdCF UPdaTeShare those KMOM Photos with Us and Help Create a Unique Photographic ExperienceDuring the Kansas Mission of Mercy project in Indepen-dence, we encourage you to snap away with your camera. Snap photos of your work area, the clinic, and anything you find interesting throughout the event. Then when you are done, send those photos to us.

We are hoping that with these hun-dreds of photos, we can “stitch” them together and create a single 3D viewing experience of the 2010 Kansas Mission of Mercy dental project. This image will probably be unlike anything you have seen before. This image will allow us to construct a photographic virtual clinic floor from hundreds of vantage points.To accomplish this, we will utilize the Microsoft Photosynth program (http://

www.photosynth.net). Photsynth will examine each photo for simi-larities to others and then will recreate the space and construct a virtual canvas to display and for you to navigate through the photos. The more photos we have, the greater the detail the image will become. When complete, you should be able to virtual-ly move through the clinic floor, seeing it as if you were standing any place on the floor.Once completed, we will place the KMOM Independence “Synth” on the KDCF website for you to see. The best way for you to participate in this proj-ect will be for you to take “scene” type photos, rather than photos of patients in your chair. We will also include our photos in this project. We hope that this crowdsourced project will create a media-rich viewing experience of the KMOM 2010 event.

The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.

Milton Friedman

neW MeMBers

NW / GB DistrictDr. Charles Abbick, Salina

Topeka DistrictDr. Shabnam Amin, Topeka

Do you know of a new dentist in your community, a recent graduate, or even a new colleague in your practice who is not on this list? Please contact the KDA at 785.272.7360 so

we can invite them to become a member.

12/15/09

Dr. Richard M. HaunLawrence, KSFirst District

deceased dentists

iS your Front DeSK worKing For you?

Many dentists invest a lot of time and money promoting their services, but fail to consider the impression their office makes the first time a patient calls or visits, and this can be a critical mistake, writes marketing expert Julie Johnstone in the winter issue of Dental Practice Manage-ment. The best way to make a good first impression, Johnstone writes, is to consider the front desk a kind of marketing tool.“The front desk has revenue generating potential on its own,” she writes. “Even more, as part of the whole office team, integrated into an end-to-end patient strategy, it can not only be a dynamic contributor to the bottom line, I believe the front desk is the most critical marketing tool in any dental practice.”Johnstone lists four things a dentist should incorporate in a plan to reju-venate his or her reception strategy.

1Forgo using an automated phone system. Most people who call a dental office want to talk to a real person. An automated response system offers no opportunity to focus on a caller’s needs.

2Train your staff on answering the phone. What most of us take for granted is most effective when planned and

well-designed. Greeting incoming callers creates that all-important first impression.

3 Have a sufficient number of front desk staff. You want your staff to be able to greet visitors and callers promptly and with due attention.

4Train your front desk staff to address critical needs, like

how long you want patients to wait in the reception area, or whether follow-up appointments should be

booked before they leave.

It is important, Johnstone says, to make sure your front desk staff mem-bers are not overworked. If they are too busy concentrating on the next task, they may be curt with customers or at the very least may fail to take the necessary time to provide callers with the information they need to make a decision regarding treatment. This could cause lost opportunities for your practice. When hiring front desk staff, ask references about how they treated pa-tients. For that critical position you want to bring on friendly, outgoing people—you can always train them on office skills later.

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The KDA Membership Directory is an important front office resource packed with a variety of information with extreme importance to dentists practicing in Kansas such as member dentists’ office information, specialists listing, association policies and bylaws, district boundaries and helpful information such as key government phone numbers. The Member-ship Directory is the only directory of its kind in Kansas. It is produced once a year and distributed to the members of the Kansas Dental Association. The 2010 KDA Directory is now available to KDA members only via traditional printed version, and internet access. The KDA office will be sending out a request form in the mail and by email for you to RETURN indicating your preference. The internet access on www.ksdental.org features an interactive contents link that takes the user directly to the area of interest.

2010 KDA Directory is now AvAilABle!

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According to new research, people who did not earn a high school diploma could be more susceptible to the H1N1 flu virus and the vaccine might be less effective in them than in people who earned their diploma.An article published in the Feb-ruary issue of the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association discusses the study by the Univer-sity of Michigan’s School of Public Health that suggests that lower socioeconomic status, reflected by educational attainment, may make it tougher for adults of all ages to fight new infections.By examining the effects on patients of the latent cytomega-lovirus (CMV), thought to be the prime culprit in breaking down the immune system as we age, researchers believe that income and education are good indicators of an individual’s likely ability to fight off infections like influenza. According to one of the study’s authors, Jennifer Dowd, the re-search showed that a person with less than a high school education had the same level of immune control as someone 15 to 20 years older with more than a high school education.“The study points out that cer-tain groups are potentially more susceptible and it’s not just people with existing chronic illness,” Dowd said.The study, “Socioeconomic Dif-ferentials in Immune Response,” will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Epidemiology.

educational levels couldindicate susceptiBility to Flu accordingto study

volunteer to Be a Part of Dental club!Have you ever wanted to be a mentor to young people that are interested in dentistry? The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Bureau of Oral Health is looking for dentists and dental hygienists who are willing to spend a little time with local high school students to be a part of the KDHE Dental Club program. Dental Club is one piece of a comprehensive Dental Recruitment Program that is being developed at the Bureau of Oral Health. The Dental Recruit-ment Program’s objective is to strengthen the Kansas Dental Workforce with programs that were recommended by last year’s Oral Health Workforce Assessment. The KDHE Dental Recruitment Program includes dentist and hygienist recruit-ment assistance, more funds for student loan re-payment, free continuing dental education and Dental Club - the promotion of dental careers to middle and high school students. Last year’s dental workforce survey indicated that Kansas dentists and hygienists tend to be Kansas natives and those who grew up in rural areas are more likely to return to non-urban communities to start their dental careers. To insure that Kansans living in rural and underserved communities have access to dental professionals, the state needs to encour-age more Kansas middle and high school students to look at dentistry as a possible career. That is the purpose of the Kansas Dental Club. The club will target students who are interested in health professions and give them information and hands on experiences about dental careers. Dental camp activities will include presentations from local dentists and

KANSAS DENTAL LABORATORY ASSOCIATION AMERICAN DENTAL ARTS, INC (D/P) 3015 N St. Clair Wichita, KS 67204 (316) 838-5533 ARIES DENTAL PROSTHETICS LLC (F) 2930 SW Wanamaker Dr PO Box 4476 Topeka, KS 66614 (785) 272-6703 (800) 279-1761 James L. Eddy, CDT DENTEK, INC. (C/B) 8056 Reeder Lenexa, KS 66214 (913) 599-3361 Alex Sokolovsky JADLOW DENTAL LAB (C) 7501 Mission Rd Prairie Village, KS 66208 (913) 649-1522 E. Vic Jadlow, CDT MEDALLION DENTAL LAB, INC (C/D) 4650 W 90th Terrace Prairie Village, KS 66207 (913) 642-0039 Michael Finley Sharon Finley

*MIDWEST ORTHODONTIC LAB, CDL (O) 4567 W Central Wichita, KS 67212 (316) 942-8703 Jerry C. Anderson, CDT

Kent Nye

MODERN METHODS DENTAL LAB (C) PO Box 2925 Wichita, KS 67202 (316) 686-6391 Rick Capps MYRON’S DENTAL LAB, INC (F) 200 N 6th St Kansas City, KS 66101 (913) 281-5552 Timothy J. Sigler, CDT RON’S DENTAL LAB, CDT (F) 106 S Ozark Girard, KS 66743 (620) 724-6108 Ron Layden *ROOT LABORATORY, CDL (F) 5201 College Blvd Leawood, KS 66211 (913) 491-3555 Dan Root, CDT

STEVE’S PRECISION DENTAL LAB (F) 5755 Foxridge Dr PO Box 2731 Shawnee Mission, KS 66202 (913) 432-6951 Stephen C. Hansen, CDT SUNFLOWER DENTAL STUDIO (C) 1527 NW Tyler PO Box 8032 Topeka, KS 66608 (785) 354-1981 Ron Hoffman

Aaron Hoffman Troy Gooden

Eric Gooden *TOPEKA DENTAL LAB, CDL (F) 10144 NW 46th St Silver Lake, KS 66539 (785) 582-4760 James A. Thompson YOUVAN DENTAL LAB (C) 700 N Highway 69 Pittsburg, KS 66762 (800) 835-0604 Charles F. Youvan, CDT

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hygienists, job shadowing, internships at dental offices, tours of dental and dental hygiene schools, and student coaching and pre-admission counsel-ing. If you would like to participate in any of these activities, please con-tact Ashley Streeter at 785-296-5116 or astreeter@kdheks.gov. The highlight of the Dental Club will be its summer program, Dental Camp. This multi-day educational experience will allow a high school student to come to Wichita State University and visit the new Advanced Education in General Dentistry program to work with the dental residents and faculty. Both clini-cal and educational programs are being planned for the summer of 2011. Dental Camp is supported by the Delta Dental Foundation and Wichita State Univer-sity. More information about Dental Club is available on the KDHE website, http://www.kdheks.gov/ohi/dental_club.htm, or become a fan of Dental Club on Facebook. In the first months of this project Dental Club staff has contacted 68 schools in

12 counties. In the current school year the Bureau is starting with pilot sites in Wichita and rural Douglas County, but the project will be expanded in the 2010-11 school year to include more counties around the state. If there are specific schools or areas that you feel would benefit from Dental Club please contact us and let us know. In the next month Dental Club staff will be exhibiting at the Innovations in Technical Career Education Conference, presenting for health and science technical education teachers, and giving presentations in pi-lot site schools and career fairs. A rep-resentative of the Dental Recruitment Program will be present at the Midwest Dental Conference in Kansas City. Feel free to drop by and meet our project staff at the KDA Real World Transition Brunch.

11

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DENTIST OPENINGS - Hiring Dentists for our practices in Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita. Stable and successful offices – very rewarding environ-ment! We offer a guaranteed base salary above $120,000 and 100% benefit coverage. Relocation reimbursement and bonuses offered. For more informa-tion please call Jacob direct at 719-562-4460 or email jdkochenberger@forba.com

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This one day course will introduce clinicians to craniofacial pain, temporomandibular disorders (TMD), and their relationship to the rest of the musculoskeletal system. We will explore the concepts of cranial osteopathy, internal derangements of the temporal mandibular joint (TMJ) and their relationship to postural restoration. Participants will gain an understanding of treatment modalities that address these dysfunctions and the integration with other disciplines. Case studies will be shown to demonstrate this treatment philosophy and coordination of treatment.

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continually work to maintain relations and “resell” Kansas to dental students who have left our state to be educated. According to the 2009 Dental Workforce study by the KDHE Bureau of Oral Health, 54% of dentists practicing in Frontier communities plan to retire within the next five years. As the KDA, KDHE Bureau of Oral Health and other public and private entities look for incen-tives to attract new dentists to these communities, the passage of SB 389 could be a decided advantage as practice environment is a factor in dental students’ practice location selection. In 2000, the US Surgeon General aptly stated that you are not • healthy without good oral health; an important key to overall health is through oral health. The fact that millions of productive hours are lost (for students and workers) each year due to oral health conditions, helps prove the importance of oral health care. Financing oral health is an important part of insuring access to care and dentists have a record of donating billions of dollars in free or discounted care each year. Insurers and dental benefit plans are an important part of the preventive and treatment process.Presumably the reduced fees will help insurers attract customers • and improve the insurer’s bottom line. Dentists will solely bare the financial burden of this marketing approach and assume all the financial risk as the insurer pays out nothing to the covered insurer for these procedures high or low utilization is not an issue. Such contract policies will likely result in watered-down dental • benefits to employees whereby a small dental benefit program is wrapped around a dental discount program that essentially pays nothing to the covered insured/employee. Dentists will have difficult decisions to make when faced with a • contract amendment that caps the non-covered fees. Patient dis-ruption can ensue. Small dental practices who object to being the primary payers for Delta’s marketing approach have two choices: 1) accept the contract amendment or 2) end their contractual re-lationship with Delta. It is a private business choice for dentists. Patients could, then, lose the benefit provided by Delta and either have to pay more to stay with their dental home, or seek care from another practitioner. Disruption to treatment should be a concern.According to Delta Dental Plan of Kansas, 91% of Kansas dentists • are in their provider network. This near monopoly of dental pro-viders makes it impossible for a dentist to simply cancel their Delta contract, especially with the current economics in some areas of our state. Limiting fees on non-covered services could have a troubling im-• pact on the viability of some practices—particularly those that ac-cept a high proportion of Medicaid patients and those that practice in low-income and underserved areas.

continued from page 5

KDA Bill SB 389 Moving Forward

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