In February 2009, IOH Assistant Executive Director Mary Young and IOH Business Manager Darlene O'Neill attended a workshop hosted by the Institute for Medicine: The U.S. Oral Health Workforce in the Coming Decade. It was a well attended session with a plethora of ideas about increasing the oral health care work force by looking at different models from around the world. Also presented were the ideas that we need to look at how we utilize the current work force, for example:
- Can we look at practices and expand care to children and the underserved without creating new professions that will take time to train and deploy?
- How will reimbursements be affected and how can we pay oral health professionals to keep patients healthy?
- How can we maximize the use of dentists and their knowledge and skills to provide the best care for the most people?
One very wise speaker made the statement that while it is ethical to choose not to treat the un/underinsured population, it is unethical to stand in the way of those who do choose to treat this population.
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