Dental visits to Collier, Lee ERs total $4.6 million in annual charges

Feb. 27--NAPLES -- A study by Florida Public Health Institute released Wednesday shows more than 139,000 Florida residents sought treatment for dental problems at hospital emergency rooms, adding $141 million in charges to hospitals in 2012.

The institute, based in West Palm Beach, examined county-by-county data and reported that 1,232 people went to emergency rooms in Collier County last year with nearly $1.1 million in charges.

That's a slight improvement from 2011 when 1,357 people in Collier went to the emergency rooms but the charges were higher at $1.13 million.

In the more populous Lee County, 4,456 people in 2012 went to the emergency room for a dental problem, with charges at more than $3.5 million. That was an increase from 4,395 visits in 2011 and $3 million in charges.

At issue is a lack of preventive services and primary dental care, lack of dental insurance, and private dentists being unwilling to accept Medicaid's low reimbursement, the study concluded. The source of the data in the study is emergency room statistics submitted to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

Publicly operated Lee Memorial Health System says dental issues are among the top five reasons for emergency visits, even though the emergency rooms don't have the manpower or equipment to handle them, hospital spokeswoman Mary Briggs said.

"It's one of the top low-acuity reasons why people come in," she said. "We don't have actual dentists (in the emergency rooms) so it's just a temporary fix."

The emergency room will provide a patient with some relief for the pain and refer them to a dental clinic that will accept them, Briggs said.

"Sometimes it is drug-seeking behavior so the emergency room doctor has to screen for that," she said.

The institute's ZIP code break down shows residents living in Fort Myers, North Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral were the dominant users of the emergency rooms; hospitals are located within each of the communities.

In Collier County, most of the emergency room visits for dental care are from residents of Golden Gate, Golden Gate Estates, Immokalee and East Naples.

"Emergency department physicians are not dentists but we are able to help stabilize these patients and assist them with their immediate issues until they are able to be seen by a dentist," Dr. John Lewis, regional medical director for the emergency department at the NCH Healthcare System in Collier, said in a statement.

The study findings were no surprise to the Florida Department of Health in Collier County, which has a waiting list at its dental clinic, said Stephanie Vick, director of family and personal health.

On a positive note, children are receiving dental care through the KidCare program, the study found.

In Collier, the Naples Children & Education Foundation addressed a huge need for pediatric dental care with an initiative six years ago. The foundation, sponsors of the Naples Winter Wine Festival, partnered with the University of Florida, Edison State College and the former Collier Health Services, now the Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida, to open an $8-million dental center. The center treats children and has 10 dental residents from UF's College of Dentistry.

"We have had 65,000 patient visits since December 2008 when we opened," Dr. Lauren Governale, the resident clinical director, said Wednesday. "I really feel like our clinic has made an impact."

In addition, the clinic has an arrangement with Physicians Regional Medical Center--Collier Boulevard to use its operating rooms to treat children with serious dental neglect who require surgery. More than 800 procedures have been done.

POSTED EARLIER

A study by Florida Public Health Institute shows more than 139,000 Florida residents sought treatment for dental problems at hospital emergency rooms, which added $141 million in charges in 2012, according to findings released Wednesday.

The institute, based in West Palm Beach, examined county-by-county data and reported that 1,232 people went to emergency rooms in Collier County last year with nearly $1.1 million in charges.

That's a slight improvement from 2011 when 1,357 people went to the emergency rooms but the charges were higher at $1.13 million.

In more populous Lee County, 4,456 people last year went to the emergency room for a dental problem, with charges at more than $3.5 million.

The publicly operated Lee Memorial Health System says dental issues are among the top five reasons for emergency visits, even though the emergency rooms aren't equipped to handle them, Lee Memorial spokeswoman Mary Briggs said.

"It's one of the top low-acuity reasons why people come in," she said.

At issue is a lack of preventive services and primary dental care, lack of dental insurance and private dentists being unwilling to accept Medicaid's low reimbursement.

On a positive note, children are accessing dental care through coverage with the KidCare program, the study found.

Return to naplesnews.com later today for more on this developing story

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