IOM Report on Access to Care: Implementation Strategies

The 2011 Institute of Medicine IOM report, Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations, calls for research and demonstrations of new systems to improve oral health for vulnerable and underserved populations that emphasize prevention and early intervention and use new methods and technologies such as: bringing care to where people are by delivering oral health services in nontraditional settings; engaging non-dental professionals; developing expanded duties for existing oral health professionals or creating new types of dental professionals; and using technologies such as telehealth. The IOM report also calls for research and demonstrations of delivery systems that are based on measures of access, quality and outcomes and for incorporating these measures in payment and regulatory systems

The principles described by the IOM report support the call by Donald Berwick, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for movement toward the “Triple Aim.” of improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing per capita costs of health care.

The Pacific Center for Special Care at the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry (Pacific) has created and is demonstrating a new oral health delivery system, the Virtual Dental Home, which incorporates the principles in the IOM report and is designed to move oral health services for underserved and vulnerable populations toward the Triple Aim.

This presentation will describe the principles in the IOM report and the Triple Aim and the supporting work in California.