Charting A Path to Good Health

It wasn’t too long ago when our dental records and medical records were in separate worlds, rarely intersecting. But technological tools such as Smile Generation® MyChart provide us with a digital portal to those records, making our patient experience easier and giving us a clearer view of the relationship between the health of our mouth and teeth and our overall health. Smile Generation® MyChart is powered by Epic, a software system used by many healthcare organizations around the world.

We can use Smile Generation® MyChart to browse our health history, view the results of tests, schedule appointments and sign documents, and much more.

Generations of Smiles editors discussed Epic and Smile Generation® MyChart with Dr. Ishpreet Kaur, who has been using it for at least two years at her practice, Dentists of North Mesa in Mesa, Ariz., and Janie Peters, Vice President for Business & Technology Solutions at PDS Health. Here are their insights on how Epic helps dentists and doctors collaborate and how Smile Generation® MyChart can be a valuable patient tool in maintaining or improving health.

Janie Peters: Epic has really been the gold standard in electronic medical record software in the medical community for many years now. And it's a familiar tool for patients in many places where Smile Generation-trusted practices are located. Many of the medical centers and universities in those areas use Epic.

So there's a high likelihood that our patients who seek care at one of our Smile Generation-trusted practices are also seeking care at a medical practice using Epic somewhere in one of the many states that we support.

We thought about how the patient would be able to best manage their care, and the ability of their care providers to be able to easily communicate and share information. Irrespective of which health organization patients are seen at, they can log into a central MyChart portal and easily jump between the different organizations.

So whether it's their Smile Generation® MyChart with one of our Smile Generation-trusted practices, or maybe it's their MyChart through one of the UCs in California, or Kaiser Permanente, whatever community it might be, the patient would have full visibility of what's going on with their care across both their dental and their medical practitioners.

And then on the flip side, within Epic, there are easy ways for those providers to communicate and coordinate care and share records with one another without having to send cumbersome letters or faxes.

Dr. Ishpreet Kaur: The biggest thing is that since dental is integrated with medical, we're able to access the health records of the patient, which means that we're able to also communicate with different doctors if needed. And just more of the information is accessible to us, which makes it easier and more efficient for us to get the patients healthier, and get their treatment started. Before I started using Epic, a lot of times, patients didn't know much about the medications they're on, the dosages, just health history-wise, there wasn't as much information that they had at their fingertips. But with the Epic system, I'm able to access everything and I'm able to like tell the patient, "Oh, are you still taking this medication?” And when they hear it, they're like, “Yeah, it's that one.”

Dr. Ishpreet Kaur: We're able to get access to information like surgical history and medications. So if there's ever any condition that might be a red flag for treatment that I have to do as a dentist, I'm able to get that information without the patient having to contact a bunch of doctors and wait a long time.

With the extractions, we have to be very careful with certain aspects of their medical history just to make sure there are no issues that might arise in the long run. If they've ever had cancer or have undergone radiation treatment, if they've ever been on bisphosphonates, had osteoporosis history, all of that can impact the healing and the long-term success of extractions.

I've had a patient who had to have multiple extractions and they weren't fully aware of whether they were taking bisphosphonate medications. They knew that they had osteoporosis. So luckily with Epic, I was able to access their medical history and see which medications they're taking. One of the medications commonly used to help with osteoporosis is Fosamax. And if a patient is on Fosamax, it can cause issues if an extraction is done, if care is not taken in a specific way. This patient was very thankful that we were able to catch that. We were able to connect with their primary care doctor to figure out a course of plan for the long run. Because we have that access to the chart, we're not blindly guessing and we're not having to wait weeks to hear back from their primary care doctor. In the past, I've had to do medical releases and it's just a paper trail. I have so much information accessible to me that I can make more informed decisions in a timely manner and we can still connect with the doctor and we don't have to start from ground zero. We can ask more specific questions so that we can provide that care more effectively for the patients.

Janie Peters: Patients visit their dentists more often than they do their doctors. Sometimes patients have elevated blood pressure that has not been unaddressed. Our dentists would recommend that they see a medical provider right away. The records from the visit are going to be available for that medical provider to see.

Janie Peters: They have the same ability to access records. There are opportunities on both sides. Commonly, on the medical side of the world, before cardiologists complete a cardiac procedure on a patient, they actually want to have a dental clearance. The ability for cardiologists to be able to refer their patients to a dentist who they know is like-minded and thinking of the patient's whole-body health is critical. It also is going to allow their patients to get quicker care.


Dr. Ishpreet Kaur: We've had several doctors who have contacted us when there are severe surgeries that are going to be done, such as heart transplants, or surgeries on kidney-related issues. They've seen through the Epic system that this patient has active periodontal disease, is getting ongoing care or has an active infection in a specific area, and they need to get clearance for it.

The doctors reach out to us so that we can essentially treat that disease or infection, give the patient clearance for surgery, and make sure that there are no issues for medical procedures in the long run either.

Dr. Ishpreet Kaur: The MyChart system is what patients can log into so they're able to access their health records and get a better understanding of their overall health, because everything is visible to them after their visit is done, including test results. Their MyChart also has information about billing, any future procedures, so they're able to access that instead of having to come in or make multiple calls.

In general, Smile Generation® MyChart is just a great way to build that relationship with their dentist or doctor because they have everything accessible to them. They can send messages directly to their dentist to get responses. They don’t have to call the office, speak to someone upfront, and then wait to potentially hear something back. And I think that's a really big thing because a lot of times the questions they have are specifically for their dentist.

Smile Generation® MyChart helps a lot with just making it more of a whole approach to taking care of their health, not only dental, but also health in general.