The New York State Department of Health has issued an RFP to identify a contractor to establish the Oral Health Center of Excellence (OHCE) to serve the people statewide. The chief objective is to provide assistance to communities, local health departments, healthcare institutions, mobile dental vans, and school-based health centers to improve oral health and improve access to oral health services.
Although tooth decay is preventable, almost 4,800 mostly low income children under the age of six in New York State are treated annually in an ambulatory surgery facility for tooth decay. It is difficult for low income children and their families to take action to prevent disease and maintain health by engaging in healthy habits and obtaining timely professional care.
Many times, community-based programs are unavailable and therefore preventive services are underutilized. Achieving and maintaining optimum oral health requires individual action, complemented by professional care as well as by public health actions.
By establishing the OHCE, communities will be able to address population-based access to dental care issues. Also, the applicants applying for this RFP must be able to operate an OHCE that will provide on-going assistance to the projects recommended by the NY Department of Health.
The Department of Health expects to award one contract at www.health.ny.gov/funding/rfp/1210170432/index.htm to a qualified bidder from a FQHC, community-based organization, from academia, research institution, teaching hospital, or medical center. The proposal must identify one lead organization, but subcontracting with other organizations is permitted.
Some of the projects that the Contractor will be the responsible listed within the RFP are to:
- Perform an oral health on-site survey of school and pre-school aged children,
- Provide support for community water fluoridation through trainings, webinars, consultations, and onsite technical assistance
- Support coalitions and partnerships to work together to promote oral health
- Create an electronic newsletter or some other suitable mechanism to update interested groups and individuals at least four times a year
- Work with other oral health professionals and groups to produce an annual Department of Health meeting to discuss public health programs related to oral health
- Organize up to 15 conference calls or webinars, and technical assistance workshops
- Maintain and update two established web sites for professionals and other interested people
In another move to help communities in the U.S. with oral health the Rural Assistance Center (RAC) at www.raconline.org and the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis have developed a new Rural Oral Health Toolkit to help rural communities improve access to oral healthcare.
This toolkit contains resources to help communities develop oral health programs that build on the best practices of successful oral health program models. The toolkit contains seven modules with information and links to resources, websites, publications, and tools such as evaluation strategies. An overview on oral health in rural areas, program model examples, guidance on implementation, evaluation methods, and more are include in the toolkit.