Welcome to Michigan Community Dental Clinics, Inc.
When people have access to comprehensive oral healthcare, their overall health, wellbeing and confidence are significantly improved, as are their ability to secure employment, learn in school, and contribute to society. Michigan has over 1.5 million residents with annual incomes below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. The majority of this group do not have dental insurance or are on Medicaid, and have poor access to dental care.
Michigan Community Dental Clinics, Inc. (MCDC), a non-profit, 501(c)3 corporation, has been formed to address this access problem by creating and managing dental clinics on behalf of Local Public Health Departments in Michigan.
Currently, MCDC administers clinics in Northern Michigan via a ten-clinic network known as Dental Clinics North that serves over 50,000 individuals, primarily within twenty counties from M-55 north to the Mackinac Bridge. In addition, MCDC has formed another regional network, Dental Clinics of Southwest Michigan, that will eventually have six or seven clinics, of which three are currently serving the low-income underserved and Medicaid recipients.
The practice style used in MCDC administered public health clinics is a social entrepreneur model, which is akin to the prevention-driven private practice model, with incentives to increase productivity and control costs. This approach generates teamwork that enthusiastically provides needed care, regardless of the payer source.
Our clinics utilize state-of-the-art equipment that includes digital panoramic and intra-oral radiography, and Dentrix® practice management software at chairside to provide the electronic patient chart. This allows efficient delivery of care, reduces charting and billing errors, and manages charts that are easily read and understood.
Through the creation of regionally marketed reduced fee programs (e.g., the Northern Dental Plan, the Southwest Dental Plan, etc), low-income uninsured individuals gain access to care in affiliated public health clinics, as well as to self-selected private practitioners who participate in the program. In these reduced-fee plans, after paying an enrollment fee that covers the initial exam, patients pay for care directly to the provider. Fees coincide with the Delta Dental DPO fee schedule.
As clinic regions generate monies in excess of costs, a Dental Assistance Fund will provide assistance with the cost of care in our clinics on a sliding scale, based upon the patient’s income. This allows our clinics to provide care to those with very low incomes, as well as for services not covered by Medicaid.
If you have an interest in learning more about our programs and clinics, or wish to consider joining our dental team, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@midental.org or humanresources@midental.org .
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Veryser, DDS, MHSA,
Executive Director