Care coordination is an approach that has proven beneficial in achieving better healthcare outcomes by deliberately coordinating patient care activities through communication with the parties involved.
Care coordination can effectively connect priority populations to the dental services they need.
Care Coordination
Dental care coordination complementing a school-linked dental program can assist families to:
- Understand the reason for referral
- Understand the need and urgency to seek care
- Navigate the dental healthcare system
- Address logistical issues and barriers to accessing care
- Obtain insurance and/or understand their covered services under Medi-Cal
- Ensure continuity of care and/or adapt to changes or specialty care referral if indicated
- Learn about optimal oral health behaviors for their children
If a student has Medi-Cal insurance or if you’re unsure if the family qualifies for Medi-Cal, use the dental care coordination referral form (below) to ensure the child is connected to dental care.
Resources for care coordination
Care coordinators should be provided with the necessary training and resources to coordinate dental care for students following a dental screening. Here are some helpful training topics:
- Introduction to pediatric oral health and ways to identify oral health problems
- Ways to provide oral health education using oral health literacy methods
- Working with schools, dental providers, and other partners
- Community outreach
- Tips on effective communication and health counseling methods (including motivational interviewing)
- Dental care coordination protocols, referral pathways, and all available resources
- Data entry and preferred referral management system
- HIPAA compliance and safeguarding personal health information (PHI)
- Available resources to assist families in navigating the challenges of obtaining dental insurance, Medicaid eligibility, and accessing dental benefits
Referral Management Systems
Using an electronic referral management system will allow:
- Care coordinators to send referrals directly to dental providers
- Assistance with scheduling children’s dental appointments
- Efficient communication with parents/guardians and dental providers
- Tracking the success of referrals (i.e., what happens after a referral is given)
- Data metrics to communicate findings to school administrators, stakeholders, and funding agencies
- Development of quality improvement strategies
The California Department of Public Health, Office of Oral Health is procuring licenses for a dental referral management system that LOHPs can adopt for their programs. This will become available in the first half of 2024.
