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Effective January 1, 2016, Delta Dental of Oregon changed its policy to no longer accept written narratives in place of complete chart notes.
Chart notes serve as the legal document that should record all diagnostic information, clinical notes, justification for treatment, treatment performed and patient related communications. They should include:
- Medical and dental history
- Progress and treatment notes
- Conversations about the treatment needed
- Any instructions for home care and consent to treatment
Complete and accurate records should be legible and contain enough information to allow another provider who has no prior knowledge of the patient to fully understand the patient's dental experience with your office. In practices where there is more than one dentist, the identity of the dentist rendering the treatment should be clearly noted in the chart notes. It is not necessary to send the entire chart notes, only the requested information that is pertinent to the treatment review. If the procedure code is on the 100 percent review list, you may send the requested information with the initial submission of the claim. To view this list, you may access your Dentist Handbook.
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Providing dental care for children in need
In 2010, The Children's Program (TCP) was created by Delta Dental of Oregon, Oregon Educators Benefits Board (OEBB), Kaiser Permanente and Willamette Dental to provide basic dental care for children ages 5 to 18 who live in Oregon who don't have dental insurance. Since the program's inception, more than $3 million in free care has been delivered to over 7,800 children. That's a lot of kids to care for and we're thankful for your support! Without such dedicated and caring dentists, this program would not be possible. We appreciate everyone who has participated in this much-needed dental program. We also have some exciting program updates to share with you! Effective June 1, 2016, we are expanding the program to include children ages 0 to 18 and increasing the annual maximum to $800! To learn how you can become a TCP provider, check out our provider guide. This guide provides a list of covered codes and details on enrollment and the referral process. Questions? We're here to help! Please contact our Dental Professional Relations team toll-free at 888-374-8905.
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New enhancements to OHP benefits
We want to make sure you are aware of some expanded OHP dental benefits that go into effect July 1, 2016:
- Stainless steel crowns will now be a covered benefit for all members for molars.
- We will no longer require you to advise us of the final restoration when planning for root canal treatment.
- Full dentures will be a covered benefit once every 10 years instead of once per lifetime, regardless of when the last tooth was extracted.
- Periodontal maintenance will be a covered benefit once every six months.
- Periodontal scaling and root planing will be a covered benefit once every two years.
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Advocate for early childhood dental screenings
The American Dental Association, the Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Academy of Pediatrics all advocate for a child to have his or her first visit within six months of the first tooth, or by age one. First dental visits provide a great opportunity for you to establish rapport and trust with the caregiver and child. It's a perfect time to educate the caregiver on the benefits of preventive oral health, nutrition and home care. It's also important to perform a knee-to-knee exam, caries risk assessment, and discuss caries prevention and fluoride interventions, as appropriate. But performing an exam on a one year old is no small task. There are many online resources for how to accomplish this. If you're looking for hands-on instruction for you and your office staff, the Oregon Oral Health Coalition provides just what you're looking for through their First Tooth Training program. Please visit the OROHC website for more information. Other helpful resources include:
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Help patients find affordable dental plans
Has a patient without dental insurance asked you where he or she can find affordable dental plans? Delta Dental of Oregon offers affordable, standalone dental plans for both individuals and families.
Our plans offer Oregon residents: - Access to the largest network of contracted dentists in the U.S.
- Preventive dental benefits with no waiting period
- Basic and major services, subject to a six- or 12-month waiting period
If you'd like to help give your non-insured patients access to affordable individual dental plans, please contact us toll-free at 855-718-1767. Or, email individualplans@modahealth.com to request a supply of brochures to display in your front office.
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Updated payment schedules
In February 2016, Delta Dental of Oregon updated the frequency of some of our payment schedules to help keep administrative costs down. However, we will continue to issue payment for most of our employer groups on a weekly basis. Payment for most of our smaller groups, individual insureds, and our OHP members will now be issued twice a month.
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Better manage your patients' care
The Oregon Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) supports the appropriate use of prescription drugs to help providers know what other medications their patients are receiving from other providers. For 2016, the state of Oregon has a performance improvement project focused on reducing the amount of opioids being prescribed to patients. Because your licensing fee helps finance this program, as a dentist you have access to the PDMP to help manage your patients' care. This protected health information, which includes medication days supplied and refill data, is collected and stored securely. Learn more at the PDMP website.
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Our lucky ODC drawing winner is...
Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at the Oregon Dental Conference. It's always a pleasure to meet and catch up with those responsible for keeping our dental members happy and healthy!
As a small token of our appreciation, we held a drawing for an Amazon Echo. The lucky winner was Angie Reeds from White Bird Dental Clinic in Eugene!
Thanks again for your hard work and dedication to our members!
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