The Special Needs BasicCare (SNBC) Dental Access Improvement Project is a collaborative effort between the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Special Needs Purchasing Division (SNPD), DHS Direct Care and Treatment community dental clinics (DCT-DC), and managed care organizations (MCOs)/health plans. MCOs collaborating in this project are HealthPartners, Hennepin Health, Medica, PrimeWest Health, South Country Health Alliance, and UCare.
The primary goal of the project is to improve the annual dental visit rate for SNBC members, ages 18 to 64, to 60% or more over a three to five year period. The project began May 2017 and will work to achieve this goal through educating the community about the project, obtaining feedback from stakeholders, members, and providers, and implementation of primary interventions–dental case management, special needs community dentist and staff mentoring program, and a teledentistry demonstration project.
Resources
Dental Provider Toolkit: Special Needs Dental Care. Tools and resources to help improve access and enhance dental care offered to people with special dental needs. Includes information on dental benefits specific to Minnesota Medicaid (SNBC), strategies, and best practices for improving dental care for individuals with disabilities. (22-page PDF)
Direct Care and Treatment Dental Clinic Decision Tree. This decision tree will assist dental clinics, medical providers, care managers, and caregivers in identifying appropriate individuals to refer to the Direct Care and Treatment Dental Clinics (DCT-DC) for dental care. (2-page PDF)
Medicaid Dental Services Grid. The grid was designed for dental clinics, care managers, and counties as an easy-to-use tool that outlines important dental-related information for each health plan in Minnesota that offers Medicaid products. Topics included in the grid are additional dental benefits, referral resources, contact information–member and provider–incentives, etc. (2-page PDF)
Health Plan Performance Improvement Projects (PIPs)
Minnesota health plans that offer publicly subsidized health care programs implement performance improvement projects (PIP) to help improve the health of public program members and to reduce disparities for low-income Minnesotans. The projects have covered a wide range of health topics identified as priorities for improvement, including preventive care, chronic illnesses management, and transitions in care.
Projects with resources currently available:
- Improving Care for People With Co-Occurring Diabetes and Depression
- Improving Comprehensive Diabetes Care
- Healthy Start for Minnesota Children
- Reducing Chronic Opioid Use including the
Pain Management and Opioids Guide for Consumers - Special Needs BasicCare Dental Access
- Antidepressant Medication Management
& Depression Management
Contact information
For more information on how your organization and Stratis Health can work together, please contact Karla Weng, senior program manager, 952-853-8570, or Nicole Gackstetter, program manager, 952-853-8512.