HEALTHCARE
WHOLEPERSON HEALTH
Arizona’s leading healthcare providers made strides in integrated services By ALISON BAILIN BATZ
I
ntegrated care, the systematic coordination of different lines of healthcare to treat the whole person, is proving to be an ultra-effective and proactive approach to caring for people with multiple medical and behavioral needs. Here is a look at how several Arizona healthcare organizations are setting the standard for integrative care in the country: Delta Dental of Arizona In August, Delta Dental of Arizona, through its Foundation, announced a $330,000 grant to fund a newly launched Hospital Oral Care and Periodontal Disease Education (HOPE) program at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix. HOPE addresses the oral health of patients on campus. It establishes a minimum of twice-daily oral health protocols for senior patients and those at high risk for periodontal disease who may be unable to connect to dental health resources in their community. “The grant also supports an oral health
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AB | January - February 2022
navigator on campus and establishes an oral health standard of care in geriatric medicine in Arizona,” says Barb Kozuh, director of community benefit at Delta Dental of Arizona. According to Kozuh, this is just the latest step in a long-term plan Delta Dental has for helping medical-dental integration in Arizona. “In 2020, we also partnered with Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health, or NOAH, and HonorHealth Foundation to fund emergency dental treatment at NOAH for uninsured patients who visit HonorHealth emergency departments with dental issues,” says Kozuh. The new Delta Dental of Arizona Dental Connect program is made possible by a $525,000 donation by Delta Dental. Through Dental Connect, when an uninsured patient checks into an HonorHealth emergency room and presents with a dental emergency, facial pain or other related oral health issue, he or she will be referred to the appropriate NOAH dental staff member for care.
“We have two grant programs as well – community grants and IMPACT grants – through which we support medical-dental integration,” says Kozuh. Notable grants in 2021 included funds to support El Rio Community Health Center’s Pediatric Dental Integration Program, North Country Healthcare’s Integrated Dental Care, United Community Center’s Dental Program for Kids, Verde Valley Medical Center’s Healthy Families Oral Health Education and Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Oral Health Educator program. Mercy Care In 2014, Mercy Care, which provides access to health care services for Medicaid-eligible adults, families, children, seniors and individuals with developmental and cognitive disabilities, became Arizona’s first managed care organization to provide integrated physical health and behavioral health treatment to individuals with a serious mental illness, or SMI.
