title: Using information technology and community-based research to improve the dental health-care system.
abstract: It is commonly acknowledged that the United States' health-care system produces some of the finest care in the world for some people but fails to meet the needs of others. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued six aims for a redesigned health-care system, that it be: safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable. The purpose of this paper is to use an ongoing community-based study to illustrate current problems in the provision of oral health services that could be addressed through information technology. Appropriate use of information technology can assist dental schools and clinics in community-based clinical outcomes research needed to assemble the evidence base for improving oral health care. This conference serves as an important steppingstone to establish a means for information technology to improve the community's oral health.
authors.affiliation: UCLA School of Dentistry, Box 951668, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1668, USA. kathya@dent.ucla.edu
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Atchison
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D003149:Community Dentistry; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D003729:Dental Care / Q000592:standards*; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D019451:Information Management; D008297:Male; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States