G-2303-18036

Apple Tree Dental operates eight centers for dental health in Minnesota, as well as on-site pop-up clinics at 145 Head Start Centers, schools, group homes, senior assisted living programs and long-term care facilities. CareQuest Institute has supported Apple Tree Dental’s participation in the Oral Health Progress and Equity Network since 2016 and broadened the partnership in 2021.

Over the course of the last year and half, CareQuest Institute has provided funding through grantmaking and in-kind support from the Analytics & Data Insights team to Apple Tree Dental to expand its research collaboration capacity. Early in its history, Apple Tree Dental implemented a research-compatible Electronic Dental Record and as a result, they have 38 years of patient data that can be used for research by academic entities, non-profits and public health organizations. Prior to partnership, this data, that can strengthen advocacy around issues like Medicaid dental benefits, workforce innovations, and improvements in geriatric and special care dentistry, has been largely untapped. CareQuest Institute’s prior support has allowed Apple Tree to build data infrastructure and processes for collaboration with researchers, many of whom will build products (reports, white papers, etc.) that will support advocacy across the country.

This year, with CareQuest Institute funding, Apple Tree will:

Establish organization-level research policies and procedures to comply with federal and Minnesota research and data privacy regulations as well as Apple Tree Dental mission for data use and research collaboration

Update and expand research reference resources created in Year 1

Conduct a strategic planning process for research activities within Apple Tree Dental

The budget for this request is $94,476, with about $93,000 of the request allocated toward staff time and consultant support for the project. Apple Tree Dental indicates in their proposal that many of the consultants within the budget have been negotiated to well-below market rates for their services. The remainder of the budget is delineated for meeting expenses. This request represents 0.3% of the organization’s overall budget.