IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–LIBERTY Dental Plan Corporation, one of the nation’s premier dental benefits administrators, announced today the creation of a Value-Based Care Advisory Board to drive its dental care and delivery practices.
Under a strategic initiative to provide industry leading value-based care, LIBERTY’s President and CEO, Amir Neshat, DDS empowered his team to build a consortium of industry experts to champion new programs, identify new patient populations and improve provider operations.
“We assembled an incredible thinktank of dental professionals, clinicians, academic deans and scholars, along with industry executives to develop best practices in our industry,” said Dr. Peter Fuentes, DMD, LIBERTY’s Chief Dental Officer and Vice President of Clinical Affairs. “As a company founded by a dentist, we want to build cutting-edge, outcomes-based dentistry by collaborating with the top experts in our industry to drive change. This board will elevate our care delivery by advising us on policy, program development and practice transformation.”
The advisory board includes transformational leaders in dental public health including:
- Dr. Raymond Cohlmia, Executive Director of the American Dental Association and Dean of the University of Oklahoma, College of Dentistry.
- Dr. John Featherstone, Dean Emeritus of the School of Dentistry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Professor Emeritus of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences at UCSF
- Dr. Jack Dillenberg, Executive Clinical Director for Non-Profit Pacific Dental Services Special Needs Dental Clinic in Phoenix, AZ and Dean Emeritus of A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health
- Dr. Joseph Errante, Chief Dental Officer of PreViser Corporation and Vice President for Network and Clinical Strategies at Northeast Delta Dental
- Nicholas I. Brecker, Retired President of Anthem’s Specialty Business division
- Dr. Ana Mascarenhas, Vice President of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry and Associate Dean of Research, Texas Tech University Health Center El Paso
- Dr. Gregory Taddeo, Chief Dental Officer at Community Healthcare Network, Inc.
Value-Based dentistry is a healthcare reimbursement delivery model that differs from the traditional fee-for-service, typically used in the health insurance market, that pays providers based on individual services and/or procedures. Under value-based care, providers are incentivized financially when the health of their patients improves (for example, when a patient’s incidence of dental disease decreases). Value-based care also improves access to preventive dentistry because it empowers the providers and patients to schedule regular checkups and appointments to monitor any identified circumstances that could lead to more serious conditions if left untreated. Studies show that preventive dentistry can reduce the risk for other serious health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.
“LIBERTY Dental Plan’s value-based system is the way of the future,” said Dr. John Featherstone. “The incentive program places the emphasis on managing the disease and reducing the risk for future recurrence rather than just treating the symptoms.”
Nicholas Brecker added, “With healthcare constantly changing, we have to engage our providers and patients to improve health across the nation. I believe that LIBERTY’s commitment to value-based care will transform public health and create healthier communities, which ultimately reduces healthcare costs and provides a higher quality of life.”
“Being the chair for the Oral Health Primary Care Association of New York State, I have worked with many dental programs to achieve better quality outcomes,” said Dr. Greg Taddeo. “I, along with many clinical and operational leads across the country, are members of their Value Based Advisory Board and we fully support LIBERTY’s approach to value-based, outcomes-based dentistry.”
The creation of the advisory board is part of a unique and aggressive push by LIBERTY to advance value-based care in the communities it serves. Earlier this year, LIBERTY expanded its Value-Based Program from a pilot program to a national initiative called the BRUSH Program (Benefits and Rewards for Utilization, Services and Healthy outcomes). LIBERTY’s goal is to transition 50% of its child Medicaid offices to the BRUSH Program by the end of 2021, and the remaining offices transitioned in 2022.
About LIBERTY Dental Plan Corporation
LIBERTY is a dental benefits administrator founded by a dentist and health industry professionals in 2001. LIBERTY currently administers dental benefits in all 50 states, including Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, Commercial and Exchange members. LIBERTY operates and lives by its motto “Making Members Shine – One Smile at a Time.”
