Consistency of the Delivery of Higher Quality Results

 

How do you change the dynamics of the system?

 

The use of documentation has been completely turned a round and used to interfere with treatment and payment as a method of controlling that treatment and cost to the benefit of the dental insurance provider.

 

Far to often, unnecessary treatment, the wrong treatment or poor treatment get the same coverage or a higher reimbursement then the best treatment for the patient completed at the highest standard.

 

X-rays, written evaluations and chart documentation have a place in diagnosis and record keeping, but photographic documentation is far easier for everyone to understand and allows evaluation of need, understanding of process and a far superior evaluation for comparison of outcomes by all parties involved; the provider, the patient and the dental carrier.                                                                                                      

 

 

Do we have simple means of evaluation of all phases of treatment?

Does magnification drive all involved to a higher standard of outcomes or results and understanding?

 

Does the use of photographic documentation give the best combination of magnification and communication that is necessary to level the playing field?

 

Do the entities that control payment for work and protect the practitioners who do the work have an obligation to cull their ranks of the worst of the worst?

 

Does the dental profession have an obligation to identify those worst of the worst?

Do dental fees have to be adjusted so the correct treatment is just as profitable as a perceived more expensive treatment?

 

Do the outcomes or results have to be factored into the value or costs?

Are durability or longevity and avoidance of catastrophic failure factors in value? 

Is the highest quality of outcomes or results too difficult for the average practitioner?