Section 256.964 Dental Care Pilot Projects
256.964 DENTAL CARE PILOT PROJECTS.
The commissioner shall authorize pilot projects to reduce the total cost to the state for dental services provided to enrollees of the state public health care programs by reducing hospital emergency room costs for preventable or nonemergency dental services. As part of the project, a community dental clinic or dental provider, in collaboration with a hospital emergency room, shall provide urgent care dental services as an alternative to the hospital emergency room for nonemergency dental care. The project participants shall establish a process to divert a patient presenting at the emergency room for nonemergency dental care to the dental community clinic or to an appropriate dental provider. The commissioner may establish special payment rates for urgent care services provided and may change or waive existing payment policies in order to adequately reimburse providers for providing cost-effective alternative services in an outpatient or urgent care setting. The commissioner may establish a project in conjunction with the initiative authorized under section 256.963.
History:
2009 c 79 art 5 s 10