October 2004 Newsletter

Steve Seltzer is an internationally recognized expert on technology integration and practice management. He has invented fast payback, high tech products that increase productivity and reduce patient, doctor, and staff stress. An informative and entertaining speaker, Steve has developed a revolutionary new system that integrates technology to organize the dental practice and eliminates staffing problems. The result is a practice with less stress and reduced overhead. Steve has lectured to dentists and staff for more than fifteen years at every major dental meeting in the United States, as well as numerous dental meetings for specialists. He has also presented lectures in Canada and Europe. His mission is to improve the quality of life for doctors, staff, and patients by fully integrating technology into the practice environment. He holds a degree in Accounting and Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Steve has affiliated with Boston University, Tufts University, and New York University dental schools, and has been a consultant to the ADA’s Council on Dental Practice.
You will be introduced to creating a digital infrastructure--a revolutionary new interdisciplinary approach to technology and practice management that simplifies day-today practice administration, controls damage due to staff turnover, and reduces the time, energy, and stress that the doctor devotes to the business of dentistry. You will also learn about new high tech oriented patient relaxation, distraction, and education techniques that reduce clinical stress and increase case acceptance. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to energize and revitalize your practice with common sense practice management and sensible technology.

As practitioners and business owners, we learn that time management is an essential element of success. It is our goal at MCDS to make sure that the time you take away from your practice and your families to come to our meetings is effective time spent. The September dinner meeting and treatment planning seminar with Dr. Gerard Chiche was in keeping with this philosophy.
The lecture was very well attended and the extended cocktail hour prior to the lecture allowed the membership to reacquaint with each other after the summer hiatus. The diversity of attendees (newer and established dentists, male and female, and a wide range of specialties) was a mirror of our present day dental community, as opposed to the ‘old boys club’ of days past. This diversity was especially helpful during the treatment planning seminar with Dr. Chiche, as the different specialties and generations interacted with each other to come to a consensus. It is to Dr. Chiche’s credit that he was able to take such a large room of colleagues and engage/challenge them fully in his subject matter for 2 hours. The large attendance at the excellent full day course given by Dr. Chiche on the following day shows the strong commitment of our membership to supporting the efforts of our Program Chair Dr. Mark Vitale and our Continuing Education Chair Dr. Mark Schambra.
They say that both ‘take off’ and ‘landing’ are the most difficult parts of a flight. The success of the September meeting gave us a flawless ‘take off’ and October finds us at ‘cruising altitude’ with Steve Seltzer, another nationally recognized speaker, lecturing courtesy of our sponsor Equipment Brokers. I encourage any member who was not able to attend last month to come to our October dinner meeting- you will hear about the issues that affect you as a dental practitioner in this state as well as a great speaker.
-Mitch Weiner

Attendance: Ashmen, Brunsden, Courey, Fahsbender, Galkin, Glickman, Ibrahim, Kahn, Klein, Krantz, Lawson, Leizer, Rosen, Schambra, Silverstein, Simos, Villa, Vitale, Wasserman, Weiner
Acceptance of Minutes-vote unanimous.
President’s Report-Mitch Weiner
I represented MCDS at the MCC Hygiene Program’s Advisory Committee meeting in May. Merry LeBlond RDH, who runs the program, is retiring. I discussed the NJDA job exchange as an avenue for graduates to seek employment. They are interested in getting our member list to have us help promote their program in our offices.
Thank you notes were sent recognizing organizers and door prize contributors to Staff Night, which was a tremendous and well-received success this year.
I attended the Annual Session House of Delegates Meeting where our own Dr. Dan Krantz was inducted as Treasurer.
I held two meetings this summer with select Board members:
In June, Dr’s Villa, Simos, Kline, Galkin and I discussed the creation of a Marketing Committee representative to design and follow thru with mailings promoting MCDS courses and even a ‘Concierge’ to greet and attend to the speakers needs upon arrival while the Program Chair handles last minute logistics. We also discussed the underutilization of the positions of VP, Pres.-Elect and even Secretary now that Marlene is with us, as they can serve in this ‘Concierge’ role.
In August, Dr’s Vitale, Schambra and I met to discuss the final coordination of our first major full-day lecture with Dr. Chiche and to go over the progress of our course marketing and registration numbers.
I attended the NJDA Trustees Meeting for Dr. Kahn in June and the NJDA Budget Meeting with Dr. Kahn in August and want to congratulate NJDA Treasurer Dr. Dan Krantz for the fasted approved Budget in NJDA history.
I want to welcome Dr. Wael Ibrahim, a general practitioner from Somerset, who I have invited to join our Executive Board.
Dr. Jason Wasserman, a general practitioner, has joined the Executive Board and will be working with Dr. Mark Schambra on the Continuing Education Committee.
Treasurer’s Report-James Courey
See full report on page 3.
Program Chairperson-Mark Vitale
Dr. Vitale reviewed the meeting schedule for the year, as well as travel and accomodation arrangements for the speakers.
Editor’s Report-Mitch Weiner
The September Issue was the largest undertaking in the newsletters’ history in terms of size and content. Versions were sent to both members and non-members with two different President’s Messages. Promotional ads for our full day course sponsors will be ongoing thru the year.
NJDA Trustee’s Report-Richard Kahn
See full report on page 6 under NJDA Noteworthy News.
NJDA Council Reports:
Dental Benefits-Mark Vitale
See full report on page 6.
Membership-Scott Galkin
The membership council will be meeting in October. We have had success in having members of our MCDS executive board contacting non-NJDA members that have showed interest in joining the NJDA, thorugh an NJDA
postcard mailing. These members who have shown interest have been forwarded to the NJDA membership staff office for further recruitment.
Peer Review-John Fahsbender
Three cases have been completed. All were resolved by mediation.
Committee Reports:
Mentor Committee-Ethan Glickman
Except for the upcoming OSHA course in October, Mentor Courses will be deferred until the early spring so as to not compete/oversaturate with the full-day CE programs.
Old Business
Dr. Villa discussed at the end of her tenure providing the membership with their CE summary in the summertime. Due to the arduous tasks of Marlene working the CE registrations of the Cowie Course in June and our 3 Full-day courses coming in over the summer, we discussed a more realistic goal of generating these CE summaries in stages over the next 4 months, to be completed by years end. Beginning next summer, we will complete the compiling and generation of these CE summaries by summers end.
New Business
NJDA wants us to promote its weekend study club, its online mentoring program, the job exchange, and diamond club membership at our monthly meetings.
An annual review was conducted for our Executive Secretary.
Respectully Submitted,
Robert Silverstein,
Secretary

-Dr. Shekitka reported on the State Board meeting, which included discussion of the UMDNJ proposal for a foreign trained faculty DMD program, but no decision was made. Drs. Rosenheck and Placa are candidates for State Board President and the election will be held at the September Board meeting. The sole candidate for Vice President is Dr. Herbert Dolinsky. The proposed enteral sedation rule has just been published for comment in the New Jersey Register.
-Ricky Dibofsky reported that NJDA’s recent Golf Outing produced some revenue due to sponsorships.
-A brief discussion took place concerning the future of NJDA’s traditional annual Day at the Circus to celebrate National Children’s Dental Health Month, since it has been producing financial loss to NJDA and its attendance has been waning. NJDA must reach a decision on this issue by mid-September in order to reserve the necessary tickets. Other types of events will be considered.
-The Taj Mahal’s final billing for the 2004 Annual Session is being reviewed. Preliminarily, it appears NJDA will recognize a small profit. Fifty-five (55) booths have already been sold for next year’s event. The New Jersey specialty groups have been invited to participate in the convention; the New Jersey Society of Periodontists already committed to do so.
-Patricia DeCotiis reported on the highly successful August 14 continuing education course for female dentists. Ten non-member dentists attended and 2 of those completed membership applications on-site; the others took applications with them.
-NJDA has received some complaints about our current endorsed professional liability carrier, GE Medical Protective, including not only customer service issues but also overly restrictive underwriting guidelines that have resulted in some members being “non-renewed”. A Committee will review other policies and agents. Staff has already held preliminary meetings.
-A total of 53 peer review cases have been opened year to date.
-Eric Elmore reported that a membership mailing is being prepared to verify member data in the system for inclusion in the 2004-05 Membership Directory, still on target for November or December completion. The NJDA on-line member directory will be updated monthly.
-The Board approved the proposed 2005 NJDA Budget, which includes a $25 dues increase.
-Ms. Roberts (student component) presented a request on behalf of the student component to sponsor two students to attend the national ASDA annual meeting in New Orleans. The Board approved a resolution to sponsor the students in an amount not to exceed $1,550.

The council met on September 8, 2004. The following items were reviewed.
-CRP statistics were reviewed through the end of August 2004. There were a total of 89 complaints submitted. Horizon of NJ had the largest number of complaints at 20, while Delta Dental of NJ had 3.
-Guidelines for the use of CDT vs. CPT codes were reviewed. There is no hard and fast rule that mandates the use of CDT codes only. It is the option of the dentist, however it is recommended that CDT codes, as provided by the ADA, be utilized except in surgical cases where CPT codes may be appropriate depending on the insurance company being submitted to.
-CDT-5 is being released shortly and will be available through the ADA. Members wishing to submit comments, suggestions or changes for the new CDT-6 should do so as soon as possible, as the committee will be entering into discussion at the next meeting.
-After discussion with NJDA, Horizon of NJ has agreed to provide an EOB to non-par providers when medical benefits are payable for a dental procedure they perform.
-There was discussion concerning the various dental benefit models that exist. It was pointed out that the number of indemnity plans are on the decline, while the PPO’s are increasing. ASO’s, or Administrative Service Organizations, are quickly increasing. These are the self insured plans than many large employers are switching to. The employer pays an admin fee rather than a premium and the insurance company does not assume risk as they would with a true insurance plan. The discount card market is also on the up swing with Aetna getting involved. In these plans the enrollees are changed a monthly or yearly fee, and in return they receive a network of dentists who provide a discount averaging 28%.
-Delta Dental is teaming up with AARP to offer a PPO dental plan to AARP members. This will be available in 21 states. NJ is not included at this time.
-The NJ Gross Receipts Tax was discussed. This 6% tax applies only to in office whitening procedures; ie, Britesmile, Zoom etc. It does not include trays, strips or any take home products.
-The Governor has signed legislation to designate medically underserved areas. There will be financial incentives for primary care physicians and dentists to establish practices in these areas.
-For up to date information read the NJDA CAPSULE.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark A. Vitale, DMD

October 2004 Newsletter

President's Message

MCDS Board of Trustees Report

Treasurer's Report

Announcements/Articles