Are minority dentists more likely to care for Medicaid patients? Factors associated with acceptance of Medicaid patients in dental practices

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

5134.0: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - 12:30 PM

Abstract #151848

Christopher Okunseri, BDS, MSc¹, Ruta Bajorunaite, PhD², Albert Abena, DDS¹, Karl Self, DDS, MBA³, Anthony Iacopino, DMD, PhD⁴, and Glenn Flores, MD⁵. (1) Department of Clinical Services, School of Dentistry, P.O. Box 1881, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 53201, (2) Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, Marquette University, P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee, WI 53201, (3) Primary Care, University of Minnesota, 515 Delaware Street S. E, Minneapolis, MN 55455, 612-625-2161, selfx001@umn.edu, (4) General Dental Sciences, Marquette University, P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee, WI 53201, (5) Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53226

Background: Little is known about factors associated with acceptance of new Medicaid-covered patients by dentists, and particularly whether minority dentists are more likely to accept new Medicaid patients. Objectives: To examine factors associated with acceptance of Medicaid patients by dentists. Methods: We analyzed 2001 and 2003 data from the Wisconsin dentist workforce survey administered by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Bureau of Health Information. Results: The numbers of respondents for the 2001 and 2003 surveys were 4,301 (94%) and 2,586 (55%) of Wisconsin licensed dentists, respectively. The numbers of respondents practicing in Wisconsin were 2,842 and 1,780 respectively. In bivariate analyses, dentists from racial/ethnic minority groups (30% vs.18% for white dentists), and large clinics (70% vs.15% for those in smaller clinics) were significantly more likely to accept new Medicaid patients. In multivariate analysis, dentists from racial/ethnic minority groups (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.41-3.50 for 2001; OR, 3.29; 95% CI, 1.56-6.93 for 2003), and clinics with ³10 dentists (OR, 3.67; 95% CI, 2.36, 5.73 for 2001; OR, 6.20; 95% CI 3.46, 11.13 for 2003) had significantly greater odds of accepting new Medicaid-covered patients. Conclusion: Racial/ethnic minority dentists are two to three times more likely than white dentists to accept new Medicaid patients. These findings suggest that increasing dental workforce diversity to match the diversity of the general US population may significantly increase access to dental care for poor and racial/ethnic minority Americans, and could serve as a potent force in reducing or eliminating dental disparities.

Learning Objectives:

List 2 factors aasociated with dentist acceptance of new mediciad patients

Keywords: Workforce, Access to Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Workforce Issues

The 135th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 3-7, 2007) of APHA