Community impact
Delta Dental’s community impact efforts focus on increasing access to care, driving benefit awareness and utilization, and reducing barriers so that all individuals can have greater access to quality oral health care. Medicaid programs must include community outreach efforts that enact lasting change and extend beyond oral health education to better meet the needs and priorities of state and health plan partners.
Our team has extensive experience in building community presence and driving member benefit utilization by collaborating with health departments, nonprofits, safety-net clinics, private practitioners and more.
We can identify opportunities to leverage your existing community partnerships in order to better drive member utilization and education in your Medicaid program. Examples include:
Partnerships with schools and community centers
Existing partnerships with schools and community centers afford an opportunity to have a presence at health fairs and community events, and host community discussions to better understand member challenges and promote benefits.
- Partnerships with Head Start and early learning organizations can support presentations for some of your youngest members and drive home the importance of oral health at any age, while also helping parents to better understand the benefits available to them and/or their child.
- Considering the cultural makeup of your communities – and whether events in multiple languages are needed – is critical. For example, at a community event geared toward parents, Delta Dental had both English and Spanish presenters who spoke to the importance of regular dental visits, walked through the children’s Medicaid dental benefits, and answered questions. Parents also received QR codes to watch an oral health video series in either English or Spanish.
Community collaborations
Community collaborations that reduce individual barriers to care and address greater oral and overall health are key applications that can be carried through to your plan. Partnerships with health departments, oral health coalitions and health plans can help plans connect members to the dentist but also manage food insecurities and more.
Delta Dental plans nationwide are committed to expanding access to oral health care, advancing health equity and giving back to the communities we serve. Learn more about Delta Dental’s national community impact.
Partnering with Human Fliers
Vaughn Arrington and his company, Human Fliers, use a street-level approach to talk to everyday Detroiters about health care and oral health. And they make Delta Dental a familiar name as they help us eliminate barriers to care.
Making oral health data easier to access
The National Oral Health Data Portal combines oral health data sets from across the nation and is being used to improve the oral health care system as a whole.
Teaming up for oral health
Delta Dental’s philanthropic arm, Delta Dental Foundation, partnered with TeamSmile to put on a dental care event for children.