Policy & Learning

The Policy & Learning (P&L) Committee is open to all MOHC members interested in becoming more informed and involved in oral health policy and advocacy issues. Policy & Learning Committee meets the third Tuesday of each month via conference call line. Once signed up, members of the committee receive an agenda with call-in information one week prior to each meeting. We are always accepting agenda items and would like to connect on Policy & Learning topics any time.

Responsibilities

Creating opportunities for MOHC members on key oral health policy issues
Preparing materials to inform MOHC members about key oral health issues

Coordinating with other organizations to share information that would improve the oral health of Minnesotans
Reviewing Association of National Oral Health Coalition (ANOHC) policy resolutions

The committee is not an independent decision-making body. Instead, the group is responsible for gathering information about key oral health policy and advocacy issues and providing recommendations to the Minnesota Oral Health Coalition Board of Directors quarterly or more often as needed. The work of the committee is guided by the interests and priorities of the Board of Directors and aligns with the action plan developed by the MOHC each year.

On October 29, 2014 the MOHC hosted the Policy Consensus Tool. The Policy Consensus Tool is a program of the Children’s Dental Health Project (CDHP) and the Division of Oral Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They collaborated to develop a facilitated consensus-building process for stakeholders.

Since 2007, more than 20 states have used the Policy Consensus Tool to enhance strategic thinking about oral health in the state, strengthen communication among oral health advocates by encouraging an exchange of views, while providing a path to consensus, support a process for identifying and prioritizing policy issues, encourage transparency in obtaining and aggregating stakeholder input and enhance implementation and evaluation of the State Oral Health Plan.

The following five priorities resulted from Minnesota’s exercise. The MOHC board will set a plan for how to engage and become engaged in the realization of these priorities.

Minnesota Oral Health Coalition Policy Priorities:

Increase (provide adequate) reimbursement to sustain a network of providers to deliver care.
Create appropriate incentives (i.e. loan forgiveness) for providers to serve high need/low access patient population.
Funding for oral health data to determine needs and provision of care.
(Health Disparities) Develop policy that recognizes the social determinants of health as it relates to oral health and cultural barriers to care.
Take advantage of potential integration of dental and medical care and financing.