Abstract
The objective of this study was to demonstrate face validity with a novel resource allocation framework designed to maximize equity into dental booking systems. The study was carried out in 2014. Eleven experts in primary dental care practice in Southern Brazil participated, using a three-round consensus group technique. First, the experts reached consensus on the items to be included in a 5-level diagnostic scale. They identified 21 clinical conditions and categorized them according to the oral health intervention required. Then, they described workload and activity standards for dental staff to carry out health promotion, oral disease prevention, dental treatment, dental rehabilitation, and urgent dental care. Finally, they agreed upon a set of wait times for primary dental care, establishing maximum waits from 2 to 365 days, according to the diagnostic classification. The framework demonstrated potential ability to promote more equitable access to primary dental services, since equal diagnostic classifications share the same waiting times for the dental care they require.
Highlights
MethodTimely provision of health care has received much attention from public health policy makers and this has stimulated a range of studies related to the management of waiting lists for access to health services[1,2,3]
They identified 21 clinical conditions and categorized them according to the oral health intervention required. They described workload and activity standards for dental staff to carry out health promotion, oral disease prevention, dental treatment, dental rehabilitation, and urgent dental care. They agreed upon a set of wait times for primary dental care, establishing maximum waits from 2 to 365 days, according to the diagnostic classification
Provision of health care has received much attention from public health policy makers and this has stimulated a range of studies related to the management of waiting lists for access to health services[1,2,3]
Summary
Provision of health care has received much attention from public health policy makers and this has stimulated a range of studies related to the management of waiting lists for access to health services[1,2,3]. Evidence-based wait time benchmarks are crucial to equity of access to healthcare services[10], including dental care[11]. Standardized frameworks for equitable allocation of resources to primary dental care services may support more timely access to dental care. The objective of this study was to demonstrate face validity with a novel dental resource allocation framework, designed to maximize equity into dental booking systems at the primary health care level. The framework provides waiting time benchmarks for primary dental services needed by people living within local clinics catchment areas. Participants assigned each clinical condition to an intervention stream, namely: health promotion, oral disease prevention, dental treatment, dental rehabilitation, and urgent dental care, determining maximum intervals (in days) between dental visits in which classified dental quadrants would remain free of clinical deterioration
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