Dentaltown February 2018 - 82

"In the best of all cases,
[the growth of DSOs]
Dentaltown: The ADA has committed in the neighborhood
of $18 million to a three-year campaign called "Find a
Dentist," which directs consumers to an online database of
ADA member dentists. What sorts of messaging would you
have for dentists who are ADA members to be aware that
this resource exists to them?
Crowley: There are a lot of people in the world who think
they should be going to a dentist, but they lack the time or
whatever. This marketing is targeted to consumers and will
direct them through online search. This "Find a Dentist"
tool will pop up when they look, and hopefully will drive
them to find a dentist in their area who's in the American
Dental Association. It's a finely tuned campaign to a specific
set of patients.
The number of dentists who've signed up to appear on
the "Find a Dentist" tool is rising rapidly, so we feel that
we're on the first end of it.
Dentaltown: The ADA recently launched a credentialing
service powered by CAQH ProView, which aims to provide a
more streamlined approach to insurance credentialing. What
is the goal for the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare
in providing the service at no charge?
Crowley: The CAQH is a professional nonprofit organization that has been in the health care field arena for a
long time. The medical field has used it in the credentialing
process, and its tools work to help streamline that process.
Every dentist, whether by their state licensing agency or dental
third-party payer programs that they might be involved in,
is expected to credential himself or herself-sometimes as
often as every three months.
The CAQH provides a pathway to put your credentials
in and be updated on a regular basis so that your credentials
are on a one-document item. When third-party payers come
and say, "Doctor, we need your credentials," we're going
out to the third-party payers and to the people who need
the credentialing and asking them both: "Is this a tool you
can use?" The third-party payers are paying, so there are no
costs to the member dentists or to any dentist who wants to
sign up. And the third-party payers streamline their business
because they don't have to chase members.
Dentaltown: That sounds great! One of the items proposed

FEBRUARY 2018 // dentaltown.com

shouldn't influence the
profession and who we
are. ... My dream would be
that a patient has a dentist
they trust and want to be
around, and a pathway
that they can get the care
they need, and the delivery
model really should not
influence that."
at this year's ADA House of Delegates was to create a new
agency called the National Commission on Recognition for
Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards. Did this pass?
Crowley: It did-in fact, Resolution 30 is officially
formed as an entity. The current nine recognized specialties
will each have a position, and now there will also be nine
general dentist positions on this board. They'll be the final
say in whether a specialty that applies to become a recognized
specialty does or does not meet the requirements to receive
recognition as such.
Dentaltown: In your address to the House of Delegates at
the meeting, you encouraged ADA members to work together

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown February 2018