Dental HMOs (DHMOs)

[Guest bbruno]

We are going into a bid cycle for our plans. Our concern is to get the most bang for the buck, especially in quality and services provided by dental providers to member employees. Because we are not self-funded but insured, the desire is to create performance standards for the contracting plans to be held accountable for in the quality of benefits provided under this type of plan and access to providers. The thought is what kinds of performance standards might be reasonable and useful with a DHMO and how effective the use fo financial penalties would be based on quality assessments made based on employee survey results (e.g., survey results obtained by the plan vs. those obtained by the administrator), or if it is even feasible to do so. As DHMOs tend to run on slimmer operating margins, financial penalties may or may not be a feasible alternative based on survey results from employees, as an example- so, looking for any advise, history or comments on this matter. Any comments or ideas would be appreciated.