‘How can we create and implement acceptable prevention-based dental payment systems to achieve and maintain health outcomes?’
This question was the focus of the second ACFF Policy Lab, held in conjunction with the King’s College London Dental Innovation and Translation Hub and the Policy Institute at King’s. The Policy Lab meeting took place in London on the 23-24th July 2018 and brought together 35 participants from around the globe.
The meeting followed on from the success of the 2017 Policy Lab, ‘Towards a Cavity-Free Future: How do we accelerate a policy shift towards increased resource allocation for caries prevention and control?’ The 2017 Lab report can be found here.
Participants came together for this two day meeting to focus on addressing the complexities of designing dental payment systems which better encourage and reward preventive treatment. Government officials and policy influencers, along with practitioner groups, health economists, academics, public health groups and NGOs were among the handpicked attendees brought together to initiate this discussion, called for as one of the ‘next steps’ following the publication of the 2017 Policy Lab report.
With lively discussion and keen enthusiasm throughout the event, participants worked collaboratively to build a ‘blueprint’ of key considerations which must be addressed when looking to restructure or build payment systems, with the aim of ensuring all stakeholders are considered. This has been drawn together in the recently published Second ACFF Dental Policy Lab Report, which includes a summary of these discussions as well as guidance for local adaption and implementation.
A strong sense of collaborative energy ran through the session and has remained tangible through post-event meetings and discussions surrounding implementation strategies, with a number of successful implementation plans and schemes already launching off the back of the meeting. Feedback showed participants left feeling inspired and energized to move to push for change within their countries and organisations, and the ACFF will continue to work to harness the power of this network and push for change at a global, and at local levels.
An infographic overview and summary of the meeting outcomes can be found here.