The Dawning New Age of Dental Medicaid
Opening Comments: Jessica Dresner, Deputy Director, MO Health Net
Presented by: Jessica Emmerich, Amanda Fahrendorf, Halie Payne, Dr. Kirk Quigless, Rebecca Scheuler
Dental Medicaid Facilitator Presentation
Course Description: After successfully advocating for the Medicaid Dental rate increase in July 2022, MCOH partnered with the Missouri Dental Association and MO HealthNet to increase access to care for all MO HealthNet participants through increased Dental Provider enrollment. Learn about the partnerships that have been essential, the resources that were most valuable, and the unexpected challenges that were encountered in this effort. This panel will give attendees an overview of the many partnerships and successes that have been essential to this point as well as how this work will continue in the upcoming year.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand data from MO HealthNet and how these efforts have been successful in increasing access to care.
2. Learn about the Media Campaign with High 5 and how it has increased interactions with dental providers.
3. Learn how barriers affected Dental Medicaid participation and how those barriers were addressed.
Jessica Dresner, Deputy Director, MO HealthNet
Mrs. Dresner is a Missouri native and lives in Columbia with her husband. She has a Masters degree in Education and Counseling Psychology, and has been with the Department of Social Services since 2011, and specifically with the MO HealthNet Division since 2017. In her role, she works closely with the policy teams, managed care units, and education and training, with a constant focus on customer service, whether that's for participants, providers, or team members.
Jessica Emmerich, Dental Medicaid Facilitator, Missouri Coalition for Oral Health
Jessica Emmerich was selected as the Dental Medicaid Facilitator in December 2022. As the Dental Medicaid Facilitator, Jessica is partnering with MO HealthNet and the Missouri Dental Association to support providers and encourage increased dental provider participation in MO HealthNet. Jessica has worked for the State of Missouri in both the Department of Social Services, Children's Division, and the Department of Health and Senior Services. Ms Emmerich has extensive experience working with MO HealthNet providers with both fee-for-service and managed care. She assisted providers and MO HealthNet participants with the Statewide Managed Care Roll Out. She recently worked as MCOH Operations Manager.Jessica is originally from Northwest Missouri and now lives in Central Missouri with her husband and three children.
Amanda Fahrendorf, Education and Collaboration Manager, Department of Social Services
Amanda Fahrendorf is the Education and Collaboration Manager located in the Department of Social Services (DSS), MO HealthNet Division (MHD), Education and Training Unit. During her 21 years of tenure with DSS, she has worked for Child Support Enforcement, Children’s Division, and MHD. She has provided education and training to MHD providers, participants and staff for the last 9 years.
Amanda has spoken with many groups about changes in MO HealthNet policies. She has used these opportunities to build strong relationships with our providers and sister agencies to streamline processes to serve our providers and participants better. She provides training and interpretation of MHD policy, program limitations and benefits, and proper billing procedures.
Amanda also oversees the MHD Education and Training resources for all programs, creates and presents additional trainings as requested, handles special assignments, provider recruitment, and serves as the expert for any complicated Medicaid inquiries referred to Education and Training. She also serves on several committees and workgroups related to Maternal and Infant Health initiatives, provider recruitment, and access to care.
Amanda graduated in 2009, from William Woods University, Adult Studies Program with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and is currently working on a Master’s of Public Health from A.T Still University.
Halie Payne, Professional Affairs Director, Missouri Dental Association
Halie has been the Director of Professional Affairs for the Missouri Dental Association since June 1, 2022. In this role, she assists in all regulatory and advocacy areas within the association. Halie directs the development of necessary education and public relations campaigns related to advocacy, maintains relationships with individuals and groups with similar interests to those of the MDA, and provides support to member inquiries as it relates to legislative and regulatory issues and topics. Prior to her role with the MDA, Halie served as Communications Director for Missouri’s Lieutenant Governor, Mike Kehoe. She is a graduate of the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, and resides in Russellville, Missouri with her husband Kaleb and their two dogs.
Dr. Kirk Quigless, Brentwood Family Dental
Dr. Q was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. He was exposed to dentistry at an early age because his father, Dr. Charles R. Quigless, was also a dentist. After graduating from the St. Louis University High School in 1984, he attended Tulane University in New Orleans. Between 1984 and 1988 he obtained a B.S. in Mathematics and completed the pre-dental curriculum.
From 1989 through 1990, he worked as a Systems Analyst at South Western Bell Telephone company. In the following year, through 1991, he was a mathematics instructor at Harris Stowe University in St. Louis. Between 1991 and 1995, Dr. Q attended the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry, where he obtained a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree (D.D.S.). Dr. Q opened his dental office in 1996 in Belleville, Illinois. In the same year he started a school outreach dental program which he continued for ten years, until 2006. In that time, his organization saw over 10,000 children each year. In 2004, Dr. Q started his post-graduate dental work at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI). Studied at LVI from 2004-2010. He is a member of the National Dental Association, American Dental Association, Missouri Dental Association, and Greater St. Louis Dental Society.
Rebecca Scheuler, Director of Brand Development, High 5 Communications
A professional brand strategist with an eye for detail, a mind for technical and creative writing, and a proven track record for creating brand and marketing strategies that get results.
Rebecca has served High 5 Communications for nearly 15 years creating unique brand building experiences and media campaigns across multiple industries. She started her career in the public sector serving as a Public Information Specialist for the Department of Natural Resources. There she fostered her expertise in rewriting complex technical data to serve audiences at every level of understanding. From there she shifted into her role at High 5 Communications where she has been honing her messaging, marketing, and brand building expertise for clients since 2010.