Recent changes in the health care system, including passage of the Affordable Care Act, have transformed the delivery of health care in the U.S. Changes include an emphasis on coordinated care that incentivizes value over volume. These incentives have led to the creation of health home models, including expanded use of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH), that connect primary care to other facets of health care such as primary mental health and secondary specialist care.
There is a need for similar care coordination within dental care delivery systems and for integration of dental health care within these new health home models. The University of Iowa Public Policy Center (PPC) responded to the need and convened a National Advisory Committee in 2015 to develop a measureable Patient-Centered Dental Home (PCDH) model that adopts the foundational elements of, and is positioned to integrate with, the PCMH. This new model aims to improve patient care and health outcomes and to facilitate the integration of dentistry with broader systems of care.
Working in partnership with the Dental Quality Alliance (DQA), PPC solicited the input of a diverse group of national experts to form the National Advisory Committee (NAC) for this project. The NAC served as the participant group in a series of online surveys using a modified Delphi methodology. Members were identified through a purposive sampling process that included snowball sampling techniques. A heterogeneous sample was intended to include individuals with relevant expertise as well as those representing the range of stakeholders involved in implementing and using the PCDH model.
Email invitations that included a description of the study and expected time commitment were sent to all identified experts and organizations. Of 63 individuals/organizations contacted, four declined and four did not respond, for a final sample of 55 participants that formed the NAC for this project. This report introduces phase one of the project, which developed PCDH definition, including essential characteristics of a PCDH.