News

Ohio is deploying a new tool in its fight against prescription drug abuse. The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy announced an upgrade to Ohio’s prescription drug monitoring program, known as the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS), that will provide Ohio prescribers and pharmacists with advanced analytics and tools to promote patient ... [continue reading]

Dr. Lauren Kollar, a general dentist in Perrysburg, provides screenings and fluoride at an after-school program in Bowling Green. Give Kids A Smile events can take on many different shapes and sizes. From a small event in a dental office, to a large scale dental society event, to screenings at a local school to education events, Give Kids A Smile ... [continue reading]

In 2017, the ODA began offering recruitment grants to local component dental societies for events and initiatives aimed at gaining new members. “The ODA recruitment grant program for component dental societies was started to encourage component dental societies to create innovative programming with a focus on member recruitment,” said Dr. ... [continue reading]

I am often asked why I started active involvement (how I "got started") in the Ohio Dental Association. There are basically two reasons. First, I always said (and still say) “if dentists don’t take care of dentistry, who will?” I felt this way when I joined ASDA and in 1981 when I joined the tripartite of the ADA, ODA and Keely ... [continue reading]

ODA President Dr. Steve Moore, ADA President Dr. Joe Crowley and ODA Executive Director David Owsiany at ADA 2017 - America's Dental Meeting Last month, Dr. Joe Crowley was installed as the 154th president of the American Dental Association. Crowley is the first ADA president from Ohio since Dr. Frank Casto in 1935. I have known Joe for 23 years ... [continue reading]

Since the advent of federal privacy regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), dental offices have focused their attention on the security and safeguarding of the health information they gather on patients in the course of treatment. Concerns about patient privacy have forced offices to exercise caution on ... [continue reading]

Late this summer the Ohio Dental Association began receiving second-hand reports of isolated cases of dentists being "required" to accept as payment in full the allowed reimbursement amount from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan even though the dentists had no contractual relationship with BCBSM. These reports also indicated the dentists were ... [continue reading]

The first IKEA superstore recently opened in Columbus, bringing with it access to Scandinavian minimalist design. It also gives us the opportunity to learn to build rather well-constructed furniture, providing that you can properly decipher the Swedish pictograms that pass for instructions. Trust me, read the instructions first, as the design ... [continue reading]

I just came back from the ADA meeting in Atlanta. The topic that took center stage was resolution 30RC, which was to propose a National Commission on the Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards. This was an important resolution that possibly has broad standing impact in the future for dentistry as a whole. Allow me to explain. I ... [continue reading]

The 2018 Leadership Institute will be March 23-24 at the Hilton Columbus Polaris Hotel. Leadership Institute is the ODA’s award-winning program developed to help all ODA members become more successful and effective leaders. This event is free for ODA members. Watch future issues of the “ODA Today” and “NewsBytes,” for ... [continue reading]