The patient-centered dental home: A standardized definition for quality assessment, improvement, and integration.

OBJECTIVE

To develop the first standardized definition of the patient-centered dental home (PCDH).

DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Primary data from a 55-member national expert panel and public comments.

STUDY DESIGN

We used a modified Delphi process with three rounds of surveys to collect panelists' ratings of PCDH characteristics and open-ended comments. The process was supplemented with a 1-month public comment period.

DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: We calculated median ratings, analyzed consensus using the interpercentile range adjusted for symmetry, and qualitatively evaluated comments.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Forty-nine experts (89%) completed three rounds and identified eight essential PCDH characteristics, resulting in the following definition: "The patient-centered dental home is a model of care that is accessible, comprehensive, continuous, coordinated, patient- and family-centered, and focused on quality and safety as an integrated part of a health home for people throughout the life span."

CONCLUSIONS

This PCDH definition provides the foundation for developing measures for research, care improvement, and accreditation and is aligned with the patient-centered medical home. Consensus among a broad national expert panel-including provider, payer, and accreditation stakeholder organizations and experts in medicine, dentistry, and quality measurement-supports the definition's usability and its potential to facilitate medical-dental primary care integration.