Last year, soon after the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, those of us at NCOHC were working to devise plans in how we would work to contribute to the public health response. We came up with a couple of ideas, including the creation of our safety-net access map and the launch of the NCOHC Teledentistry Fund.
We partnered with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation (BCBSNC Foundation) to launch the Teledentistry Fund, awarding up to $60,000 in grants for safety-net dental providers geographically spread across NC. So far, the fund has allowed 14 safety-net clinics to purchase teledentistry software, enhancing their ability to provide a wide variety of services with their communities without risking the health of patients and providers alike.
A year later, and we have been blown away by the results.
We recently sat down (virtually) with just a sample of the oral health professionals who received Teledentistry Fund grants to hear about their experiences. Check out the video below to learn how the software helped them navigate the pandemic, and what kind of future they see for remote care technology in a post-pandemic world.
