The merging of the medical and dental records continue – which is a good thing. Wellpoint – the US’s largest insurer – agreed to purchase DeCare Dental. This will give them a combined membership count of about 9 million. It will be easier to cross-reference medical risk factors such as diabetes and heart condition and allow for necessary dental work to help treat overall patient health.
4/22/2009:Update to the news story:
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Delta Dental Plans Association and Delta Dental of Minnesota
Agree to Conditions Regarding Supplier
Oak Brook, Ill. (April 22, 2009) — The Delta Dental Plans Association and Delta Dental of Minnesota have agreed to conditions for Delta Dental of Minnesota to continue to receive certain services from DeCare Dental following DeCare’s acquisition by WellPoint, Inc.
Under the agreement, certain business functions that DeCare previously performed for Delta Dental of Minnesota, Delta Dental of Nebraska and Delta Dental of North Carolina will be performed by those companies themselves, with DeCare continuing to provide certain administrative services. To ensure confidentiality and security for Delta Dental subscribers, modifications will be made to applicable information technology systems to isolate Delta Dental subscriber information from other entities that DeCare serves, including WellPoint.
“We’re pleased to reach an agreement that allows strong, independent member companies in the Delta Dental System to continue serving customers as usual,” says Kim Volk, president of the Delta Dental Plans Association. “Even though this particular situation involved a supplier to only a small part of the Delta Dental System, it was important to protect the interests of our member companies and our customers.”
Volk noted that two key features of Delta Dental – its industry-leading network of more than 127,000 dentists and the Delta Dental trademark – remain exclusive to Delta Dental member companies. “Neither WellPoint nor any other benefits provider outside the Delta Dental System will have access to our networks or our brand,” Volk says. “This agreement simply means that certain Delta Dental member companies and other benefits providers may use the same supplier for limited administrative services – with strong safeguards for confidentiality.”
The not-for-profit Delta Dental Plans Association (www.deltadental.com) based in Oak Brook , Ill. , is the leading national network for the delivery of dental benefits, with 39 independent dental service corporations specializing in providing dental benefits programs. With its leading dental network, Delta Dental provides dental benefits programs to more than 53 million Americans in more than 93,000 employee groups throughout the country.
# # #
