2010 Centers of Excellence Awardees
From left to right: Andrea Dickhaut and Dr. Cynthia Stevens from Community Health Connections, Mark Doherty of Safety Net Solutions, Joyce Ann Daulton and Dr. William Lippert from HealthSource of Ohio, Dr. Michelle Soheil (Borinquen Health Center), Franco Harris, Silkeya Durham (Lynn CHC), Dr. Steve Shea, Dr. Herlivi Linares (Lynn CHC), Cindy Brazee (Vista Community Clinic) and Master of Ceremonies/NNOHA Vice-President Dr. Wayne Cottam
1.) LynnCommunity Health Center-Lynn Community Health Center was one of the premiere sites that Safety Net Solutions has worked with, largely due to the exemplary leadership exhibited by the organization’s CEO and dental director. Throughout the project, the dental team worked hard to implement policies and procedures designed to reduce chaos, such as new no-show policy, a more effective emergency policy, and several scheduling changes. They worked hard with the community health center billing department to improve the dental billing process. They also implemented clinical protocols to standardize services provided, maximize revenue opportunities and foster the timely completion of treatment plans. After implementing the recommendations of Safety Net Solutions, Lynn Community Health Center saw impressive increases in both access to care and financial sustainability.
2.) Vista Community Clinic – Vista Community Clinic is an example of the success that follows when administrative leadership is focused on and supportive of positive change in the dental department. Vista’s CEO was the driving force behind the changes that resulted in their positive results. By removing all barriers to change, Vista’s administrative leadership ensured that the recommended strategies were implemented, which resulted in tremendous positive growth in both access to care and financial viability. In addition to the strategies that Vista implemented within the four walls of their dental program, they were also able to start a school-based dental program to reach more children and increase access to care to this priority population.
3.) HealthSource of Ohio– This dental program faced a major challenge right at the time when they were receiving their recommended enhancement plan. At that time, the existing dental leadership left the organization. Instead of letting this situation stall the implementation of SNS’ improvement plan, HealthSource’s medical director proceeded to implement many of the recommended action steps. He elevated a staff dentist to a leadership role within the program, hired two recent dental school graduates and oversaw the opening of a satellite dental clinic in another community. As a result of the dental program’s hard work, Health Source increased patient access, patient revenue and decreased their no-show rate.
4.) Borinquen Health Care Center - Borinquen Health Care Center is a program where there is total alignment between dental and administrative leadership. Staff at every level of the organization was enthusiastic and ready to embrace the recommended action steps. Their productivity was hampered by a very high no-show rate. As a result of the hard work of the dental leadership and staff, Borinquen was able to significantly decrease their no-show rate, increase net revenue and the number of patients seen, and most importantly, increase the number of treatment plans that were completed.
5.) Community Health Connections Family Health Centers - CHC’s dental program was under extreme pressure at the time of the practice assessment due to a significant projected financial loss in the program. This loss was jeopardizing the overall well-being of the community health center and was a source of great concern. However, with tenacity and dedication, the organization’s dental leadership tackled the challenges that were hampering the program’s productivity, and have done a remarkable job of turning things around in the dental program. They have increased visits, increased revenue, decreased chaos, and are now ahead of budget projections for the current fiscal year.
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