A Crowd of Nearly 200 Attend CODA Open Hearing in Nashville
In recent months, ADHA has worked to communicate to our members the steps we are taking to address issues facing the profession nationwide. One of the foremost issues that we have addressed during this time has been the proliferation of dental hygiene programs that is occurring all across the country. Last spring, ADHA asked its members to get directly involved by participating in a letter writing campaign to the Commission on Dental Accreditation or CODA, the body that accredits new education programs. As part of this campaign ADHA urged members, local chapters and state components to send CODA letters urging the Commission to include a comprehensive needs assessment as a part of its application process for all new dental hygiene education programs seeking accreditation.
The results of these efforts are still being measured, but we can share that the links to the letter templates hosted at www.adha.org were hit thousands of times during the campaign and that CODA did receive many letters as a result of the campaign. Another positive development resulting from ADHA’s efforts was that during ADHA’s recent Center for Lifelong Learning at the 88th Annual Session, nearly 200 dental hygienists crowded into a meeting room for an open CODA hearing. These meetings typically are not very well attended, but many visitors at the meeting held in June offered CODA written and verbal testimony urging the inclusion of a comprehensive needs assessment in the application process. Hygienists also shared with the Commission, accounts of ways in which the growth of new educational programs and the resulting influx of new hygienists have impacted the employment situation for dental hygienists in many areas of the country.
CODA is currently evaluating the testimony received during the June hearing, as well as tabulating the letters they received, and will be issuing a report at its January 2012 meeting. ADHA will keep you abreast of any developments and we thank all who participated in these efforts to communicate our position to the Commission.
Sponsored by the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and Wrigley’s Orbit Gum, National Dental Hygiene Month begins October 1. This year’s theme, “It’s simple. Healthy habits for a healthy smile,” promises to deliver the most dynamic celebration of dental hygiene yet! Keep an eye on the NDHM website for full information coming in August. So get ready, because this year, it’s all about you!
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 3590, the health care overhaul bill passed by the Senate in December, thus ushering in a new era of heath care delivery in the United States. The 219-212 vote closely followed party lines with only Democrats voting in favor of the measure. The bill now awaits President Obama's signature in order to become law. H.R. 3590 contains a number of oral health provisions that will have a significant impact on the oral health care delivery system and the dental hygiene profession. As the leading resource for information about your profession, ADHA offers this update on health reform as part of the series of health reform e-mails that have been sent since August.
The House vote brings closure to more than a year of national debate about whether or not to fundamentally overhaul the national health care system. The new law will extend health care coverage to tens of millions of Americans. While much media attention has been focused on the broad medical provisions contained in H.R. 3590, little has been reported about the significant oral health provisions included in the bill. The following offers an overview of some of the key oral health provisions:
How Dental Care Will Be Changed by Healthcare Reform
Health reform will offer major changes in the arena of dental care; the bill that has been offered by the United States Congress for healthcare reform will have a lasting effect on the field of dentistry and the type of dental care that people receive.
There promises to be a huge expansion of coverage for individuals in need of dental care once health reform is initiated. The healthcare reform bill looks very promising for people who have long awaited adequate coverage for their dental needs.
Children will get greater dental care because the health reform options are seeking to cover all children in the United States today. Funding will possibly be offered for professionals within the industry seeking to further their education in the field of dentistry too; this means more qualified dentists to treat more individuals who receive coverage via the healthcare reform bill.
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