Is dentistry destined to follow medicine in managed care?
Our professional calling is to assist our patients in reaching and maintaining a state of good oral health. If managed care assists in that effort, that's good. However, if we can identify and eliminate poor dental HMOs and identify the quality plans, dentistry will begin to realize that keeping people well can be as financially and professionally rewarding as treating disease. Is dentistry headed down the same path as medicine? Unfortunately, the answer is not clear. What is clear is that managed care is here and will impact significantly on dentistry, both positively and negatively. An opportunity exists to mold managed care into a form that is acceptable to dentists and improve the oral health of Americans on a cost-effective basis. However, we as dentists must act, and react, in a rational and logical manner if we are to have a voice in shaping the future of dental benefits and how they will be provided.
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D004465:Economic Competition; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007347:Insurance, Dental; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D011215:Practice Management, Dental; D014481:United States