G-2001-16105

This investment supports the Washington Association for Community Health (WACH) to convene a broad coalition of partners, build consensus around key components of a value-based payment for the Medicaid dental program, and pilot those components with a key set of health centers. While Washington has a history of innovating in the safety net, the PCA has not had great deal of investment, most of which was as a former Member of the National Oral Health Innovation and Integration Network (NOHIIN). WACH notes that, despite progress in implementing alternative payment models in medical and behavioral health, dental continues to operate on a fee-for-service model with relatively low reimbursement rates. As well, structural barriers related to interoperability are preventing broader adoption of interprofessional practice models. Yet, in the past year or two, there has been a growing interest in defining oral health value-based care and payment. With this project, WACH’s goals are to support the state in adopting a value-based payment arrangement for dental through coalition and consensus building, piloting bidirectional care models, and defining a managed care dental performance measure set. $85,465 supports staff time and travel associated with deliverables as well as mini-grants to support health center staff in participating in the pilot of the performance measures.