About Collaborative Practice

What exactly is collaborative practice? The New Mexico statute defines collaborative dental hygiene practitioner as a hygienist who is certified by the New Mexico Board of Dental Health Care and Dental Hygienists' Committee to provide dental hygiene services, except for local anesthesia, without general supervision, in a cooperative working relationship with a dentist. The scope of services that a dental hygienist can provide remains the same.

In April 1999, Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico signed into law HB265 that established a new category of dental hygiene licensure called “Collaborative Dental Hygiene Practice.” The rules and protocols were defined a year later.

The legislation was recommended by the New Mexico Health Policy Commission, as a result of a study by a task force comprised of various health care professionals. It was recognized by the task force that dental hygienists were an underutilized provider, limited by restrictions in the state statute. By removing supervision requirements, collaborative hygienists are able to work in various health care settings, providing dental hygiene services to many who would not otherwise have access to care.

How is collaborative practice working five years later? There are collaborative hygienists working in Tierra Amarilla, Las Vegas, Sandoval County, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe. Collaborative practice has experienced slow growth because of some problems encountered at the outset, including difficulty in finding consulting dentists, especially Medicaid providers, and reluctance of third party payers to recognize dental hygienists as primary care providers. Two bills introduced in the legislature attempted to correct the latter problem.

SB818 was signed into law, and prohibits discrimination against collaborative dental hygienists by third party payers. A second bill introduced in 2005 proposed to penalize third party payers who discriminate against certified providers. It passed both houses but was not signed by the governor. To date, only a few insurance companies refuse to recognize collaborative dental hygienists.

From the standpoint of success, it is an entry point for many New Mexico citizens into the dental care system. Some say that the impact of collaborative practice has not been significant but those who now receive basic preventive services would disagree. Because collaborative hygienists partner with a consulting dentist who provides further diagnostic and restorative care for the patients, collaborative practice can be a beneficial situation for everyone. Collaborative practice will continue to evolve and reach even more people needing basic preventive oral health care services.

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