In mid-September, La Red Health Center had three open dentist positions that it was trying to fill, according to CEO Brian Olson.
Still, in an interview with Delaware Online/The News Journal, Olson said he was hopeful. He believed that La Red – which is based in Georgetown and serves many patients who are uninsured or underinsured – would be able to find the staff to bring its dental care back up to the level it needed to be.
Why? Well, a lot of Olson’s optimism has to do with the passage of Senate Bill 277.
Introduced this past spring and signed into law in August, this state legislation essentially relaxes the licensing requirements for dentists who work at Federally Qualified Health Centers, which operate in underserved areas, as well as state-run dental clinics.
Sen. Sarah McBride sponsored this legislation and now is leading a statewide task force that is taking a harder look at what dental care access looks like in Delaware.
FOR SUBSCRIBERS:Access to oral care in Delaware goes beyond just a shortage of dentists
What does this bill have to do with hiring dentists?
After hearing from other state legislators across the state and political spectrum about issues of dental care access, McBride − who chairs the Health and Social Services Committee − had the opportunity to see the impacts of staffing shortages firsthand, specifically at Federally Qualified Health Centers, or FQHCs.
Even though the state had made strides about a decade ago by allowing dentists to apply for provisional licenses if they worked in these health centers, McBride quickly saw that those licenses were not enough to attract dentists to come and work in these Delaware centers.
“I saw these state-of-the-art facilities that were either operating at reduced capacity or were shuttered entirely because, despite that provisional license, our federally qualified health centers were not able to recruit enough dentists to provide those services and that care in those state-of-the-art facilities at full capacity,” McBride said.
Before Senate Bill 277, the dentists who worked at Federally Qualified Health Centers would receive this provisional Delaware dental license, but that license would expire after two years when they would have to go through all the extensive licensing requirements for Delaware.
To qualify for this provisional license, too, dentists who worked at a center like La Red would have to take the Delaware Practical Board Examination, which is held in Wilmington twice a year. This means the Sussex County practice would have to set up accommodations for their dentists to stay in the Wilmington area overnight, as well as provide patients for the clinical part of the exams.
Now, with Senate Bill 277, there is a clearer pathway to Delaware state licensure for those dentists who work at these centers, and people like Olson are hopeful that these relaxed restrictions will help attract more out-of-state dentists to providers like La Red.
Why care about changes in dental licensures?
With the passage of this new legislation, dentists apply for what’s called a “community health license,” which replaces the provisional license.
What makes this license different is it turns into a standard Delaware license − meaning that a dentist could practice elsewhere besides FQHCs − as long as the dentist practices for a certain number of hours over two years.
While this seems like a technical change, McBride said the streamlined pathway to licensure will make it more appealing for a dentist from Philadelphia, for example, to work in an underserved area in Delaware for a few years before joining a practice elsewhere in the state.
This new pathway is also comparative to other states’ requirements for licensure, according to McBride and others in the dental industry.
Delaware’s unique requirements for dental licenses have been under the microscope for years, including a residency requirement, and policymakers, advocates and industry leaders continue to discuss this as part of efforts to improve dental care access.
Taking on dental care access through a task force
Another part of Senate Bill 277 is the creation of a Dental Care Access Task Force, which includes more than 25 people from legislators and dentists to public health officials and advocates.
With its first meeting on Sept. 14, the task force will continue to meet twice a month to address the following issues:
- Dental care access, including for underserved populations and communities
- Dental licensure practices and requirements
- Dental provider type and scope of practice
- Dental provider recruitment and retention strategies
- Dental insurance networks and coverage, including for the uninsured and underinsured
The task force will submit a final report to the state legislature by Feb. 1.
While McBride said she is keeping an open mind about outcomes, she is hopeful that the group can devise possible solutions for the many different aspects affecting dental care access − from loan reimbursements for incoming dentists to recruitment strategies for dental assistants and hygienists, or strategies to make Medicaid coverage more accessible.
“It’s my hope that we’ll have enough options and enough momentum and support to adopt a number of policies in the next General Assembly, and perhaps after that,” McBride said. “To address the shortage, to address the access issues, and to guarantee that Delaware is no longer a state that has health care provider shortages in dental care in any county or in any part of the state.”
Emily Lytle covers Sussex County from the inland towns to the beaches, with a focus on health-related issues. Got a story she should tell? Contact her at elytle@delmarvanow.com or 302-332-0370. Follow her on Twitter at @emily3lytle.
