THE VALUE OF OUR ODA MEMBERSHIP
This past month, we received the results of our ninth membership survey. We complete the survey to ensure that our events, products and services are meeting the needs and expectations of our members. This survey provides the Executive Committee not only with membership demographics, but rates the priorities we need to address, the value of our membership and trends as compared to past surveys.
The survey showed us that the top three priorities for our ODA members are to 1. Lobby on behalf of our dental profession. This is done to protect the dentist-patient relationship from unnecessary government and third party interference. We do this through the annual Day at the Statehouse and at the ADA Dentist and Student Lobby Day. Be an engaged member, meet your legislators, they want to hear from you. Your voice matters!
The second priority is to provide information to our members. Our members want and need answers to legal and regulatory compliance questions and concerns. Our ODA staff works tirelessly to ensure that you are up to date on all current issues. Whether you need to fulfil your educational requirements for the updated opioid training requirements needed to comply with the Mate Act, or if you need relevant and current continuing education for your license renewal, we will provide this for you. We do this through the monthly ODA Today newsletter, ODA NewsBites, Leadership Institute and our Annual Session – to be held this year from Sept. 12-14. We are all busy, if you read the ODA Today from cover to cover, it will give you the pertinent information that you need for your daily practice.
I recently had my Ohio Department of Health radiation inspection. This used to be a stressful requirement – not anymore. I went to the ODA website and downloaded the regulatory compliance manual and filled in the blanks relative to my practice. Our regulatory compliance manual is freely downloadable to all members and is updated regularly. Our manual is a tremendous member resource assisting us to stay compliant with the state regulatory agencies. Without the manual, I might not have passed the inspection.
The third priority is to monitor the dental insurance industry and assist with third-party payer concerns. Our Council on Dental Care Programs and Dental Practice meets regularly to identify dental insurance industry issues and works to identify solutions to assist our members with unfair insurance practices. Every week, there are claim disallows and denials that show up in your mailbox. If all of your claims are processed correctly 100% of the time then great. However, for the average member, some claims may take weeks, if not months in the appeal process. When you need help, please contact our ODA staff to see how the Dental Insurance Working Group or the Medicaid Working Group can assist. Having dental volunteers attend to your insurance-related claim concerns is among the most valuable resources available to our members.
Lastly, I wanted to let you know how our Ohio Dental Political Action Committee is dentistry’s voice at the Ohio Statehouse. We are trying to protect our Ohio dentists from unnecessary government intervention and bureaucratic control. We advocate with our legislators to help dentists gain political leverage against big dollar contributors, such as trial lawyers and insurance companies. Give today! If you won’t, who will?
