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In February 2014, HRSA announced the Interprofessional Oral Health in Primary Care Practice (IPOHPCP) initiative. The goal of this initiative is to increase access to oral health care in Health Centers and safety net settings by increasing the oral health clinical competencies of Health Center primary care providers and incorporating oral health into primary care practice.

The first element of this initiative was the development of Interprofessional Oral Health Core Clinical Competencies (IPOHCCC) for primary care providers. NNOHA served as the coordinator and technical assistance provider for an 18-month pilot implementation of IPOHCCC in three Health Centers, resulting in the ability of primary care providers to deliver oral health services including risk assessment, oral evaluation, preventive procedures, education and referral for dental care, to their patients during the primary care visit.

The experiences and findings from the three IPOHCCC pilot project teams resulted in NNOHA’s recent publication, A User’s Guide for Implementation of Interprofessional Oral Health Core Clinical Competencies: Results of a Pilot Project. This presentation provides an overview of the user guide including sections on assessing readiness, planning, developing training systems, updating health information systems, modifying clinical care systems, developing evaluation systems and addressing challenges.

This user’s guide provides a structure, options, and suggestions to help Health Centers develop programs to implement oral health competencies, thereby integrating oral health into primary care practice, increasing access to oral health care, and improving the oral health status of the populations Health Centers serve. This webinar was presented by Dr. Irene Hilton on 2/23/15.