A Difficult Path to COVID-19 Recovery

Published 10/01/2020

Changes remain for dental providers

Most dental providers have reopened their clinics, but it’s far from business as usual. A new report by CareQuest Institute outlines the findings from a recent survey of 2,767 providers, and it’s clear that the COVID-19 pandemic remains a source of stress and uncertainty with potential long-term implications for the financial foundation for dentistry. 

Some findings from the report: 

  • 3 in 4 (76%) providers say the maximum number of patients they can see each day is reduced due to changes in treatment protocols, with 1 in 4 (25%) of those saying that they can see less than 50% of the normal patient volumes.  
  • Only 18% of providers say their daily patient volumes are more than 80% of their usual pre-pandemic total. 
  • Only 35% of providers say their practices or clinics are experiencing normal or near normal levels of revenue. 
  • Dental providers who see adult Medicaid patients may suffer revenue losses as states seek to close budget shortfalls. 

How has COVID-19 changed the way dentists will practice going forward? The report highlights several strategies, including the expanded use of teledentistry, a greater focus on disease prevention and measurement and the use of alternative payment models that can help address the challenges created from the pandemic.  

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