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Hello. This is Arianna Porta Lattan with the

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Becker's Dental and DSO review podcast. I'm thrilled

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to be joined today by Ahmed Farag, the

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oral health director for the Oregon Health Authority.

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Ahmed, thank you so much for being here

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today. It's great to have you.

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Yeah. Thank you, Arianna. Thank, thanks to Bakers

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for having me. It's an honor to be

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on the podcast. And,

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I have listened to so many great leaders

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here and truly admire the work you're doing.

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Yes. We're happy to have you here. To

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start us off, can you introduce yourself for

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our listeners and tell us a little bit

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about your background and your work with the

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Oregon Health Authority?

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Yeah. Sure.

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I'm doctor Ahmed Farag.

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And,

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at my core, I believe

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health care is a human right. It is

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a fundamental

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need that shouldn't be depending on your geographic

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location, your income, or what kind of insurance

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you have.

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For a background,

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my journey really started with my father, a

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retired surgeon who was my first role model

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for providing intentional human care.

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My path has been edifying,

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and you can call it uniquely, not straight.

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I began my dental surgical career in Egypt

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where I often cared for patients who have

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been overlooked by a system with very few

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resources.

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I then,

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had the opportunity to work in advanced universal

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health systems in Europe, specifically Germany and Italy

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for a few years.

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That opened my eyes to the incredible potential

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of truly accessible health care.

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I then came to the University of Rochester

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in New York, over a decade ago where

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I advanced my dental training at the Eastman

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Institute of Oral Health and Strong Memorial Hospital

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while also earning my master's,

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from the Simon Business School.

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All of these steps have led to my

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current role, here at Oregon Health Authority,

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and I am here to build

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smarter systems that meet people where they are

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and give them a fair and equitable chance

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at their health.

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It drives me,

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so much every day

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knowing that every policy

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we shape, every partnership we build

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can make real difference in someone's life.

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Great. Thank you so much for sharing your

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background there. It's great to hear.

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First question for you here, what are some

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of the biggest issues that you're following in

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the dental industry

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currently? Yeah. Thank you for, saying the biggest

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issues. Understanding that oral health is faced with

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many of the same challenges

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that,

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the rest of health care are faced with,

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but some of the most depressing

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issues that I'm focused on right now is

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the persistent disconnect between oral health and overall

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physical and mental health.

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Unlike

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the medical counterparts, most dentists still rely heavily

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in their communication on procedure codes alone.

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This is missing in the rich clinical context,

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that diagnostic codes like ICD 10 or probably

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SUIN 11,

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would offer.

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This gap limits our insights into the connection

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between oral health and systemic condition and prevents

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oral health providers

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from speaking

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a unified data driven language with payers, partners,

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and policymakers.

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The fact

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is oral health doesn't exist in silo. It's

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deeply connected to,

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your your whole body. So it's connected to

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chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular

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diseases,

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maternal health, and even child and adolescent academic

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performance.

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But structurally,

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dentistry is often still separated

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from the data frameworks that guide medical care,

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and fixing that disconnect.

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Truly having an integrated model is one of

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the most important opportunities we have to transform

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care.

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Not to say as well that we are

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still navigating the long shift from volume to

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value.

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Dentistry remains bired in a fee for service

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model that rewards treatment

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over prevention

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or outcomes.

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This is creating major inequities really. And on

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an equity

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side of things, according to HRSA,

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that, almost two thirds of the dental health

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professional shortage areas are in rural communities where

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patients might have to travel hundreds of miles

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just for care.

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These barriers,

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in addition to the poverty,

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geographic isolation,

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mean that many people don't get care until

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a condition is severe.

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This would drive our costs up and causes

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a lot of avoidable suffering for,

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our population.

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Okay.

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Yeah. Some good points that you share there,

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so thank you for that. Our next question

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here for you, what are you most excited

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about when it comes to dentistry and what

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makes you nervous?

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I have a healthy mix of optimism and

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realism,

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about that question and and about the future.

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My optimistic side is incredibly excited by the

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national momentum around treating oral health as essential

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rather than optional.

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So you can see at the federal level,

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CMS and HHS have opened important doors for

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states,

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to have the opportunity, including the dental care

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as essential health benefit.

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And on the Medicare side,

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compared to previously, now CMS has taken meaningful

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steps to expand coverage for dental care that

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is inextricably

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linked to medical care, like oncology, cardiac,

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interventions, and,

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and

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chronic renal disease,

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end stage renal disease.

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And for the Medicaid on the Medicaid side

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as well, we can see that multiple states

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have,

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including Oregon, offer comprehensive adult dental coverage,

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and more states are expanding.

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So these are all incremental changes

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that represent a huge culture and policy shift

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towards seeing oral health as a fundamental part

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of the overall health.

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I am I'm also energized by, really, the

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pace of innovation we have in dentistry, and,

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we are seeing value based payment pilots,

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technology solutions that expand care for rural, communities,

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and partnerships that truly integrate dental, physical, and

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behavioral health.

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It feels like the years of advocacy are

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finally being back, and,

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we are starting to see some conversions

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into tangible,

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scalable models,

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for change.

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But with all that excitement, I have to

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be realistic.

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There are some serious headwinds,

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financial pressures on the government budgets,

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that we are seeing,

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and health systems

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also have financial pressures.

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These are intense,

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and the history has told us that benefits

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treated as optional are usually

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pressured when budgets tighten.

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So without a strong evidence based

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case for a value and cost effectiveness

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of dental coverage specifically,

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these advances that we have gained could stall

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or even regress.

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I'm also concerned about the equity part and

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the scalability.

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Our policy changes for as pilot programs and

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so on are are really important.

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But unless we align some of our incentives

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and strengthen provider networks,

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simplify administrative process,

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these advent

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advancements could risk staying on paper instead of

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improving lives.

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So

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and then I would say I describe my

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outlook as deeply optimistic

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but deliberately cautious.

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Yeah. I think that's, very similar to what

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many other dental leaders are feeling right now.

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Are you concerned at all with some of

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the Medicaid cuts that could come from the

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new federal budget?

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I think it's not only me. As you

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said, everybody is concerned. Anytime you,

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can constrain the budget or decrease your spending,

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you risk,

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probably

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taking away some of the advantages

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and

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advances that you have done.

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At least also if you are not taking

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anything back, you could stall your progress that

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and the momentum that you had over the

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past year. So, yes, I would say definitely

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a concern there.

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Okay.

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And what's some of the things you mentioned

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in mind? What will the most effective health

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care leaders need to be successful in the

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next two to three years?

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Yeah. That that's a great question.

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The next few years are really going to

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demand a different kind of health care leadership,

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leaders who are visionary,

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strategic, and ready to navigate

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unprecedented complexities.

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I believe there are four key things leaders,

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would need.

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First,

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strategic clarity will be essential.

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Between a policy reform and value based models

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and workforce shortage,

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rapid technological disruptions,

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budget changes,

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Leaders would really need to cut through the

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noise and focus on strategies

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that create measurable value for,

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patients and communities.

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And second, we will need leaders

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with hybrid skill set,

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people who bring clinical credibility,

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but also advanced expertise

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in business, public health, or change management.

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Clinician leaders who understand the realities of patient

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care can also analyze data

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and budgets and lead organizational

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change,

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and they are uniquely positioned to drive transformation.

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I have seen this personally. My clinical background

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gave me insights to understand how patients and

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providers,

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act and react and what they need. But

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pursuing some advanced training in business and health

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care leadership

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gave me the tools to translate this into,

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straight insights into strategic executions.

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The third here would be adaptive leadership, and

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I I say this usually in in my

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folks. Adaptive leadership is,

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is really the separation between

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who manages the change and who drives it.

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So we are in an era where economic

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pressures, policy shifts, and public expectation can change

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overnight.

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And the leaders who will succeed

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are those who can pivot quickly,

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interpret data intelligently,

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and make decision grounded in both equity and

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evidence.

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The final thing that I'll I'll double down

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on equity here and trust will,

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because equity and trust will define the leaders

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of the future.

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It's no longer enough to just talk about

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reducing disparities.

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The expectation now is that leaders embed equity

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into everything they do

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from strategic planning,

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to budgeting,

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to perform a design,

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to program design, and building

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trust with communities, providers, and policymakers

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will be the currency for sustainable change.

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Leaders who engage authentically

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and communicate transparently

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will be able to navigate these

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next years

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and shape the future.

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My final thought is really we can't afford

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to be complacent.

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The policies and systems we build today

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will shape health outcomes for generations in the

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future.

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Every one of us, whether we are a

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clinician, a policymaker,

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a patient,

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we have a role to play here in

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advancing

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for more equitable and integrated health systems.

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The work is hard,

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but it's more important now than ever. It's

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a journey we're all on together, and I'm

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really grateful to be part of that.

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Thank you so much for for sharing that.

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It's great to hear about your

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sort of philosophy on health care leadership there

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and what you're paying attention to. So thank

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you so much.

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That's all I have for you today. Thank

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you so much for joining us. Again, it's

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been a pleasure speaking with you, and I'm

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looking forward to connecting with you again in

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the future.

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Oh, yeah. It has been my pleasure being

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here, and, I look forward to our next

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communication. Thank you. Thank you. Bye bye.