McKernan to lead project for the American Dental Association

The Public Policy Center's Health Policy Research program received a 14-month, $69,000 grant from the American Dental Association. Dr. Susan McKernan, assistant professor in the Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, UI College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, and PPC researcher, is the primary on the project. Dr. Peter Damiano, professor, Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, UI College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, and director of the PPC and its Health Policy Research Program is a co-investigator.

The project will analyze Iowa Medicaid data to test proposed dental quality and performance measures that have been developed by the Dental Quality Alliance (DQA). Performance measures assess health care interventions and outcomes through testing adult measures related to emergency department visits for non-traumatic dental conditions, rates of follow-up with a dentist after emergency department visits, and dental utilization among adults with diabetes. The DQA is an organization of major stakeholders, including specialty, research, and insurance organizations, that aims to advance performance measurement as a means to improve oral health, patient care, and safety. 

More information about DQA is available here.