Introducing and Evaluating Intraprofessional Team-Based Care Delivery in a Dental School Clinic: A Pilot Study

There is growing interest in developing more efficient, patient-centered, and cost-effective models of dental care delivery using teams of professionals. The aims of this small pilot study were to assess the number of patient visits, type and number of procedures performed, and clinic revenues generated by an intraprofessional team of dental, dental hygiene, and dental therapy students and to determine the students' and patients' perceptions of this model of care. Sixteen senior students from three student cohorts (dental, dental hygiene, and dental therapy) at the University of Minnesota piloted a team-based dental delivery model from January to April 2015. The group was named the Team Care Clinic (TCC), and the team for each clinical session consisted of one dental student, three dental hygiene students, and one dental therapy student. Data were collected from the school's database to determine the number of patient visits, type and number of procedures performed, and clinic revenue generated by the TCC. Focus groups were used to assess student perceptions of the experience, and patient satisfaction surveys were administered to assess the patients' experience. The TCC students were given twice as many patients as non-TCC students, and they managed them effectively. Working as a team, the TCC student providers completed twice as many procedures per patient encounter as non-TCC students. Patients and students said their experiences in the TCC were positive, and students expressed a preference for team-based care delivery. The results of the study suggest the team-based dental care delivery model is promising. Team-based care delivery may allow providers to accomplish more during a patient appointment and increase provider satisfaction.