Access to Care Initiatives

This strategic project includes a broad range of activities that fall under four key areas: 

• Collect, analyze and report Access to Care data obtained via the College’s Annual Renewal Questionnaire
• Explore other sources of data 

• Implement a Council Guest Speaker Series on Access to Care related topics 
• Update Access to Care information on the College’s website  
• Raise awareness of the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program for First Nations and Inuit and encourage dentist to sign up for the program
• Enhance Continuing Education (CE) content and the points framework for Access to Care related activities  

• Develop two new College resources to set out expectations for dentists regarding accepting new patients and the values, principles and duties of the profession (i.e., professionalism guide) 

• Plan a broad external consultation and additional engagement activities to support the development of professional expectations 

Key achievements to date 

• Reported on the 2022 Annual Renewal Questionnaire data related to Access to Care.To learn more, read the Annual Renewal Questionnaire Report: 2023 Access to Care Key Findings.
• Identified and scheduled speakers to present on Access to Care at Council meetings.
• Redesigned our Access to Care web page to be user-friendly (e.g., plain language, easy navigation).
• Updated our low-cost and specialized dental clinic resource available on our website.
• Hosted a RCDSO Connect event on November 1, 2023 that focused on access to oral health care and the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program for First Nations and Inuit.
• Embedded Access to Care as a competency in the checklist for submitting new courses for Category 1 approval and in the e-Portfolio for recording CE points earned.
• Expanded eligibility for Category 2 CE points to dentists who mentor, coach, teach their colleagues about enhancing access to care, and to dentists who are the recipients of that mentoring, coaching, or teaching.
• Partnered with the Canadian Society for Disability and Oral Health and Special Olympics Ontario (SOO) on CE opportunities for dentists related to the provision of care to people living with disabilities.
  • The Quality Assurance Committee approved SOO as an “approved sponsor”, which enables SOO to offer CE points for eligible modules and courses regarding the provision of care to people living with disabilities.
• Building on the successful partnership with SOO, the Quality Assurance Committee approved a proposal to expand approved sponsors for other equity-deserving populations.
• Conducted research, including literature and jurisdictional reviews, to inform the development of the professional expectations.
• Launched a broad, external consultation to help inform the development of the professional expectations. See the Consultation Report for a summary of what we heard.
• Attended the Ontario Dental Association Annual Spring Meeting in April 2024 to invite attendees to participate in the consultation.
• Struck a Working Group to help support the development of the professional expectations relating to accepting new patients and professionalism.
  • The Working Group met in April and May 2024 to consider the research and consultation feedback received to date, and plans to meet over the summer/fall to discuss the development of the two new College documents.
• Presented a poster regarding the RCDSO’s Access to Care work at the Alliance for Healthier Communities Conference in June 2024.
• Hosted an in-person RCDSO Connect event on June 25, 2024 in London, Ontario that included a session on Access to Care. Attendees engaged in small group discussions and provided feedback on key elements of the project.

Our 2020-2023 Strategic Plan focused on information gathering and coordination and engagement with interested parties.  

Key outcomes 

• Hosted two meetings with representatives from academia, faculties of dentistry, the ODA, public health dentistry and patient advocacy groups. Discussions focused on system level considerations, health-equity approaches and recommendations to advance access. Click here to view a summary of these meetings.
• Created a dedicated Access to Care webpage which includes information for patients on low-cost and specialized dental clinics by geographic region.
• Managed public concerns and complaints about refusal to treat patients on public programs
• Addressed new application technology that might impede patient access (read these communications to registrants: Checking the fine print... more detail; New patients acquisition? Read the fine print... ).
• Engaged with the profession about what to expect of the ethical dentist. 

The RCDSO’s work on Access to Care focused on information gathering and coordination and engagement with interested parties. 

Key outcomes 

• We held an Access to Care Symposium in 2019 with multiple system partners (including patients, community/patient advocacy organizations, dentists, oral health care workers and academics) to discuss a wide range of topics related to Access to Care and solutions to minimize barriers. Further information on the symposium and the outcomes can be found here and the panelists' presentations are available here. 
• Implementation of an internal staff working group to conduct research on Access to Care, including a scan of what system partners are doing to address barriers to accessing oral health care. 
• Conducted a survey to understand the extent to which patients using social assistance programs experience barriers to accessing oral health care. 

• Checking the fine print... more detail  
• New patients acquisition? Read the fine print...  
• Canada Dental Benefits becomes law