For those of you that have been reading these messages each month, a natural progression has developed. In the October newsletter I presented many excellent reasons for us to belong to the Middlesex County Dental Society. In the November newsletter I compiled a list of some of the exceptional benefits that are provided by the New Jersey Dental Association to the membership. Therefore, this month I decided to list some of the outstanding services that are available to us as members of the American Dental Association.
This list is only a sampling of some of the member benefits available from the American Dental Association. I feel strongly that the tripartite structure comprised of the ADA, the NJDA and the Middlesex County Dental Society serve us well. Similarly, I believe that it is vital for the welfare of our profession and for the good of the public that we belong to the "voice of organized dentistry". I hope this will serve to remind all of you of the value of your ADA membership and might prompt you to speak with some of our non-member colleagues and convince them to join us.
This month at our general membership meeting we will be honoring our new life members. These members have shown a long-term commitment to organized dentistry. Please come and join us to honor them on January 19th. I hope everyone had a joyous holiday season, and may you all have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
Sincerely,
Ira S. Rosen, D.M.D.
President, Middlesex County Dental Society
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Attendance: Brunsden, DeSciscio, Engel, Fahsbender, Glickman, Huberman, Kahn, Kline, Krantz, Lawson, Leizer, Livanos, Perlmutter, Schambra, Silverstein, Villa, Weiner
Acceptance of Minutes-10/13/98-Unanimous
Treasurer's Report: Previous Balance $42,896.83
P. DeSciscio, Treasurer Income/Expenses - 3,105.73 Current Balance $39,791.10
President's Report-I. Rosen
UMDNJ-A. Rosenheck
The House of Delegates will be voting on free NJDA membership for dental students. UMDNJ is very excited about this, and it could be good for future membership. Missouri has a student component in their state.
NJDA Council Reports:
NJDA Board of Trustees-D. Krantz
See full report in the newsletter.
Special Olympics-C. Brunsden
Corporate sponsorship provided eight large billboards in Middlesex County and 102 others throughout the state. Individual member donations, however, are way below expectations and an additional mailing to request donation is planned.
ADA Trustees Report-J. Leizer
Membership Council-N. Villa
The Membership Council will be meeting to review the ADA's Membership Needs and Opinion Survey from 1996. The ADA compared surveys from members, past members, and nonmembers. Recommendations to the Council are the following:
Council on Governmental Affairs-J. Perlmutter
Council on Dental Benefits-D. Krantz
Insurance Council-R. Kahn
The Insurance Council recommended to the Board to endorse Medical Protective as the professional liability carrier.
Children's Dental Health Month-C. Brunsden
This year's activities include the following:
Peer Review-J. Fahsbender
One case was reviewed this month involving a dentist and an insurance company. The finding was in favor of the dentist.
MCDS Committee Reports:
Mentor-E. Glickman
The OSHA course had 191 people registered and 175 attended. A new date will be offered on January 14, 1999. 95 people are signed up.
Editor's Report-M. Weiner
The last newsletter had some additional cost because the amendments were included and it needed additional postage. There were many typos in the November issue, including the misspelling of Phil Cocuzza's name and the incorrect date for Staff Night. There was a new ad this month. We need to discuss whether a page needs to be blocked out for life members for next newsletter.
Website-R. Silverstein
The contents of the previous newsletter are in the process of being posted to the site. Also, Dr. Silverstein will be working with the typesetter to determine why the pictures appeared poorly in the November newsletter.
Dinner Dance-H. Habas
Plans are moving along well. Invitations go out in February. The decision was t o honor the past threeMCDS Presidents.
Corporate Sponsorship-R. Kline, J. Chustckie
The MCDS has started to actively pursue corporate sponsorship. At the moment there are approximately 40 vendors the society will be in contact with. The committee on corporate sponsorship has compiled a letter, which will be sent to potential sponsors outlining the different advertising venues available. They will be given the following options:
Different packages will be available with significant discounts for sponsoring in multiple areas.
If any members in the society have any connections with any vendors or dental related companies they are encouraged to pursue them for corporate sponsorship.
A motion was made to accept the rates as outlined-vote unanimous. New contacts are needed for potential advertisers.
Respectfully submitted,
Bruce Huberman, DMD
Secretary
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| Previous Balance | |
| (10/31/98) | $39,791.10 |
| Reimbursement from NJDA | |
| (Exec. Committee Dinners) | 1,315.19 |
| Adjusted Balance | 41,106.29 |
| Income / Expenses | |
| (10/31/98 - 12/31/98) | $ 3.002.92 |
| (- 8,346.01) | |
| Net Loss: | (- 5,343.09) |
| Current Balance | |
| (12/31/98) | $35,763.20 |
| PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENT | |
| 10/31/98 Through 12/31/98 | |
| INCOME: | |
| Total | $ 3,002.92 |
| EXPENSES: | |
| Dinner Meeting (Oct., Nov.) | $ 4,698.60 |
| Newsletter (November) | 1,602.83 |
| Mentor Committee | 790.29 |
| Lecture Fees (November) | 552.47 |
| Exec. Committee Dinners | 266.17 |
| Corporate Sponsor | 238.58 |
| Secretarial | 108.00 |
| Telephone | 89.07 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | ($8,346.01) |
| TOTAL INCOME/EXPENSE | ($5,343.09) |
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1. The budget passed with a dues increase of $17 as opposed to the projected increase of $82. The ADA dues for 1999 will be $382. Of this amount, $14 will go for programs that are only in place for this year. $25 of this is for the final year of the direct reimbursement program. The year 2000 budget will begin with a dues base of $343 which reflects the termination of these projects.
2. The proposed renovation of ADA occupied space in the Chicago headquarters (removal of asbestos and renovation of the space) has been referred back to the board of trustees until the year 2000.
3. A resolution was passed which calls for the ADA to have as a goal, a reserve account equal to 30% of the opening budget. There was, however, no means stated to get to that point nor any mechanism to keep funding at that level once we get there.
4. The Public Awareness Campaign was defeated by a 3-1 margin. However a resolution was passed which will make the materials available to those constituents and components that wish to use them. In addition, the resolution calls for the ADA and Jordan Associates (the PR firm) to further evaluate the current messages as well as possibly develop new material. It also calls for consultation between the ADA, Jordan and constituents to enable those who wish to use the program to become familiar with media buying and related public relations activities. It also calls for the ADA to explore opportunities for joint participation in and funding of public awareness activities.
5. A resolution was passed that would allow the constituents and components to set up an electronic debit installment plan for the payment of dues. The dues must be paid by June 30 if this program is used.
6. Various resolutions were passed which involve DMSO's. They call for education of our members, monitoring the stock prices of the publicly traded DMSO's, continuation of the task force on DMSO's with reports back to the ADA house on an annual basis.
7. Passed policy that encourages all government sponsored programs to support concept of freedom of choice in selection of plans. Dental plans should be independent of medical plans and all programs should include a fee-for-service option where patient/ enrollee may have freedom of choice of any licensed dentist.
8. Policy passed which calls for insurance companies to recognize the need and benefit of provisional or interim restorations so that these restorations can be a covered expense of their plan. In addition the ADA should develop procedure codes for these provisional restorations.
9. The house studied a resolution which calls for the ADA to initiate a program to educate and inform third party carriers that nonmetallic restorations (composite or ceramic inlays, onlays or crowns) are valid restorations and should be reimbursed at the same level as metal or porcelain used to metal restorations. It also dealt with a resolution that called for the elimination of pre-op radiographs when doing single unit inlays, onlays and crowns. And finally it dealt with a resolution which would eliminate the need to submit post-op radiographs of completed endodontic procedure in order to receive reimbursement. These resolutions will go back to the appropriate ADA agencies and will be reported to the 1999 house of delegates.
10. House of Delegates DEFEATED a resolution that would establish a task force to assess the competence of dental school graduates in treating Medicaid and CHIP program patients.
11. Development of guidelines for examiner standardization on licensing exams.
12. ADA agencies should make a top priority of developing programs to recruit qualified allied personnel to the dental field.
13. Development of a workbook to show states how to develop an alternative path of education for Dental Hygiene training.
14. Passed a resolution that called for states to submit to their state licensing agencies proposals that would provide for acceptance of successful completion of a licensure examination administered by any recognized individual state or regional testing agency for the purpose of licensure in their state. It is not mandatory for states to comply but it sets this as ADA policy for the first time.
15. Development of criteria to allow high school dental assisting programs to become accredited.
16. ADA seeks federal legislation that would prohibit ERISA and all health benefit plans from excluding coverage of general anesthesia and/or hospital or outpatient facility charges incurred by covered persons who received dental treatment under anesthesia due to a documented physical, mental or medical reason as determined by the treating dentist and/or physician.
17. Dr. Richard Mascola of New York elected President-Elect.
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Components societies are not allowed to separately post minutes of the State Board of Trustees Report. You can now find the reports at http://www.njda.org/member/board_minutes/index.html.
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Dr Nancy Villa
My personal recommendations, based on the ADA's Membership Needs and Opinion Survey, for the NJDA Council on Membership are the following:
1. All communications from the three levels of the dental society must be used to promote the benefits of membership. Many dentists are faced with an enormous volume of mail to read each day. Newsletters and journals should be or5anized more like the Wall Street Journal with highlights of all the important topics on the first page. This format would save time, educate members about their dental society and change the false perception that the benefits do not justify the cost of dues.
2. All nonmembers must be asked to join the dental society on a regular basis including dental residents, grad students, new licensees and federal service dentists. 58% of nonmembers responded that they would be receptive to joining the ADA, whereas only 46% of past members would be receptive to joining. This shows how important it is to keep members.
3. Dentists who choose to drop their membership should be contacted by the ADA, NJDA, and MCDS. Less than one quarter of former members were contacted. Dues bills should be mailed to nonrenews for the following year rather than waiting for them to send an application to rejoin.
4. Participation in the dental society is the best way for members to learn the value of membership. At least 81% of survey respondents were not involved in a leadership or committee role of the dental society.
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What If Mediation Falls?
By Dr John Fahsbender
There are times when mediation fails and the dentist and patient cannot come to a solution that both parties feel comfortable with. The mediator contacts the peer review chairman and a committee is organized to review the case. At least three members of the committee are involved. If a summary hearing is held, only records and other written data are examined, If a plenary hearing is held, both parties are invited to attend and give testimony. The patient can also be examined at this time. The dentist is advised to contact his insurance carrier at this time. At the conclusion of the plenary hearing, the committee meets separately to discuss their findings. Treatment guidelines, drawn up by the State, are carefully gone over. Clinical procedures must meet certain criteria of acceptance. At times, experts in a specialized field may be called in to evaluate. Following a decision by the committee, the report is sent to NJDA. From there, it is summarized and sent to the respective parties. If the ruling is in favor of the patient, all or part of the monies are returned to the patient. The refunded monies never exceed the fees paid. Peer review is not punitive. There is no award for pain and suffering for either the patient or the dentist. If the patient is willing, the dentist could repair or redo the treatment If the ruling is in favor of the dentist, any outstanding balance is to be cleared by the patient, or insurance carrier. The decision of the committee can be appealed by either the patient or the dentist, provided it is based upon sufficient reason.
Next Month: How to Avoid Peer Review
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MCDS members may attend general meetings of all component societies in the state and receive continuing education credit for the program (course) portion of the evening. Component Societies are providing this feature as a benefit Of membership. Individuals wishing to purchase dinner must reserve prior to the meeting by calling the contact person indicated. A complete listing of programs can be found in the members only CE section of the NJDA website (www.njda.org). Be advised that programs involving NJDA officers and staff may not be eligible for credit. Licensees may utilize 7 credits per licensing cycle in practice management courses. Upcoming neighboring components are listed as follows:
MERCER DENTAL SOCIETY
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Princeton
JANUARY 19,1999
MAXILLARY SINUS LIFTING PRIOR
TO IMPLANT PLACEMENT
Dr. Norman Betts
Contact Person
Dr.Tanya DeMarche (609/896-9585)
Programs are 2 hours in duration and
begin at 7:30 pm
CENTRAL DENTAL SOCIETY
Chanticler Chateau, Warren
JANUARY 12, 1999
ORAL PATHOLOGY
Drs. Schneider and Mesa
Contact Person:
Dr. John Cross (732/356- 5050)
Programs begin at 7-30 pm
STATE BOARD REPORT
The NJ State Board of Dentistry has ruled that a hygienist cannot place a chlorhexidine gluconate chip.
COUNCIL ON INSURANCE
The NJDA Board tabled until the next meeting discussion of a proposal from the Council on Insurance to endorse a professional liability insurance product.
UNFINISHED & NEW BUSINESS
The NJDA Board approved the appointment of Dr. Peter Clemente to be NJDA's representative on the Board of Trustees of the Foundation of UMDNJ.
The NJDA Board referred to the Council on Communications the task of determining the feasibility of NJDA utilizing the ADA public relations program materials in a print and cable television campaign.
Middlesex County Dental Society
CHILDREN'S DENTAL HEALTH MONTH
"A Great Smile is Always in Fashion"
• County-wide School Poster Contest
• Pediatrician Awareness Program
• County Nurses Continuing Education -Mar. 10, 1999
• NJDA at the Circus - "A Family Affair" -Mar. 14, 1999
* Dental Health Fair and Awards Ceremony - Apr. 11, 1999
MCDS members actively support the concept of early preventive dental health education for children. If you wish to participate in the Children's Dental Health Program contact:
CAVAN BRUNSDEN, DMD at 732-679-2323
Don't Forget These Great Member Benefits
MCDS WEB SITE - (password and user name assigned by Diane Davis at NJDA: 732-821-9400).
MCDS VIDEO LIBRARY - at St. Peter's Hospital - all you need as a MCDS member is a valid ADA membership card to access the extensive video collection.
LAWLINE - Remember LAWLINE if you have a legal question related to your dental practice. As a continuing member benefit, NJDA's General Counsel, Arthur Meisel, Esq. is always available to confer, at no cost, with members.
If you have a question or need assistance, call Mr. Meisel at his direct-dial number (732) 422-2730 or (732) 821-9400 (NJDA).
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