I find it really strange that dental care is excluded from health insurance, including commercial and government programs. It’s increasingly untenable in my view. Why?
- Neglect of dental issues due to lack of coverage causes higher medical expenses, for example as dental infections spread to other parts of the body
- Hospital emergency rooms are seeing many dental cases (representing as much as 2.7% of ER volume) and are not well equipped to treat the problems, according to USA Today. In any case the expense is high
- Even well-off people with medical coverage often don’t qualify for dental insurance –e.g., because they aren’t part of a group– and end up paying high fee for service rates to providers rather than benefitting from a plan’s purchasing power and network
- To the extent that we are moving toward a more integrated approach to care and payment (e.g., medical home, accountable care organization) it makes sense to bring the whole body under one roof
Changes in Nurse Staffing Answer Clinician Demands
The ongoing nursing shortage facilitates high turnover rates since nurses know they won’t have difficulties finding new jobs. In order to retain and attract staff, it’s in a facility’s best interest to understand what nurses want.
Health care business consultant David E. Williams is President of Health Business Group, a leading strategy consulting boutique advising companies, non-profits and investors in health care services, health information technology, and pharmaceutical services.
This post appears through the MedCity Influencers program. Anyone can publish their perspective on business and innovation in healthcare on MedCity News through MedCity Influencers. Click here to find out how.