Agenda - 04-15-2003-9a - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 important to note that during this same period, the department was also without a dental hygienist for part of the year, which limited the services that the Clinic could offer. At least 300 of the new self-pay patients qualified for services at the 80 percent or less level of the sliding fee scale. With the slowing economy, staff anticipates that requests for services will increase. The chart below offers a snapshot of clinic patients receiving services last fiscal year: Of The Total Patients Served Medicaid Visits 1,294 Other Insurance Visits 818 Self Pay Patients With Income Levels Eligible for Sliding Fee Scale Paying 20 to 80% of Full Charges 1,743 Self Pay at 100% of Full Charges 100 No Charge Follow-up Visits 137 Program Objectives and Services The objectives of Orange County's dental health program have remained constant since the County established it more than 20 years ago - to reduce the incidence of tooth decay, periodontal disease, loss of teeth, pain and infection and oral cancer -through dental assessments/screenings, dental health education, prevention, sealant promotion and treatment to the residents of Orange County, focusing on low-income and underserved residents. One of the major services identified to meet this objective includes providing routine dental treatment including fillings, extractions and cleanings to residents of Orange County, primarily to patients who are Medicaid eligible and/or low income. While the program serves residents of all ages, major emphasis has always focused on providing dental health services for children. Current Staffing Clinic staffing currently consists of County and UNC School of Dentistry staff including an attending dentist, dental residents, the dental health program director, a dental hygienist, dental assistants and dental office assistants. The dental health program director, hygienist, dental assistants and dental office assistants are County employees while the Department contracts with the UNC School of Dentistry for the services of a dental resident, attending (licensed) dentist, and oversight by a dental faculty member. In accordance with the contract, UNC subsidizes half the cost of the attending dentist with the County paying the other half of that cost. The County pays UNC for all costs associated with the dental residents and for the oversight by the dental faculty member. While the contractual arrangement has served the community well for more than 20 years, reductions in state budget allocations for the School of Dentistry coupled with a shortage of licensed dentists has directly impacted the County's ability to offer consistent services for patients. For example, the inability to regularly secure a licensed dentist has resulted in the Dental Clinics' failure to provide services for approximately 20 days in the last fiscal year and 13 days thus far this fiscal year.