After identifying your issue, challenge, or problem that needs to be addressed, identify a goal that you want to accomplish. The Institute’s Oral Health Parent Advisory Committee recommends a priority you should aim to advocate for based on the current oral health needs of Medicaid-enrolled families. It is important to structure your advocacy needs using the SMART approach. Your advocacy goals should answer the following questions:
Answering these questions will help you assess your advocacy goals to ensure that they are achievable.
Let’s focus on the first priority outlined by the Parent Advisory Committee.
Priority: Advocating for the development of an accurately and regularly updated list of Medicaid participating dental providers.
Read the following issue brief prepared by the committee to better understand the issue, why it is important and what should be done.
Based on your reading, what kind of action needs to be taken to strengthen the development of an accurately and regularly updated list of Medicaid participating dental providers? What is the advocacy goal?
The goal should be specific and narrow to identify what exactly you want to achieve. The goal should answer who, what, when, where and why.
WHO is involved: The Agency of Healthcare Administration.
WHAT do I want to accomplish: The development and distribution of quarterly census check for Medicaid dental providers.
WHEN do I want to achieve this: By December 2023.
WHERE does my goal take place: The state of Florida.
WHY is the goal important: The goal is important because it assesses providers current and future participation in Medicaid allowing the agency to update the provider directory on regular basis which ultimately has an impact on dental care access and utilization of Medicaid beneficiaries.
The goal should be trackable allowing you to see progress and set milestones and completion deadlines. The ‘develop’, ‘send out’ and ‘quarterly’ are measurable and observable.
The goal should be reasonable to achieve. What steps should be taken to achieve the goal? This is an appropriate and achievable task for an agency that is primarily responsible for administering the states estimated $37 million Medicaid program and assuring better healthcare for all Floridians. However, keep in mind that how the goal is achieved may change based on the current process, cost-benefit analysis, personnel required, etc.
The goal should align with your values and long-term objectives. Does the goal seem worthwhile? Is this the right time for it? The accomplishment of this goal would increase access to and utilization of dental care among Medicaid-enrolled children. There is no better time than now because in Florida only 17% of dental providers see Medicaid patients. As a result, the continuity of dental care is disrupted, the dental home is lost, and the children don’t receive appropriate care in a timely manner. Communicating with providers to assess their participation in Medicaid on a quarterly basis allows the program to relay accurate information to the beneficiaries in terms of what dentists participate in Medicaid and where they can access care. The census check would also allow the agency to track access and provider capacity opening the door to increasing funding and expanding incentive mechanisms.
The goal should have a time frame to allow for timely planning and prioritization.
The goal should be accomplished by January 2023. Interim benchmarks should be developed to track progress.
The Florida Dental Access Guide is a project of the The Florida Oral Health Alliance.
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