DECEMBER 2017
Issue Update:
Patient Records Legislation Now Law!
Gov. Scott Walker signed Senate Bill 258, now Act 116, into law on Nov. 30. The Patient Records Protection Act is the result of extensive cooperation between the WDA and the Association of Dental Support Organizations to address holes in Wisconsin’s patient records access laws.
Wisconsin is one of just nine states to allow non-dentists to own dental practices. This occasionally creates unique challenges.
State law now reflects the following changes:
- All dental practices, regardless if they are owned by a dentist or a non-dentist, are responsible for providing patient records when requested by the patient or by the Dentistry Examining Board during an investigation.
- Employment contracts may not include quotas requiring a dentist or a dental hygienist to see a certain number of patients or perform a certain number of procedures.
- The DEB may not regulate the business or administrative support functions performed by a DSO in the course of operating a dental practice.
The bill had bipartisan support with 11 state senators and 26 representatives signing on as co-sponsors. Our thanks to authors Sen. Van H. Wanggaard (R-Racine) and Rep. David Steffen (R-Green Bay).
Issue Update:
Expanded Function Dental Auxiliaries
The Wisconsin Dental Association strongly supports Senate Bill 635, recently circulated by state Rep. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) and state Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point), allowing for the use of Expanded Function Dental Auxiliaries or EFDAs (EFF-da) in Wisconsin.
In use around the United States for more than 40 years, EFDAs are another member of the dental care team, like a hygienist or an assistant, to which the dentist can delegate certain procedures.
Use of an EFDA allows for all members of the care team to practice at the top of their scope — doing the most advanced work that they have been trained to do. Additionally, academic research from states like Colorado and Ohio, where EFDAs are used, show that EFDAs make dental offices more efficient which allows them to provide care to a greater number of patients without sacrificing quality.
In addition to dental practices in individual states, the military has been using EFDAs as a high-quality, cost-effective method to treat service members for decades.
Learn more about EFDAs here.
Issue Update:
Dental Medicaid Pilot Program a Success for Private Practices
This Wisconsin Dental Association video report shares the views of three general dentists in Brown County who, because of the Dental Medicaid Pilot Program's increased reimbursement rates, are now welcoming low-income children and adult patients into their private practices for the first time or are able to provide care to an increased number of MA patients.
This video is the second in a series featuring dentists from all practice types in each dental Medicaid pilot county discussing the impact the pilot has made on their ability to treat more low-income patients. The first video was produced in conjunction with Brown County Oral Health Partnership and can be viewed here.
The dental MA pilot was implemented in Brown, Marathon, Polk and Racine counties in fall 2016 to test the effect of increased reimbursement rates on reducing barriers to care.
2017-18 WDA Leadership:
Dr. Dave Clemens elected president
Dr. Dave Clemens, a general dentist and Wisconsin Dells resident, was sworn in as president of the 3,000-member Wisconsin Dental Association at the organization’s 147th House of Delegates on Nov. 4 at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center in Stevens Point.
Other 2016-17 WDA officers include:
- President-Elect Dr. Patrick Tepe, Verona
- Vice President Dr. Thomas Raimann, Hales Corners
- Immediate Past-President Dr. Ned Murphy, Racine
- Treasurer Dr. John R. Moser, Milwaukee
- Editor Dr. Robert Darling, Sheboygan
- Speaker of the WDA House of Delegates Dr. Monica Hebl, Milwaukee
Read full press release
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