Educational Resources

Quality Measurement in Dentistry Webinar Series

In 2018 the DQA launched a webinar series on quality measurement and improvement as a mechanism to increase awareness and knowledge. The first four installments of this series can be found below. 

---

Webinar 101 - Dental Practice Perspective (PDF): This webinar helps participants to recognize the importance of quality measurement and improvement as it relates to dental practice; understand the impact of quality measures on practitioners, payers and patients in the evolving healthcare landscape; appreciate the coherence of quality improvement and measurement within a dental practice; and identify clinical practice areas that may benefit from quality measurement and improvement.

---

Webinar 102 - Why, What & How (PDF): This webinar explores the history, makeup and blueprints of quality measure domains and how they can be best used to drive quality improvement at the practice level. Viewers will explore why measurement matters in dentistry; understand what a measure is, the dynamics of how they work and the makeup of a successful measure; and learn how measurement drives quality improvement and how to put it to use.

---

Webinar 103 - Improving Outcomes Through the Use of Quality Measures (PDF): This webinar explores how quality measures are being used at the plan and program levels to support improvement and outcomes. Viewers will explore the Delta Dental of Massachusetts Prevention Focused program implemented to improve oral health for adults and children, and also discover the key components of the Boston Children’s Hospital Early Childhood Caries Collaborative Project, implemented to reduce the incidence of early childhood caries.

 

---

Webinar 104 – Data Driven Quality Improvement Strategies (PDF): This webinar explores how quality measures are supported at the program level by data-driven quality improvement strategies to improve patient outcomes. Viewers will discover the key components of providing personalized care with the implementation of caries risk assessment at Forward Dental and learn about the implementation strategy of the Marshfield Clinic Health System – Dental Quality Improvement Initiative.

• Guidance on Caries Risk Assessment in Children: A Report of the Expert Panel (PDF)
  
  

The  2021 Dental Quality Alliance Conference "Disruption for Change: The Impact on Oral Healthcare"  will be a live digital event held on three consecutive mornings, May 19–21, 2021. Join keynote speakers Dr. Tom Price, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services; Dr. Roger Levin, founder and CEO of Levin Group; and Dr. Marko Vujicic, Chief Economist, American Dental Association, to learn about the disruptive forces within the healthcare system that have made their presence felt and explore the impact of these forces on oral healthcare from across the broader healthcare market, in technology, and within society. For more information and to register, please click on the "2021 Conference" link.

2021 Conference 

The DQA 2019 Conference, "Pathway to Improvement", educated participants by strengthening in-depth understanding of the quality measurement infrastructure within dentistry by canvassing on concrete opportunities for system-wide improvement. Click the button below for Conference objectives, brochure, presentations and sponsors.

2019 Conference

The DQA 2017 Conference, "Collaboration in Quality Measurement for Improved Oral Health", brought together more than 130 professional leaders in dentistry from across the globe to support the implementation of measurement and discuss the common goals of quality improvement in oral health. Click the button below for Conference objectives, brochure, presentations and sponsors.

2017 Conference​

The DQA 2015 Conference, "The Roles of Quality Measurement", trained 130 thought and opinion leaders in dentistry who commit to promoting the implementation of measurement to pursue common goals of quality improvement in oral health. Click the button below for Conference objectives, presentations and sponsors.

2015 Conference​

The DQA's first ever Conference, “Improving Dental Quality Through Measurement”, trained 125 thought and opinion leaders in dentistry to pursue common goals of quality improvement in oral health. Click the button below for Conference objectives, compendium, presentations and sponsor. 

2013 Conference

The Dental Quality Alliance (DQA) has developed a resource document titled "Quality Measurement in Dentistry: A Guidebook" to serve as a tool to educate various audiences on the basic purpose, importance and scope of quality measurement within dentistry. This document is updated every three years. 

• Quality Measurement in Dentistry: A Guidebook (2019) (PDF)

The purpose of this guidance document is to inform stakeholders on key implementation considerations recommended by the Dental Quality Alliance (DQA) for use of practice-based measures for accountability applications, external reporting, and internal quality improvement. The recommendations have been informed through the DQA’s Project on Pediatric Practice-Based Measures Testing: Alignment and Harmonization in Reporting Quality: Establishing Reliability Across Reporting Levels.

DQA, in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), presents a unique course, the first of its kind for dental professionals that will provide you with tools to identify key areas for improvement, then drive toward meaningful change for you and your patients. Through a series of lessons, you’ll learn how to use the Model for Improvement: set an aim, select measures, develop ideas for changes, and test changes using Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles. Continuing Education credits available upon completion of the course. 

TO GET STARTED:

• Step 1: Go to www.ihi.org/dqa
• Step 2: Select the course (Q1: 102) and
• Step 3: Select lesson (Lesson 1): [DQA] An Overview of the Model for Improvement
• Step 4: Follow the registration prompt 

The DQA would like to thank its Education Committee and the following individuals for their timely review and input to the course content:

• An Nguyen, DDS, MPH, Vice-President of Dental Services, Clinica Family Health; National Network Oral Health Access (NNOHA) Learning Collaborative Faculty
• Barbara Quinn, MSN, CNS, RN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Sutter Medical Center
• Dian Baker, PhD, APRN-BC, PNP, Professor, California State University
• Man Wai Ng, DDS, MPH, Dentist-in-Chief, Boston Children’s Hospital
• Lisa Nguyen, DDS; Ani Kartounian, DDS; Elena Budagyan, PA; Hashmat Guerra, Comprehensive Community Health Centers, Inc.

• Herndon, J.B., Amundson, C.W., Ojha, D., Koday, M. (2020) Advancing value in oral health through meaningful measurement. Journal of Public Health Dentistry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jphd.12395

• Aravamudhan, K., Glick, M., Crall, J. (2017). Making the shift to population health. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 148(9), 627–629. 

• Herndon, J., Crall, J., Carden, D., Catalanotto, F., Tomar, S., Aravamudhan, K., Light, J. & Shenkman, E. (2017). Measuring Quality: Caries-related Emergency Department Visits and Follow-up Among Children. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 10.1111/jphd.12206.

• Herndon, J., Aravamudhan, K., Stephenson, R., Brandon, R., Ruff, J., Catalanotto, F. & Huong, L. (2016). Using A Stakeholder-Engaged Approach To Develop and Validate Electronic Clinical Quality Measures. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Volume 24, Issue 3, 503-512.

• Vidone, L., Hunt, R., Ojha, D. (2016). An Emerging Era in Dentistry—Quality Measurement. Journal of the Massachusetts Dental Society, 65(3), 18-21. Reprinted with permission from the Massachusetts Dental Society, copyright 2016.

• Ojha, D. & Aravamudhan, K. (2016). Leading the Dental Quality Movement: A Dental Quality Alliance Perspective. CDA JOURNAL, VOL 44, Nº 4. Reprinted with permission from the California Dental Association, copyright April 2016.

• Herndon, J. B., Tomar, S. L., Catalanotto, F. A., Rudner, N., Huang, I. C., Aravamudhan, K., ... & Crall, J. J. (2015). Measuring quality of dental care: Caries prevention services for children. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 146(8), 581-591. 

• Herndon, J. B., Crall, J. J., Aravamudhan, K., Catalanotto, F. A., Huang, I., Rudner, N., ... & Shenkman, E. A. (2015). Developing and testing pediatric oral healthcare quality measures. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 75(3), 191-201.

• Hunt, R. J., & Aravamudhan, K. (2014). The quality movement in oral health care: who will lead? Journal of the American Dental Association, (1939),145(5), 421. 

• Risk Adjustment in Dental Quality Measurement. A Discussion Document. Dental Quality Alliance. (PDF)