The nation’s leading dental support organization, Pacific Dental Services has announced a valuable partnership with MemorialCare to support integrated care. This healthcare collaboration will bring all dentists and physicians together to offer patients comprehensive whole-person health care. The venture is driven by the robust Epic electronic health records software solution, allowing smooth care coordination and easy access to health records for both patients and providers.
Benefits of the medical dental partnership
The partnership will ensure that physicians and dentists don’t work in silos. Oral health is a vital part of overall health according to clinician research. In the US, 2 in 5 adults have some sort of gum disease. These can be early warning signs of chronic diseases such as diabetes and other health conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and some types of cancer. Under this collaboration, dentists, and physicians can work together and communicate easily about their shared patients to enhance health outcome levels.
The joint venture is the very first of its kind as it is a partnership between a regional healthcare system and a dental support organization on the same EHR Software. Healthcare outcomes can vastly improve if clinicians have prompt access to all relevant patient information to make informed care decisions. Since both organizations are using Epic EMR Software the clinicians can access patient history including lab results, prescriptions, and past dental and medical visits to provide a complete picture of the patient’s health situation.
The partnership will also empower patients, allowing them access to their dental, and primary health history through the MyChart patient portal platform powered by Epic solutions. Patients can also schedule appointments, request refills, and communicate with their healthcare provider through the Patient Portal EMR Software solution.
The importance of dental-medical integration
This healthcare partnership announcement comes at a time when medical care and dental care are the top priorities. Similar efforts in this area have been made. In 2021 the CDC announced a medical-dental integration partnership. Last month the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the expansion of coverage for important dental services as part of Medicare. All these efforts reflect the significance of dental-medical integration in today’s world to provide holistic care.
