G-2305-18274

The Alaska Primary Care Association (APCA) is the state community health center association that serves FQHCs and other community health centers in the state. APCA has historically been a strong presence in terms of advancing integration and workforce, as well as a strategic leader in advancing and protecting the state’s Medicaid adult dental benefit. APCA has also been very active historically at a national level in supporting federal health center policy.  

APCA has been a grantee since 2013. During this time, APCA has worked to advance oral health integration. Through the support of CareQuest Institute, APCA and Alaska FQHCs have been able to play a leadership role in advancing state and federal oral health policy including initiatives saving and advancing Alaska’s nation-leading oral health Medicaid benefit, bringing independent licensed hygienists to the state, and supporting the development of a stronger state-led oral health office. APCA has actively partnered with OPEN on Medicaid and policy issues and led POHC policy activities. Through this collaboration, Alaska FQHCs conduct annual oral health integration education and advocacy with Alaska and federal legislators and policy leaders.

The focus of the 2023 project will be to continue to use population health data to address social drivers of health disparities, identify patients at high risk of chronic disease complications that can be alleviated by oral health care and to expand data mining to include Maternal/Child health, run gap analyses, and use data to drive outcome and performance improvement in all areas through targeted projects specific to the participating FQHCs. APCA will:

Engage community members to gain input on the status of oral healthcare in their communities by surveying community members and patients to determine their perception of oral health in their community. APCA will also provide an integrated health literacy curriculum that can be used by staff to educate patients and create a social media campaign around health literacy and oral health.
APCA will focus on leveraging their role as a convener and oral health advocacy leader to advance education and alignment around value-based care and to provide policy support activities to maintain Alaska’s robust Medicaid oral health program and educate policy makers. This will include holding a Medicaid Day of Action and legislative visits during the APCA annual Fly-In in Juneau.

APCA aims to increase access to accurate and timely oral health data for participating FQHCs using the Azara DRVS dental module. Azara DVRS is a centralized data reporting and analytics solution which facilitates care transformation and drives quality improvement. Data mining will be expanded to include SDOH, Chronic Disease, run gap analyses, and use data to drive outcome and performance improvement in all areas through targeted projects specific to the participating FQHCs. The DRVS dental module will allow APCA to identify gaps and disparities in oral health services. Incorporating oral health data to the existing EHR data amassed in DRVS will strengthen risk stratification, SDOH profiles, transitions of care, and patient registries, thereby, honing the identification of disparities to develop quality improvement plans to address such inequities. Provider and leadership development will be enhanced by SDOH awareness training and its importance in oral health integration.

The budget for this proposal is $100,000 which represents <1% of APCA’s overall budget. Funding will support salaries, gift card incentives for self-paced learning and survey completion, AZARA DRVS Dental Module Subscriptions, costs for a consultant to provide oral health related education, meeting expenses, and indirect costs.