Patient centered dental home: Building a framework for dental quality measurement and improvement

This article presents results of the second phase of a project to develop a patient-centered dental home (PCDH) model. Aims of PCDH model development include broadening the scope of prior dental home definitions to include populations across the lifespan, developing a quality measurement framework to facilitate quality assessment and improvement, and promoting opportunities for medical-dental integration through alignment with existing PCMH models. This phase determined the components, or conceptual subdivisions, associated with a previously developed PCDH definition and characteristics.

We used a modified Delphi process to obtain structured feedback and gain consensus among the project national advisory committee (NAC). The process included a web-based survey that asked NAC members to rank the importance of each potential component on a scale of 1-9. Criteria for consensus on component inclusion/exclusion combined a median rating and measure of disagreement. Respondents were also encouraged to provide open-ended feedback regarding rationale for component ratings and additional suggested components.

A total of 47 out of 51 members completed the survey. All 34 components met the quantitative criteria for inclusion in the PCDH model. Changes were made to components based on open-ended feedback.

This project phase further developed a PCDH measurement framework that aims to guide practice transformation, quality measurement and improvement in dental care delivery, as well as integration between medicine and dentistry. Using a Delphi approach with a broad group of stakeholders ensured that components had face validity and were conceptually aligned with the PCDH definition and characteristics.