March 2009 Newsletter

Program || President's Message || MCDS Board of Trustees / Committee Reports

Treasurer's Report Detail || Announcements/Articles || Upcoming Course Registration Forms

Staff Night Registration || Claims Resolution Form

For pictures and advertisements, see the newsletter in PDF format

Program:

March 17, 2009

“Removable Prosthesis-Recipe for Success”
Featured Speaker: Dr. Louis DiPede

Dr. DiPede is a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics; a Fellow of the Northeastern Gnathological Society; a Fellow of the American College of Prosthodontists and a member of the International Society for Maxillofacial Rehabilitation. He received his DMD degree, then a certificate in Advanced Education in General Dentistry from New Jersey Dental School. After 2 years of private general practice he completed an Advanced Hospital Dentistry Program in Los Angeles.
His specialty certificate in Advanced Prosthodontics is from the University of California, Los Angeles and subspecialty fellowship in Maxillofacial Prosthetics and Dental Oncology was completed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NY. Dr. DiPede remained in Manhattan, in full-time private practice limited to Prosthodontics before accepting a faculty appointment at New Jersey Dental School.
He is currently the course director for several undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as remaining active in the faculty group practice.
This course will bring the participant up to the current state of the art in providing removable prosthodontic services to their patients. The session will be divided between complete and partial dentures, discussing the top reasons why these prostheses fail and how to be more successful in removable prosthodontics.

President's Message - Dr. Mark Vitale

This month I thought that I would provide you with an overview of yet another member benefit. The NJDA Council on Dental Benefits formulates, studies, and recommends policies relating to the planning, administration and financing of dental benefits programs in New Jersey. One service offered by NJDA staff and the Council is the Claims Resolution Program. NJDA members may contact NJDA staff when they have a problem with a claim, or an issue with an insurance company that has not been resolved following the submission of a complete and well documented claim, and adequate follow up with the insurance carrier. The program will assist with such issues as lost and misplaced claims, refund requests, EOB’s, claim reviews, coordination of benefits, and claim denials, just to name a few.
For the Claims Resolution Program to work efficiently and effectively it is very important that the dentist, or the staff member of the dentist who handles insurance, follow proper protocol in submitting a claim. First and foremost, make sure the claim is submitted correctly. Start by obtaining accurate information from the patient so that the claim form can be prepared completely and accurately. If you participate in a plan be sure to refer to the provider manual and submit claims and documentation according to the provisions of that plan. For example, if you participate with Delta Dental, make sure you have the current provider manual and become familiar with the policies and provisions stated within. Subscribe to services such as Emdeon or Trojan. In our office we have found Emdeon to provide much needed and accurate information about most insurance plans. You can also go online, as each of the major carriers have websites that provide policy information and patient eligibility. Make certain that the proper documentation accompanies the claim; perio charting for perio procedures, missing tooth charting for prosthetics, and where appropriate write a narrative describing why the procedure was necessary. For prosthetics submit a prep date and an insertion date. The more complete the claim is, the less likely it will be returned to you requesting more information. Most dental management software programs make all of this very easy.
As an aside, if you are not submitting claims electronically, make the change now. Not only are electronic claims processed and paid quickly, but most insurance companies require far less, if any documentation at all with electronic claims. Additionally with electronic claims, you can send electronic attachments, thus eliminating excessive paperwork, radiograph duplication, and wasted postage.
Most of you already know the broad prompt payment requirements, but may not be aware of the details that could save time and money. As a refresher, except for Personal Injury Protection (auto) and Worker’s Compensation claims, virtually all other types of health/dental plans must pay “clean claims” within 30 days of receipt if submitted electronically or 40 days for paper claims. Overdue claims are subject to an interest penalty of 10 percent per annum. A “clean” claim means: (1) the service or supply is covered; (2) the claim is accompanied by all of the information requested on the claim form or in other instructions previously provided to the patient or practitioner; (3) the patient was eligible on the date of service; (4) the carrier does not reasonably believe the claim was submitted fraudulently; and (5) the claim does not require special treatment.
While most insurance companies require claim disputes to be submitted in writing, it is worth a phone call to the insurance company in the hope that a simple matter can be resolved with a claims representative. If you resort to sending a written claims dispute, remember that you can request to have a consultant call you to discuss the claim in question. If the claim is still not resolved to your satisfaction, complete a Claim Resolution Form, a copy of which is in this newsletter, and forward it to NJDA.
For most of us insurance claims are part of our daily business. The more informed you are, the easier it is to deal with the insurance companies, the less money you will spend on processing claims for patients, the fewer the patient misunderstandings, and the more time you can spend doing dentistry.
Please take the time to review the detailed information on the NJDA website. Look under the tab “Dental Benefits”. In addition, please join the Council on Dental Benefits at the NJDA Annual Convention in Atlantic City. This year the Council is presenting a lecture entitled “Getting Paid: Practical Dental Insurance Management”, on Wednesday June 3, 2009 at 9am.
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MCDS Board of Trustees Report

-02/10/2009-


Attendance: Ashmen, Bernstein ,Brunsden, Chustkie, Desai, Goldstein , Kahn, Mir Madjellsi, Nandra, Savage, Silverstein, Simos, Stein, Villa, Vitale, Vora, Weiner,
Acceptance of Minutes-vote unanimous.
President’s Report-Mark Vitale
Kim McMahon, from UMDNJ, has requested our assistance in recruiting dentists to mentor dental assisting students. She will make a presentation at this BOT meeting.
Election of officers will next place at the February 17 meeting.
I received a letter from Linda Miles congratulating MCDS on being the recipient of the ADA Golden Apple Award.
MCDS will have a Reception at the NJDA Annual Convention. Wednesday June 3, 2009 5:30pm-7:30pm
Treasurer’s Report-Robert Ashmen
See full report on page 3.
Educational Coordinator/ Corporate Sponsorship-David Stein
Pines Manor delivered a gift basket to MCDS for a holiday greeting and thanking us for our patronage. For corporate sponsorship, American Express will be coming to the February and March meetings. Care Credit and Orapharma will be coming in March.
NJDA Trustee’s Report-Nancy Villa
See full report under NJDA Noteworthy News on page 7.
Give Kids a Smile-Cavan Brunsden
The program this past month was a great success. A full report will be provided next month after the statistics have been compiled.
NJDA Council Reports:
Annual Session-Nainesh Desai/Araceli Ziemba
The 2010 annual session-Contract has been signed and the meeting will take place on the weekend of Friday, June 11th to Sunday, June 13th at the Taj Mahal. The lectures will end earlier in the Diamond meeting rooms before the President’s Dinner Dance so the hotel has time to change the set up in preparation for convention may fit better into the attendees’ schedules.
2009 speaker line-up and program-at-glance were reviewed. Dr. Ziemba said that she has been working on getting companies for speaker sponsorships. However, it has been hard to get the customary $2,500 sponsorship fee due to the downturn of the economy. She is also seeking multiple sponsorships by companies who would be willing to give less money toward a sponsorship, as opposed to not giving any money to the association. However many companies have decided not to sponsor or exhibit for state associations this year, and only national associations.
Multiple receptions will be held at the Annual Meeting this year by UMDNJ Alumni, Temple Alumni, University of Pennsylvania, Middlesex County Dental Society and NJDHA/NJDAA (still waiting a confirmation).
This year’s featured speaker will be Kary Odiatu and she will be speaking about women’s health issues on Thursday.
Guests will also have the opportunity to take a shuttle to Cape May for a day trip on Wednesday with a pre-registration fee of $30 ($40 onsite)
The Council voted on the price for the Dental Insurance Management course offered by the Council on Member Benefits. It will be $25 for advance registration and $35 for onsite, instead of being complimentary as originally discussed.
Non-members will no longer need to pay an entrance fee to attend the convention. They will, however, be required to pay an extra $25 per course. This decision was made in an effort to encourage their attendance at the annual meeting and become NJDA members. There will also be a $15 increase per course for non-NJDHA / NJDAA members.
The Annual Convention and other NJDA business will now be advertised on two very popular light music stations in New Jersey, WOBM and The Point.
The Council is also taking some cost-efficient measures.
1. The Officer / Staff Dinner on Tuesday night prior to the opening of the Annual Meeting, will be held at a local reasonably-priced restaurant
2. The hospitality center will be moved to a meeting room in an effort to keep a closer reign on the food & beverage and will be handled by the Banquets Department.
3. Simpler/cheaper green plastic bags
It has been approved to pursue the idea of offering a cyber pavilion on the exhibit hall at the Annual Meeting this year.
It has been approved to rename the NJDA Annual Convention in 2010. It will be called “The Garden State Dental Show” in 2010 and active marketing will be done.
Dental Education-Bob Ashmen
The Council on Dental Education met on 1/21/09. The Weekend Study Club lectures were well-attended and received very good reviews in the course evaluations completed by the attendees. A subcommittee was formed to develop a possible 3-hour interdisciplinary-panel case treatment planning seminar as one the possible courses in the 2009 Weekend Study Club Series.
Dr. Tom Rossi and Tricia DeCotiis attended the 2008 Fall Conference of the NJ School Counselor’s Association to represent the NJDA’s effort to raise awareness in careers in dental assisting. Dr. Rossi and Eric Elmore will be working with the Dress for Success program and The Institute for Health Education to coordinate another event to promote careers in dental assisting to women looking for career opportunities. The Council was pleased to be informed that number of enrolled students in accredited dental assisting programs in NJ has improved since beginning its work in raising awareness in this career.
Dr. John Fahsbender attended the meeting to lend insight and review protocol on dealing with patient complaints submitted on the Smile-On-Line program.
The Council has directed Tricia DeCotiis to contact the Burlington County Institute of Technology to discuss the possibility of partnering with them to develop and offer a course, as required by State Board regulations, for licensed hygienists interested in becoming permitted to administer local anesthesia.
Membership-Tara Savage
NJDA is considering an annual dues cost of living adjustment. In the past dues have been adjusted from time to time on an as needed basis after analysis of the budget. In some years there has been no increase at all. Over the last 8 years the dues increase has averaged out to less than one percent per year. NJDA believes that incorporating an annual dues cost of living adjustment would eliminate the need for large dues increases in any one year.
The Council reviewed the proposed protocol amendment submitted by MOCDS. The Council voted unanimously to continue utilizing the current protocol, with the exception that the component President will now be given a vote in the final decision.
NJDA would like to encourage non-member recruitment by providing non-members with certain member services from now through June and then ask them to join at 50% dues in July. Some of the services that may be offered include access to the employment exchange program, website access, admission to the NJDA convention at member fees, a gift certificate to attend a course, and a version of a newsletter sent out in March and May. The total cost for this project is estimated to be $2,900. The Council voted unanimously in favor of the project.
NJDA staff will begin making stops at the offices of non-members who were members last year and did not rejoin this year.
The 2008 year-end total was 4,741 members. This is down 63 members from last year. This is the first decrease in 9 years.
The NJDA directory for 2009 has been mailed out. NJDA would like to offer the 2010 directory on-line only. They feel that by making the switch to an electronic version they could keep it current and accurate in a more timely manner and also save the Association approximately $20,000 per year. NJDA would like to get input from each of the components.
Committee Reports:
Mentor-Co-Chairmen: Dr Amit Vora, Dr. Nima Mir Madjlessi & Dr. Ethan Glickman
Kim Iannotte from the Aftco Company will present the next Mentor program on April 30, 2009. She will speak about:
“Analyzing Practice Numbers, Adding an Associate, Practice Mergers & Practice Transition Options at St. Peter’s Medical Center, New Brunswick.
Our bi-annual OSHA program that satisfies the OSHA standard on Occupational Exposure to Blood Borne Pathogens, which is required annually for dentists and staff, will be given on June 11, 2009 at St. Peter’s Medical Center, New Brunswick.
Two CEU credits are awarded to the Dentists & staff members attending these 2-hour seminars. These seminars are available to our members & staff for $20/pp as a member benefit of MCDS.
A very big “Thank You” to Dr. Joe Fertig, Director of Dental Services - St. Peter’s Medical Center, for arranging all our room accommodations for the MCDS-OSHA-Mentor programs at St. Peter’s Medical Center in New Brunswick.
Please see the inserts in this newsletter for additional information and registration for the OSHA & Mentor programs.
Please contact Marlene Glickman, our Exec.Sect’y for MCDS, at # 732-238-1255 for additional information and registration in advance for the programs. Thank you...
Oral Cancer Screening-Arpan Nandra
On Wednesday, January 28, 2009 Middlesex County conducted Project Homeless Connect. Residents, Dr. Shalini Nair and Dr. Marie Jackson, from JFK Medical Center and director of the dental clinic, Dr. Devang Modi volunteered their time for a good cause. They set up a table at the Salvation Army in Perth Amboy and distributed toothbrushes and toothpastes to the under privileged and focused on dental education.
I was at the New Brunswick soup kitchen, Elijah’s Promise, and donated toothbrushes and toothpastes to the center. Information on oral cancer was also given. The staff there was very excited to have the dentists getting involved. They would like us to be at their health fair in the summer.
Colgate was extremely generous to donate toothbrushes and toothpastes on such short notice.
Constantine and I will be working together to plan for the April oral cancer screenings. We will be asking for volunteers.
Dental Hygiene Study Club-Alyssa Bernstein
The Central New Jersey Dental Hygiene [CNJDH] Study Club met on Wednesday January 14, 2009 at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Rte 27 South, Edison NJ. Sponsored by Middlesex County Dental Society, Judith Heath Diem presented a second lecture on Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy.
Two CEU credits were awarded to the 30 Hygienists that attended this meeting. The next CNJDH meeting will be March 4 and the speaker will be Dr. James Albani and he will be speaking about Periodontics from the Hygienists Perspective. Two CEU credits will be awarded for this seminar. This CNJDH study club is available to our hygienists as a Dentist-member benefit of MCDS.
Please contact Marlene Glickman, our Exec.Sect’y for MCDS, at # 732-238-1255 for additional information and
registration in advance for the program. Thank you.
New Business
The board nominated Dr. Jerome S. Engel for the Sy Symanski Lifetime Achievement Award.
Kim McMahon from the Dental Assistants program at UMDNJ made a presentation regarding the assistants intern program. The board will attempt to facilitate the placement of dental assisting interns into private practices for training.
Respectfully Submitted,
Constantine Simos, Secretary

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Treasurer's Report

Dr. Robert Ashmen

1/31/08 12/31/08 1/31/08
Checking $3,024.55 $925.32 $2,238.42
Savings $9,318.53 $13,283.79 $11,293.98
CD (3.46% matures 12/28/08)
$25,979.64 $25,000.00 $25,000.00
PayPal $4,796.16 $1,229.77 $1,650.95
TOTAL: $43,118.88 $40,438.88 $40,183.35
P&L STATEMENT CHECKING ACCOUNT
(12/31/08-1/31/09)
INCOME
CONT. EDUC.-INC 870.00
DUES 80.00
INTEREST 0.44
MENTOR COMM-INC 120.00
TOTAL INCOME 1,070.44
EXPENSES
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY 216.00
MENTOR COMM-EXP 300.00
NEWSLETTER 1,723.43
TELEPHONE 176.67
TOTAL EXPENSES 2,416.10
TRANSFERS
FROM CD-4 month 2008 293.06
FROM SAVINGS 2,000.00
TOTAL TRANSFERS 2,293.06
OVERALL TOTAL 947.40
P&L SAVINGS ACCOUNT
(12/31/08-1/31/09)
INTEREST INCOME 10.19
TRANSFER TO CHECKING -2,000.00
OVERALL TOTAL -1,989.81
P&L PAYPAL MONEY MARKET
(12/31/08-1/31/09)
CONT ED INC 421.18
OVERALL TOTAL 421.18

 

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Announcements/Articles

In Memoriam
Anthony Leitner
Dr. Leitner passed away 11-27-2008. He practiced dentistry in Perth Amboy for over 40 years, was on staff at Perth Amboy General Hospital (Raritan Bay Medical Center) and directed the dental component of the Neighborhood Health Center. He was a Retired Life Member of NJDA.

MCDS Newsletter Online
If you would like to receive the newsletter electronically in lieu of receiving a printed copy, please visit our web site. Click on the “Member” link, then the “Of Current Interest” Link. By registering, you will be able to view the newsletter about a week before it would get to you in the mail, and this will also be saving us money.

General Meeting Business
At the February 17th General Meeting, Dr. Scott Galkin, MCDS President Elect and Chairperson of the Nominations Committee, put forth the slate of officers for 2009-2010 for a vote. The slate was unanimously approved.

NJDA Noteworthy News

The Council on Nominations reported that there is only one nominee for each office and the slate reads as follows:
Dr. Richard B. Kahn, President-Elect
Dr. Barbara A. Rich, Vice President
Dr. Michael M. Messana, Secretary
Dr. Robert A. Giantomas, Treasurer
Dr. Walter I. Chinoy, Speaker of the House
Dr. David Donati (AC) announced his candidacy for Treasurer 2010-2011. The deadline date for nominations by personal petition or by component societies is March 6, 2009.
Mission of Mercy --Due to a variety of problems, a program will not be held at the New Jersey Dental School in 2009.
Sponsorship Oversight Committee -- Dr. Michael Messana reported on supplementing non-dues revenue. Capsule Sponsorship would be in the form of an insert. The website offers banner ads at the rate of $300 per quarter and $1,100 per year. Four companies participate so far and the committee will market this further. Under membership there were two separate assets, membership database and Member In-Person access.
The Board voted to not to sell any lists.
Meetings and Events – Ms. Lori Ann Cook
The 2010 Annual Session at the Taj Mahal will be held on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 11-13, 2010. Additionally, the Taj is holding two sets of dates for the year, 2011; a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If we are happy with the results of the weekend dates, we will keep the weekend for 2011, if not, we will go back to Wednesday-Thursday-Friday
Communications – Mr. Eric Elmore
NJDA is working with the NY Titans, a professional Lacrosse team, on a program called Brushing Buddies. The dentists received vouchers for free kids’ tickets to a game to give to patients at their discretion. In turn, the dentists will receive free advertising at the games. We are working on a similar partnership with the NJ Devils Professional hockey team and the Trenton Thunder AA baseball team. This will be put in the Capsule.
The NJDA promotional video proof has been viewed and is 98% complete. It should be ready in a week or so and will be posted to the public and professional areas of the website as well as being viewed at the upcoming Annual Convention.
Staff continues to make appointments at offices of targeted companies to pitch the NJDA Partner’s Program. HealthCard Systems and TekCollect are the first two at the $8,000 Bronze level. Access is the #1 thing they want; to be able to talk to doctors that are interested in what they have to offer. Also TekCollect wishes to be an NJDA endorsed company for collections. When the contract language is completed, we will seek the Board’s endorsement. Other endorsements we are working on are with a second amalgam separator company, R&D and with Staples office supplies. Mr. Mike Massotto, CEO of Staff Driven Practices, will present a proposal for our consideration at the next BOT meeting.
STATE BOARD OF DENTISTRY REPORT - Dr. Richard B. Kahn
Dr. Richard Kahn reported the Board approval of CE for a Botox course. Second, was discussion on NJDA’s Bill to waive CE requirements if dentists treat underserved patients. Dentists would be allowed a half hour credit for every hour of treatment.
To date there is no regulation on Botox. The State Board feels it is within the scope of practice of dentists. They are about to propose regulations, then there will be a 60 day comment period.
Dr. Cecile Feldman reported that one of its second year students passed away suddenly about two weeks ago after being hit by a bus. An investigation is being conducted by police.
The 170 million dollar deficit of the University Hospital has created many issues. The dental school budget has been cut 15% in appropriations which will likely continue. The school is looking at cutting programs rather than making cuts across the board to maintain the current quality.
The trend in applicants has increased at double the national rate. The national rate is around 13% while the dental school has approximately a 26% increase.
Student loans are getting more difficult to obtain.
Mr. Marc Edenson, President of Special Olympics New Jersey, addressed the Board to say “thank you” for all the past support and sponsorships we have given to them since 1990.
He presented a plaque to NJDA to support this and invited the Board of Trustees at a future meeting to its facility in Lawrenceville to host the meeting and to be their guest. The next Board of Trustees meeting, March 25, 2009, will be held there.
The Executive Director’s contract was renewed for five years and would run from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2014.