Hello. This is Arianna Porta Lattan with the
Becker's Dental and DSO review podcast. I'm thrilled
to be joined today by Ahmed Farag, the
oral health director for the Oregon Health Authority.
Ahmed, thank you so much for being here
today. It's great to have you.
Yeah. Thank you, Arianna. Thank, thanks to Bakers
for having me. It's an honor to be
on the podcast. And,
I have listened to so many great leaders
here and truly admire the work you're doing.
Yes. We're happy to have you here. To
start us off, can you introduce yourself for
our listeners and tell us a little bit
about your background and your work with the
Oregon Health Authority?
Yeah. Sure.
I'm doctor Ahmed Farag.
And,
at my core, I believe
health care is a human right. It is
a fundamental
need that shouldn't be depending on your geographic
location, your income, or what kind of insurance
you have.
For a background,
my journey really started with my father, a
retired surgeon who was my first role model
for providing intentional human care.
My path has been edifying,
and you can call it uniquely, not straight.
I began my dental surgical career in Egypt
where I often cared for patients who have
been overlooked by a system with very few
resources.
I then,
had the opportunity to work in advanced universal
health systems in Europe, specifically Germany and Italy
for a few years.
That opened my eyes to the incredible potential
of truly accessible health care.
I then came to the University of Rochester
in New York, over a decade ago where
I advanced my dental training at the Eastman
Institute of Oral Health and Strong Memorial Hospital
while also earning my master's,
from the Simon Business School.
All of these steps have led to my
current role, here at Oregon Health Authority,
and I am here to build
smarter systems that meet people where they are
and give them a fair and equitable chance
at their health.
It drives me,
so much every day
knowing that every policy
we shape, every partnership we build
can make real difference in someone's life.
Great. Thank you so much for sharing your
background there. It's great to hear.
First question for you here, what are some
of the biggest issues that you're following in
the dental industry
currently? Yeah. Thank you for, saying the biggest
issues. Understanding that oral health is faced with
many of the same challenges
that,
the rest of health care are faced with,
but some of the most depressing
issues that I'm focused on right now is
the persistent disconnect between oral health and overall
physical and mental health.
Unlike
the medical counterparts, most dentists still rely heavily
in their communication on procedure codes alone.
This is missing in the rich clinical context,
that diagnostic codes like ICD 10 or probably
SUIN 11,
would offer.
This gap limits our insights into the connection
between oral health and systemic condition and prevents
oral health providers
from speaking
a unified data driven language with payers, partners,
and policymakers.
The fact
is oral health doesn't exist in silo. It's
deeply connected to,
your your whole body. So it's connected to
chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular
diseases,
maternal health, and even child and adolescent academic
performance.
But structurally,
dentistry is often still separated
from the data frameworks that guide medical care,
and fixing that disconnect.
Truly having an integrated model is one of
the most important opportunities we have to transform
care.
Not to say as well that we are
still navigating the long shift from volume to
value.
Dentistry remains bired in a fee for service
model that rewards treatment
over prevention
or outcomes.
This is creating major inequities really. And on
an equity
side of things, according to HRSA,
that, almost two thirds of the dental health
professional shortage areas are in rural communities where
patients might have to travel hundreds of miles
just for care.
These barriers,
in addition to the poverty,
geographic isolation,
mean that many people don't get care until
a condition is severe.
This would drive our costs up and causes
a lot of avoidable suffering for,
our population.
Okay.
Yeah. Some good points that you share there,
so thank you for that. Our next question
here for you, what are you most excited
about when it comes to dentistry and what
makes you nervous?
I have a healthy mix of optimism and
realism,
about that question and and about the future.
My optimistic side is incredibly excited by the
national momentum around treating oral health as essential
rather than optional.
So you can see at the federal level,
CMS and HHS have opened important doors for
states,
to have the opportunity, including the dental care
as essential health benefit.
And on the Medicare side,
compared to previously, now CMS has taken meaningful
steps to expand coverage for dental care that
is inextricably
linked to medical care, like oncology, cardiac,
interventions, and,
and
chronic renal disease,
end stage renal disease.
And for the Medicaid on the Medicaid side
as well, we can see that multiple states
have,
including Oregon, offer comprehensive adult dental coverage,
and more states are expanding.
So these are all incremental changes
that represent a huge culture and policy shift
towards seeing oral health as a fundamental part
of the overall health.
I am I'm also energized by, really, the
pace of innovation we have in dentistry, and,
we are seeing value based payment pilots,
technology solutions that expand care for rural, communities,
and partnerships that truly integrate dental, physical, and
behavioral health.
It feels like the years of advocacy are
finally being back, and,
we are starting to see some conversions
into tangible,
scalable models,
for change.
But with all that excitement, I have to
be realistic.
There are some serious headwinds,
financial pressures on the government budgets,
that we are seeing,
and health systems
also have financial pressures.
These are intense,
and the history has told us that benefits
treated as optional are usually
pressured when budgets tighten.
So without a strong evidence based
case for a value and cost effectiveness
of dental coverage specifically,
these advances that we have gained could stall
or even regress.
I'm also concerned about the equity part and
the scalability.
Our policy changes for as pilot programs and
so on are are really important.
But unless we align some of our incentives
and strengthen provider networks,
simplify administrative process,
these advent
advancements could risk staying on paper instead of
improving lives.
So
and then I would say I describe my
outlook as deeply optimistic
but deliberately cautious.
Yeah. I think that's, very similar to what
many other dental leaders are feeling right now.
Are you concerned at all with some of
the Medicaid cuts that could come from the
new federal budget?
I think it's not only me. As you
said, everybody is concerned. Anytime you,
can constrain the budget or decrease your spending,
you risk,
probably
taking away some of the advantages
and
advances that you have done.
At least also if you are not taking
anything back, you could stall your progress that
and the momentum that you had over the
past year. So, yes, I would say definitely
a concern there.
Okay.
And what's some of the things you mentioned
in mind? What will the most effective health
care leaders need to be successful in the
next two to three years?
Yeah. That that's a great question.
The next few years are really going to
demand a different kind of health care leadership,
leaders who are visionary,
strategic, and ready to navigate
unprecedented complexities.
I believe there are four key things leaders,
would need.
First,
strategic clarity will be essential.
Between a policy reform and value based models
and workforce shortage,
rapid technological disruptions,
budget changes,
Leaders would really need to cut through the
noise and focus on strategies
that create measurable value for,
patients and communities.
And second, we will need leaders
with hybrid skill set,
people who bring clinical credibility,
but also advanced expertise
in business, public health, or change management.
Clinician leaders who understand the realities of patient
care can also analyze data
and budgets and lead organizational
change,
and they are uniquely positioned to drive transformation.
I have seen this personally. My clinical background
gave me insights to understand how patients and
providers,
act and react and what they need. But
pursuing some advanced training in business and health
care leadership
gave me the tools to translate this into,
straight insights into strategic executions.
The third here would be adaptive leadership, and
I I say this usually in in my
folks. Adaptive leadership is,
is really the separation between
who manages the change and who drives it.
So we are in an era where economic
pressures, policy shifts, and public expectation can change
overnight.
And the leaders who will succeed
are those who can pivot quickly,
interpret data intelligently,
and make decision grounded in both equity and
evidence.
The final thing that I'll I'll double down
on equity here and trust will,
because equity and trust will define the leaders
of the future.
It's no longer enough to just talk about
reducing disparities.
The expectation now is that leaders embed equity
into everything they do
from strategic planning,
to budgeting,
to perform a design,
to program design, and building
trust with communities, providers, and policymakers
will be the currency for sustainable change.
Leaders who engage authentically
and communicate transparently
will be able to navigate these
next years
and shape the future.
My final thought is really we can't afford
to be complacent.
The policies and systems we build today
will shape health outcomes for generations in the
future.
Every one of us, whether we are a
clinician, a policymaker,
a patient,
we have a role to play here in
advancing
for more equitable and integrated health systems.
The work is hard,
but it's more important now than ever. It's
a journey we're all on together, and I'm
really grateful to be part of that.
Thank you so much for for sharing that.
It's great to hear about your
sort of philosophy on health care leadership there
and what you're paying attention to. So thank
you so much.
That's all I have for you today. Thank
you so much for joining us. Again, it's
been a pleasure speaking with you, and I'm
looking forward to connecting with you again in
the future.
Oh, yeah. It has been my pleasure being
here, and, I look forward to our next
communication. Thank you. Thank you. Bye bye.