PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE WHAT DOES THE UDA/ADA DO FOR ME? The year has gone by too fast. From my perspective every year goes a little bit quicker, and every year there seems to be a little more to do. Others say the same too.
bothered to check. They must have assumed that someone would do it for them. Fortunately for those who caught their error early it was easily remedied by a simple call to DOPL, but uncorrected the ramifications of this mistake would be profound.
This year, as always, the Utah Dental Association has attempted to visit all the dentists in the state during our Continuous Quality Improvement seminar. It seems over the years attendance has diminished, especially along the Wasatch Front.
Many ask what does the UDA/ADA do for me? We work hard to do the things individual dentists can’t do or are unlikely to do themselves. We work on issues like staying on top of current and proposed legislation and we work to provide affordable continuing education that helps dentists meet the requirements of licensure. We will never be able to compete with the many custom CE programs available to dentists around the country but many of the topics we provide are requirements for licensure and are not something that many dentists want to pay top dollar for. But many are unwilling to take the time to attend the courses.
The goal of our CQI meetings is to bring timely and important information to dentists that will greatly affect the practice of dentistry in the state. In Utah we have the third highest rate of solo practice in the country. That means that the individual practitioner is responsible for understanding and executing all the changes that occur each year. I was amazed as we visited dentists last year that hundreds of dentists had the wrong license. Having the correct license and the correct malpractice insurance should be one of the most important aspects of your practice, but many dentists never
What’s your practice worth?
The most common complaint I hear regarding the UDA is that we have not changed the rates that insurance companies pay to their PPO’s and that there are too many dentists participating in PPO plans. Fortunately for all dentists in the state the UDA won’t come into your office and change the way you practice dentistry. This in a decision for individual practitioners and offices to make. If you don’t like the rate you are reimbursed by a company, then don’t accept the plan. Its that simple. Many insurance companies still reimburse for dental work done by non-PPO providers. Some even pay more. Many of us want to make these changes in our own practices but we haven’t taken the time to do it yet. We are too busy, and we keep hoping someone will do it for us. I too feel like I have been too busy this year. Some of it is for play, some for “work” and some for family responsibilities. I still have not found the time to find a place to hang all our raft frames in our new garage and it has been sitting in my wife’s parking spot since the end of summer. She has asked a few times if I plan on working on it this weekend, but it seems like something more important keeps coming up… Dr. Gregory Gatrell UDA President
Since 1968
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