Dimensions of Dental Hygiene
Teledentistry gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, its continued use has been thwarted by regulatory roadblocks. A new report from the Oral Health Workforce Research Center at the University at Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies in Rensselaer, New York highlights these barriers in a state-by-state comparison.
Deseret News
This week’s breaking health news includes a look at the large share of Americans who know personally someone who struggles with addiction and what they think can be done…
…Telemedicine has made big inroads for mental health consultations and general medicine —especially since COVID made in-person consultations harder and more risky. But what’s the role of telemedicine consultations online for dentistry?
The University of Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies in its School of Public Health found that the pandemic also prompted a “dramatic increase” in teledentistry. And the role online consultations play is not likely to diminish in the future, the researchers say.
Times Union
ALBANY — During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, many safety-net dental clinics turned to virtual technology, or teledentistry, to assist with triaging, consultations, diagnosis and referrals.
But while the health crisis propelled the use of telehealth into the mainstream, in most states, regulatory barriers have prevented dental providers from continuing the practice, according to a new report from the Oral Health Workforce Research Center (OHWRC) at the University at Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies.
“Early on in the pandemic, they were closing dental services because… there wasn’t enough PPE and it needed to go to the medical side and acute care,” Center for Health Workforce Studies Director Jean Moore said. “So there were a lot of things that really kind of forced everyone’s hand to kind of embrace this approach and I think… it has some pretty neat applications going forward.”
Medical Xpress
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a dramatic increase in the use of teledentistry—a strategy that improved access to oral health services despite full or partial closures of dental practices.
A recent report by the Oral Health Workforce Research Center (OHWRC) at the University at Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) in the School of Public Health explored the use of teledentistry by safety-net organizations, which include Federally Qualified Heath Centers (FQHCs), to bridge access to care during the pandemic.
University at Albany
ALBANY, N.Y. (January 18, 2021) – Research conducted by Simona Surdu and Margaret Langelier at the University at Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies found that children’s utilization of oral health teledentistry services in general dentistry clinics shortened their waiting period for specialty treatment services.
The study included 144 children from rural New York who had live-video teledentistry consultations with pediatric dental specialists at local general dentistry clinics. During the teledentistry visits, pediatric dental specialists provided the children with consultation services, whereas treatment services were provided in-person at the specialty detal clinic at a later date…
The Times Telegram
The Bassett Healthcare Network is cutting through distance and backed-up appointment books to get quick care for children who need mental health treatment…
…Bassett is likely part of a trend toward both telemedicine and telepsychiatry in particular, said Jean Moore, director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies.
“I think there is increasing interest in the use of telehealth for psychiatry services because it’s just so difficult to attract psychiatrists to many parts of the state,” she said.
And child psychiatrists are the rarest of mental-health providers in rural areas, she said. Bennett, for example, is the only full-time child psychiatrist accepting Medicaid patients in Otsego County, and some counties don’t have any.
The value of telemedicine is not limited to psychiatry, though, as other fields struggle to make better use of the workforce, Moore said. She mentioned as examples another Bassett telemedicine program that monitors high-risk patients in their homes, a teledentistry program that does a lot of the prep work before an in-person visit, and a program through which pediatricians can assess children in day care.
Utica Observer-Dispatch
The Bassett Healthcare Network is cutting through distance and backed-up appointment books to get quick care for children who need mental health treatment…
…Bassett is likely part of a trend toward both telemedicine and telepsychiatry in particular, said Jean Moore, director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies.
“I think there is increasing interest in the use of telehealth for psychiatry services because it’s just so difficult to attract psychiatrists to many parts of the state,” she said.
And child psychiatrists are the rarest of mental-health providers in rural areas, she said. Bennett, for example, is the only full-time child psychiatrist accepting Medicaid patients in Otsego County, and some counties don’t have any.
The value of telemedicine is not limited to psychiatry, though, as other fields struggle to make better use of the workforce, Moore said. She mentioned as examples another Bassett telemedicine program that monitors high-risk patients in their homes, a teledentistry program that does a lot of the prep work before an in-person visit, and a program through which pediatricians can assess children in day care.
DentistryToday.com
Teledentistry is emerging as a practical solution for patients living in rural areas, according to the University of Albany. Its researchers report that teledentistry can provide critical services where gaps currently exist, especially for treatment planning and specialty consultations, as a means to improve access to oral health services in areas with inadequate availability of general and specialty dental care.
OralHealthGroup.com
Teledentistry is emerging as a practical solution for patients living in rural areas, according to a new report by researchers at the University at Albany. The Oral Health Workforce Research Center (OHWRC) at the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) recently published “Case Studies of 6 Teledentistry Programs: Strategies to Increase Access to General and Specialty Dental Services,” summarizing findings from a study of oral health providers on their use of teledentisty services.
