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Primary Health Care tells Story County dental visits have risen; clinic braces for more uninsured patients
Summary
Primary Health Care reported a growth in dental visit volume at its Ames clinic, rising uninsured patient numbers linked to Medicaid redeterminations, ARPA-funded buys and steps to shore up finances including a recent reduction in force and a consultant engagement.
Nathan Simpson, CEO of Primary Health Care, told the Story County Board of Supervisors on May 13 that his organization's Ames dental clinic experienced about a 15% increase in visit volume from fiscal year 2023 to fiscal year 2024 and expects modest further increases in fiscal year 2025.
"Since prior year, fiscal year 23 to fiscal year 24, we experienced about a 15 increase in visit volume," Simpson said. He said a change in reporting in fiscal year 2024 means the clinic's published county-only statistics cannot be backfilled to earlier years after an electronic records switch.
Simpson told supervisors the clinic is at or near physical capacity and that the number of uninsured patients rose sharply: "In fiscal year 24, we saw about a 41% increase in the number of uninsured patients, as compared to fiscal year 23." He and dental director Taylor Posler attributed the shift to the end of the public health emergency and Medicaid redeterminations.
To prepare for more uninsured patients and broader funding uncertainty, Simpson said Primary Health Care engaged a consulting firm to analyze operations and has already executed a recent reduction in force to reduce expenses while maintaining productivity. "We have engaged a consulting firm to come in and analyze our operations and help us prepare a plan to both meet our improve our current financial situation," he said. Simpson also said the organization has health benefits specialists who work on insurance enrollment and that he hopes to replace some lost Medicaid revenue with traditional Medicaid patients who retain coverage.
Simpson said the health center had drawn down about 95% of the American Rescue Plan Act funds the county provided and listed purchases under that ARPA grant: a dental patient navigator salary and fringe, IT equipment for the Ames clinic, marketing and education materials and several ergonomic dentist and assistant chairs.
Taylor Posler, dental director and a practicing dentist at the Ames clinic, thanked the county for ongoing support and said clinic staff often work to overcome transportation and scheduling barriers for patients, citing examples of a patient who needed dental work prior to hip replacement surgery and a teen who received a molar root canal locally after being unable to access care in Iowa City.
Simpson said the clinic operates two general dentists, two dental hygienists, and a dental-assistant team; he said the only way to serve more patients now would be a physical expansion to add operatories.
