NMDA Journal Spring 2020

4 New Mexico Dental Journal, Spring 2020 President’s Message A Dental Profession Empowered to Achieve Optimal Health for All NewMexicans It is with a heavy heart that I write my eighth and final President’s Message. It has been both a joy and an honor to serve our profes- sion and to witness the impact our associa- tion has on the daily lives of our dentists and our patients. It truly takes a village, and the dedicated staff and volunteers in our organi- zation are the true heroes of our accomplish- ments. As I highlight our activities over the past two years, I am reminded that every effort has been shaped by the mission of our organization. We still have much work ahead, but I am confident that we are moving in the right direction. Advocacy An eleven-year struggle culminated in a com- promise to incorporate dental therapists in NewMexico. With the prerequisite of being a licensed dental hygienist, we agreed to prac- tice settings restricted predominantly to public health and community clinic locations. The scope of practice and supervision levels are limited enough to allow us to sleep at night knowing that patient safety will not be com- promised by inadequate education or lack of oversight. We are still actively engaged in the rules making process and stand firm in our conviction that dental therapy is not the silver bullet promised by many vocal community groups and the deep pockets of influential out- of-state foundations. While we do not believe dental therapists will remove the barriers to receiving dental care that many of our rural and underserved patients face, we are earnest in our participation and look forward to evalu- ating the measured outcomes of this pro- posed workforce solution. Jennifer Thompson, DDS We continue to strive to impact other matters important to you, such as direct-to-consumer dental services, teledentistry, pediatric seda- tion guidelines, and dental licensure portability andmodernization. We now look forward to developing a robust grassroots campaign to address much needed third-party reform. We plan to develop amultifaced approach that educates our dentists, the public, and our leg- islators about the issues surrounding third- party interactions and the potential for intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship. At the core of these issues are transparency, patient autonomy, and the ability of patients tomaximize their dental benefits. A system that supports patient health and well-being, fair provider compensation, and ethical busi- ness transactions will ultimately benefit all NewMexicans. NMDA 2.0 After careful self-reflection, we realized that our association required organizational changes. We have streamlined some aspects of state and component governance and have estab- lished a board accountable tomembers and actively involved in policy decisions. It is a harsh reality that our current staff is working at their maximum capacity, but our components and our volunteers urgently needmore sup- port if we want to adequately facilitate mem- ber outreach. Recognizing that our operating budget is already squeezed, the ADA has gen- erously approved a temporary grant to help financially support the hiring of one additional full-time employee. We are excited to expand our team in a quest to create a better member experience with a focus on person-to-person contact. Helpingmembers succeed is an inte- gral part of our organization, and we look for- ward to this new teammate helping to spearheadmembership efforts and to support our district activities on the ground level. Financial Oversight While we have the utmost confidence and trust in our staff, we have the responsibility to our members to demonstrate that the associa- tion’s funds are beingmanaged prudently. After consulting with a third-party accounting firm, an external review of management infor- mation systems gave us additional assurances that management was acting in good faith. Furthermore, this consulting group assisted the board in developing a protocol for inter- nally reviewing accounting transactions, inter- nal controls, and compliance tomitigate the risk of undetected use of assets. We have implemented this testing policy and have so far been pleased with the results. New Vision As much as we may loathe the notion of “stra- tegic planning,” we have embarked on a needed update to our overall strategy. Our refreshedmission statement and goals will help define what drives our policy decisions. We defined our goals intomembership, finance, organization, and public categories to better align ourselves with those of the ADA and to clearly express who and howwe serve. We remain committed to you and to the improvement of oral health in our state. We pledge to adhere to the values of integrity and excellence as we advance our profession. Our vision is “a dental profession empowered to achieve optimal health for all NewMexicans.” This is our inspiration for the future. I imagine this future as one where we all share a culture of wellness. Patients control their health outcomes and lead healthy lives. Den- tists provide care—not treatment—to patients. Policy makers, health care providers, employ- ers, and communities all work in synergy to close gaps in achieving opportunities for good health. Stakeholders across all disciplines col- laborate and forge new partnerships for the benefit of all our patients. Our dental associa- tion is committed to this vision, but we can only accomplish this with your help. Our orga- nization represents all dentists, nomatter the practice model, specialty, or geographic loca- tion, and it is important that our membership is inclusive of all. We are stronger when we stand together. Thank you for the opportunity to serve our association. I amgrateful for the many per- sonal and professional relationships that have evolved throughout this experience, and I have great admiration for all of you. Respectfully Yours, Jennifer Thompson, DDS NMDA President 2019–2020 mobile 919-475-1560 | office 505-327-6233 jenniferthompsondds@hotmail.com