Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1326826
19 BECKER'S DENTAL + DSO REVIEW - VOL. 2021 NO. 1 QUALITY & INFECTION CONTROL ADA to Biden team: Prioritize these 7 oral health measures in first 100 days By Katie Adams D entists have established infection control as a cen- tral pillar of their profession. However, some den- tists lose sight of the importance of sterilization and strong infection control practices. The American Dental Association laid out the main COVID-19-related concerns the administration of Presi- dent-elect Joe Biden needs to address within its first 100 days to ensure dental providers can effectively serve pa- tients throughout the pandemic. In a Nov. 30 letter to President-elect Biden and Vice Presi- dent-elect Kamala Harris, the ADA urged the new adminis- tration to prioritize the following seven measures: 1. Inclusion of dentist advisors in the appropriate federal entities, especially a permanent chief dental officer at CMS. 2. Inclusion of dentists in the first phase of COVID-19 vaccine allocation. 3. Ensuring personal protective equipment and medical supplies are available to dental offices throughout the pandemic. 4. Temporary and targeted liability protection for small businesses following applicable COVID-19 public health guidelines. 5. Reversal of the provisions in CMS' recent interim final rule that allows states receiving additional Medicaid funding to remove optional benefits, such as dental care. 6. Advocacy on behalf of the dental community con- cerning its operating room access issues, which have been made worse by the pandemic. 7. Decreased regulations on dental providers within the Medicaid program. n Tennessee dentist at heart of infection control investigations shuts down 1 practice By Gabrielle Masson K noxville, Tenn.-based dentist Clarence "Buzz" Nabers, DDS, who has previously made headlines for improp- erly sterilizing dental equipment, has sold one of his buildings and closed his practice located there, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Dr. Nabers purchased the four-story building in 2011 for $1.13 million and sold it in September for $2.8 million. A dif- ferent dentist has leased the dental office space. Dr. Nabers still operates a West Knoxville, Tenn.-based prac- tice. In August 2019, the dentist was fined $11,000 and his li- cense was placed on probation after the Tennessee Board of Dentistry found he improperly sterilized dental equipment and forged certification documents. Consequently, the state required Dr. Nabers to inform pa- tients of the infection control breaches, and three patients later filed a $50 million proposed class-action lawsuit against the dentist. The suit claims Dr. Nabers endangered thou- sands of patients by potentially exposing them to HIV, hepa- titis B and hepatitis C. A judge denied Dr. Nabers' motion to dismiss the lawsuit. n 5 Midwest dental organizations 1st in US to publicly report quality indicators By Gabrielle Masson F ive Midwestern dental practices have started publicly re- porting oral health quality measures, the first U.S. dental practices to do so. Milwaukee-based ForwardDental, Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System, Milwaukee-based Dental Associates, Blooming- ton, Minn.-based HealthPartners and Milwaukee-based Chil- dren's Wisconsin are all now reporting quality measures to the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality reporting web- site. The five organizations are also founding members of the WCHQ Oral Health Collaborative. The first publicly reported measures are caries risk assessment in children, ongoing care in adults with periodontitis and topi- cal fluoride application in high-risk children. The WCHQ analyzes the quality measures from data submitted by the dental organizations. The WCHQ Oral Health Collabo- rative aims to use its next set of metrics to help dentists better manage patients with chronic medical conditions. n