School-Based Sealant Program - Assignment Example

? Impact Discussion/ Policies Paper Discussion School-Based Sealant Program Dental sealants programs have been demonstrated to be highly effective in preventing dental caries that occur on the surface of teeth that have fissures. Studies examining the effectiveness of school-based programs have shown a 60 percent decrease in tooth decay on the chewing surface of posterior teeth up to five years after sealant application(Finkel, 2010). As a result the Task Force on Community Preventive Services has recommended school-based or school-linked sealant programs for the prevention and control of dental caries (Finkel, 2010). In United States, school-based and school-linked programs generally target vulnerable populations, less likely to receive private dental care. Implementation of the school-based sealant programs has been enhanced through various policies captured within the Public Health Services Act (Finkel, 2010). For example section 317M of the Public Health Service Act provides for the establishment of the school-based sealant program to with the aim of improving the access of children to sealants. This policy or provision compels the states to use grants to provide funds to eligible school or school-based entities to enable them to provide children with access to dental care and dental sealant services provided by licensed dental health practitioners. Under this policy or provision, schools must submit application to the state with all the necessary information, and for it to be eligible; it must be a public elementary or secondary with 50 percent of the students participating in Federal or State meal programs. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L.111-148) Sec. 4102(a) has impacted positively the school-based dental program by emphasizing on the need to make use of science-based strategies to convey oral health prevention messages that include dental sealants and community water fluoridation (Wolters Kluwer, 2010). The law requires the Secretary to embark on implementing the Affordable Care Act requirements after at most two years following enactment of the Act. This promises extensive utilization of the school-based sealant dental programs in the future. Policies Paper Allocative and Regulatory Policies As They Relate To Dental Public Health Policy makers place great emphasis on achieving both allocative and technical efficiency in the provision of different healthcare services. Allocatie efficiency entails creation of an optimal mix of health care services with aim of minimizing cost and enhancing access to essential high-quality medical services. Allocative policies are guided by the principle of establishing appropriate mix of preventive and curative care and a balance between home hospital care and home care (Taylor & Taylor, 1994). Allocative policies play a critical role in ensuring that specific or special groups or populations receive certain health care benefit that they would otherwise not get without the allocative policies. Groups favored by allocative policies related to dental public health include school-going children from the lower socioeconomic strata. For example, funds allocated through the Medicare health care policy ensure that children, people aged over sixty five years and people with disabilities receive essential health care services such as dental care without pay (Wolters Kluwer, 2010). This allocative policy is in line with the objectives of allocative policies which are to provide certain benefits to group or populations presumed to be rather disadvantage compared to the general population (Taylor & Taylor, 1994). Allocative policies ensure that such groups are supported so that improvement in health is achieved across all the populations regardless of their social, economic or physical limitations. Medicaid and Medicare are macro allocative policies established to ensure increased access to health care services to special groups identified as in need of financial support to access essential health care services compared to general populations. Other allocative policies include the National Health Service Corps aimed at providing benefits to health care professionals who dedicate their time and energy in promoting access to health care services among the underserved populations. On the other hand, regulatory policies are crafted with aim of controlling operations with the health care sector including the behavior of the health care practitioners, code of conduct and licensing of practitioners to provide care to the society (Wolters Kluwer, 2010). One of the many categories of regulatory policies in dental health care includes policies on the quality of care. The government has established quality regulatory bodies to regulate the quality of care all health care facilities. The Regulatory Framework for Disinfectants and Sterilants provides guidelines on the manner in which dental health care practitioners must carry out their activities when providing care to people with the aim of controlling infections in dental health-care settings (American Dental Association, 2012). Another regulatory policy related to dental care includes the Dentist’s Right to Participate in Dental Prepayment plans which ensure that this group of practitioners can benefit from programs such Medicaid and Medicare as well as other dental insurance arrangements. Others examples include Policy on One Standard of Competency, Policy on Dental Licensure, and evidence-based dentistry practices. Detailed Examples of Allocative and Regulatory Policies Medicare and the National Health Services Corps are some of the perfect allocative policies in the United States. Medicare policy is one of the many attempts made by the U.S. government to improve the wellbeing of the less fortunate members of the American society (Wolters Kluwer, 2010). The policy ensures access of essential health care services from both the private and the public health care providers. The groups of people covered by the policy include children below the age of 18 years from low-income families, people with disabilities and elderly people aged above 65years. These groups receive essential health care services at no fee from partners listed to facilitate implementation of the policy in including dentistry networks (American Dental Association, 2012). On the other hand, the National Health Service Corps provide benefits to health care professionals who have dedicated their career lives in serving the underserved populations. Regulatory policies such as quality control regulations implemented through agencies such as Food and Drug Administration and licensing bodies which include certification of the practitioners and control of their operations. Dentistry must operate with a given standard code of conduct provided under the quality and practice regulation policies. Relevant Suppliers and Demanders of the Above Policies The Medicare policy encompasses different suppliers of health care services within the health care system including primary care providers, nursing homes, mental health care institutions, dentistry networks. Health care providers operating under these institutions provide services that are catered under the Medicare program. Demanders of the policy include children under the age of 18 years from low-income families, elderly people above the age of 65 years, and people with disabilities including mentally-ill persons. On the other hand the National Health Service Corps is demanded by healthcare practitioners who have served in community based health care facilities where they provide care to underserved members of the society. Suppliers in this policy include the state or the federal government. Suppliers in the quality control regulatory policies include the health care facilities and heath care facilities. Demanders include the quality health care seekers and health care regulatory bodies. Licensing policies are demanded by licensing bodies while demanders include health care graduates and health care organizations or employers (American Dental Association, 2012). References American Dental Association. (2012). Current policies adopted 1954-2011. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ada.org/sections/about/pdfs/doc_policies.pdf Finkel, M. (2010). Public health in the 21st Century: [Three Volumes]. New York, NY: ABC- CLIO. Taylor, R., & Taylor, S. (1994). The Aupha manual of health services management. New York, NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Wolters Kluwer. (2010). Law, explanation and analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Including Reconciliation Act Impact, Volume 1. New York, NY: CCH Incorporated. Read More