title: ADA members weigh in on critical issues.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Science, new technology, patient care, dental reimbursement and government regulations all affect today's dental practitioners. To find out more about how such challenges may affect current private practitioners, the American Dental Association conducted the 2000 Membership Needs and Opinions Survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was sent to 6,310 ADA members in January 2000 with follow-up mailings in February, March and April 2000. Data collection was completed in July 2000. The survey included questions on critical professional issues, and on perceptions of the ADA and ADA priorities. A total of 3,558 completed surveys were received for an adjusted response rate of 59.5 percent.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Members rated the identified issues' level of importance to them. The top three issues included "maintaining my ability to recommend the treatment option I feel is most appropriate for my patients," "receiving fair reimbursement for the dental services I provide," and "protecting myself, my staff and my patients from communicable diseases." New dentists found other items to be more significant to them compared with members overall.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although ADA members as a whole had similar views on critical issues facing dentistry and ADA priorities, there were significant differences regarding some issues. New dentists were far more concerned about securing funds for their practice and paying off debt than were all ADA members. Minority dentists expressed greater levels of concern about certain issues than did all ADA members.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When planning and implementing ADA activities, the Association should continue to take into account members' relative rankings of professional issues and note issues of special interest to selected membership subgroups.
authors.affiliation: ADA Division of Membership and Dental Society Services, American Dental Association, Chicago, Ill 60611, USA. burgessk@ada.org
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.forename: Jon D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ruesch
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Mikkelsen
authors.forename: Karen Schaid
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Wagner
mesh_terms: D000571:American Dental Association; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003815:Dentists / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States