NADP Pulse – August 2022

By Board Chair Jeremy Hedrick, Careington International

NADP is on a mission

As we complete preparations for CONVERGE 2022 next month in St. Louis, it’s a wonderful time to take a step back and look at the progress NADP has made this past year. Thanks to our resolute, talented volunteers, NADP has made significant contributions to our industry and association. NADP is fortunate to have 364 volunteers serving in 603 roles. On top of that we have an additional 82 members serving in Member Interest Groups (MIGs). On behalf of the Board of Directors,  I commend all our volunteers for their outstanding work in the advancement of our mission to improve consumer access to affordable, quality dental care through advocacy, research, and the promotion of dental benefits.

This newsletter includes information about our outstanding volunteer award recipients. In my column, I want to briefly highlight some of the contributions from our volunteer groups.

Advocacy Groups
The Commission on Advocacy Policy, Government Relations WorkGroup and Government Funded Programs WorkGroup continue to represent members on a variety of federal and state issues affecting our industry.  Virtual Advocacy in Action was a tremendous success as it solidified existing relationships with federal elected officials and offered extensive opportunities to share our perspectives on the top issues facing our industry. Watch for the annual state issues wrap-up, which will be distributed in a separate communication in September.

Education Commission

CONVERGE is the top educational and networking experience of the dental benefits industry. The Education Commission has created a well-rounded conference with more educational content than ever before. The Commission introduced a new, members’ only registration rate for first-time attendees. As a result, approximately 20% of in-person registrations are first-time attendees.

Research Commission

The Research Commission continues to re-evaluate NADP surveys and reports to provide valuable market insights to our members. As a result, in-depth consumer research is now available for purchase to all NADP members in the Knowledge Center. Products include a Crosstab Excel spreadsheet, the Data File in Excel and the published Consumer Tracking Study as a PDF file.

Terminology, Standards & Transaction (TST)
The TST sub-workgroups, Clinical, Codes and Diagnostic Terminology, launched the Terminology Talk newsletter column, which is now one of the most read sections in Monthlybyte.

In addition, TST formed the Clinical Sub-WorkGroup (SWG), formerly Clinical Quality Measures SWG, to realign their responsibilities and objectives to respond to the updated NADP Strategic Plan by expanding this scope to include activities beyond the Dental Quality Alliance (DQA).

Communications WorkGroup
Check out the updated Oral Health Matters page on WhyDental.org. In addition to updating WhyDental.org content, the Communications WorkGroup has offered its expertise to fellow NADP volunteers serving on the Membership and Government Relations WorkGroups.

Membership WorkGroup

The Membership WorkGroup recruited a record 22 new members for 2022, including three plans, nine associates, seven supporting organizations and three individuals.

As you can tell, NADP volunteer groups are the reason our association thrives. In addition to thanking our individual volunteers, I also commend our member companies who also support our organization.

With the strong volunteer leadership, we have in place, I am confident NADP will continue to succeed in the coming year. Should you have questions about the direction of NADP, please contact me.