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Volume1 Issue6
CDA
at
W
ork
CMAJEditorialCallsAttention to
OralHealth of Seniors
Aneditorial in theSeptember issueof the
CanadianMedicalAssociation Journal (CMAJ)
,
co-authoredbyDr. JohnO’Keefe, directorofKnowledgeNetworksatCDA, andDr.Diane
Kelsall, deputy editorof
CMAJ
, focuses on theoralhealthofCanadian seniors.Theauthors
underline theneed for improvedaccess todental care for seniorswithoraldisease.
The joint editorial paintsadiscouraging
pictureof avulnerablegroup: seniorswith
cariesorperiodontal diseasewhocan’t
afford topay for the treatment theyneed.
“TheCanadianHealthMeasures Survey
showed thatmore thanhalf of seniors
in thecommunitydidnot haveany
dental coverage, andabout 39%were
coveredbyprivate insurers.More than
1 in10older people reportedavoiding
dentists, andabout 16%declined
recommendeddental treatment because
of theexpense. Severeperiodontal
diseasewasmost prevalent in those
without health insurance. In fact, a lackof
health insurancewas theonly factor that
appeared to influence theprevalenceof
severedisease.”
CDA isworking to improve theoral
healthof seniors. Through theNational
Oral HealthActionPlan, CDA initiated
discussions about how to improve
theoral healthof seniors andother
vulnerablegroups. For seniors living
in long-termcare facilities, CDA is
advocating forminimum standards
of oral healthcare: anoral health
screeningonadmission, anannual oral
exambyadentist, andadailymouth
careplanalongwith infrastructure to
support thedeliveryof dental carewithin
the facility.
a
In fact, a lackof health
insurancewas theonly factor
that appeared to influence the
prevalence of severedisease.”
Thenewwebsite allows dentists to
access andmanage their CDAnet
service subscriptions online insteadof
the current practiceof faxingpaper
forms toCDA. The staged launch
begins inAlberta this fall andwill
expandnationwide inearly 2015.
Although someof the servicesavailable
on thewebsitewill be familiar—like
CDAnet, the ITRANSClaimService, and
eReferral—it introducesdentists toa
newCDA service:
CDADigital IDs
. These
digital IDs replace the ITRANScertifi-
catesdentistsuse for the ITRANSClaim
Serviceandauthenticateadentist for
onlineclaims transactions. Thiscapabili-
ty,whichminimizes thepotential riskof
identity theft, isonlyavailable inCanada
throughCDA.
Sign in informationwasmailed to
Albertadentists inOctober. After signing
in, go to theSupport linkon thePractice
Support sectionof theCDAwebsite
formore informationor call theCDA
PracticeSupport ServicesHelpDesk
at
1-866-788-1212
.
a
Albertadentistscanaccess
CDA’s new practice support serviceswebsite
CDA is launchinganewwebsite
thatwillmake claims-related
servicesand e-Referral available
todentists throughone
central location.
4reasons touse
CDA’spractice support
serviceswebsite
1. To signup for (or renew) your
subscriptions toCDAnet, the
ITRANSClaimService, or eReferral.
2. Todownload the
CDADigital ID
whenyour current ITRANS
certificateexpires.
3. Toverify the information that ison
file for yourdental office, suchas
email andmailingaddresses.
4. Toaddordeleteadentist from
yourCDAnetofficeprofile.
