Here are 19 clinical leadership moves that Becker's has reported on since March 1:
1. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released an updated version of its Dental Opioid Action Plan to help address the opioid epidemic.
2. The American Dental Association's Enhanced CDT Task Force is seeking dentist input on proposed changes that would compliment the current coding format. Deadline for submitting feedback to the task force is March 2023.
3. CMS expanded the dental services it will pay for as part of its finalized 2023 Physician Fee Schedule released Nov. 1.
4. A California law set to go into effect Jan. 1 allows some California prescribers to be exempt from having to electronically prescribe all medications, which is the current standard.
5. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons provided new guidance for treating medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw.
6. The American Medical Association approved a category III CPT code that allows primary care providers to apply silver diamine fluoride to treat cavities.
7. The Organized Dentistry Coalition is urging the Senate to pass the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act, a legislation requiring insurers to cover dental and oral procedures to treat birth defects.
8. The Maximizing Outcomes through Better Investments in Lifesaving Equipment for Health Care Act, or MOBILE Act, which gives community health centers more flexibility in using New Access Points grants for mobile healthcare units, passed in the House on Sept. 29.
9. A dental coalition is urging CMS to increase access to dental surgeries at ASCs.
10. The North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners made changes to how anesthesia is administered to dental patients after several patient deaths.
11. More than 40 organizations have called on the Biden-Harris administration to appoint a chief dental officer of the U.S. Public Health Service who is committed to ending the use of mercury fillings in federal programs.
12. The American Dental Association and the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors are providing guidance for continuing oral health in communities amid potential sodium fluoride shortages.
13. The World Health Organization adopted a global strategy to create an oral health action plan.
14. ADA researchers collaborated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology on a study that could lead to more information on how experimental gum disease drugs affect blood vessels.
15. At the fourth Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, more than 130 nations unanimously agreed to an amendment requiring countries to protect vulnerable populations from dental amalgam use.
16. The National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards on March 28 recognized the American Board of Orofacial Pain as the national certifying board for orofacial pain specialists.
17. The American Dental Association's Code Maintenance Committee approved updates to six CDT code categories during its March 10 meeting.
18. A team of professors from University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora created a dental coating that inhibits cavity-causing bacteria.
19. Members of the National Institutes of Health and HHS pushed for more research and policy changes to address oral health inequities in a Feb. 26 article in The New England Journal of Medicine.