PAGD Keystone Explorer Spring 2020

4 www.pagd.org were less stringent than dental offices doing emergency treatment for a primarily non-infected population. These mixed messages would need to be resolved. The record for most attendees on a PAGD webinar lasted all of one day. A presentation on cash flow during COVID-19 by Greg Maravilla and Wes Read of PracticeCFO drew 88 participants. Participants were educated on the many stimulus packages, grants, and loans available, and were instructed on the immediate steps each should take to prepare for a drastic reduction in collections. Wednesday, March 25 PAGD was contacted by the policy office of DOH. They wanted to have a preconference discussion that afternoon. Drs. Hudimac and Jacopetti participated, as well as leadership from DOH and PDA. We found DOH amenable to suggestions, and they asked the right questions. The doctors on the call communicated the difficulty of getting patients seen in a hospital, which is the only place that could meet air handling requirements. And handling emergency cases through prescribing was a band aid which will have to end in wet-finger treatment eventually. DOH personnel showed their willingness to “marry” the HAN and Sunday’s dental guidance. PAGD submitted its questions for the Secretary. Later that evening, DOH had internal meetings, and asked if PAGD could be on a call early Thursday morning. They had a potential solution that they wanted PAGD and PDA to consider. The webinar that night was from Dr. John Tucker from Tucker Educational Excellence on treating edentulous PAP intolerant patients. Another large crowd participated, with providers as far off from Florida, Iowa, and South Dakota. Thursday, March 26 The early morning call from DOH suggested ways that they could mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19 without stressing an already-stressed emergency care system. All representatives from PAGD and PDA found their suggestions appropriate. Specifics and official word would be forthcoming. The webinar on Thursday afternoon was online marketing tips with Dr. Len Tau. His expertise on the subject was impressive and gave everyone (including me) ideas on stepping up your review sites, website, and social media game. The call with Secretary Levine was quick but impressive. She laid out the three-part plan of DOH: Mitigation, testing, and prepping the healthcare system. She heard dentistry’s arguments in response to the Sunday guidance, and said a compromise was forthcoming (in fact, it was approved by the Governor’s office while on the call). The compromise guidance would answer all of our questions. The compromise guidance was published around 6:00 p.m. Only emergency and urgent cases could be seen. It removed the air handling requirement and put in separate PPE requirements for patients positive or suspected of COVID-19, and those not suspected. (Apologies to all PAGD members for the numerous messages on Thursday night. The author was bleary-eyed and second guessed his own proofreading.) The combination of a coordinated advocacy effort between organizations and a department willing to listen and compromise generated a victory for dentists and patients needing care, while still achieving the goal of mitigation by DOH. I hope in the future that we can learn lessons from this collective win and replicate it. Although, we could go without replicating this pandemic… | executive director’s message