Dr. Tauberg and family at his
nephew’s wedding in 2019.
shoehorn the medical model to dental care in this Commonwealth.
With grassroots help, it would be wonderful to organize
information in small bites to feed our state government leadership
so they can make better decisions and understand our delivery of
health care and why dentistry is so important. I hope we can begin
this process and recruit grassroots members to help in the process.
Another goal was to build better relationships with our dental
schools, internships and residency training programs throughout
the state. This group of professionals and future professionals are
the key to the future of dentistry in Pennsylvania. We have begun
the process already by partnering with the dental school deans as
part of our working coalition when dealing with dental issues
through the PA Department of Health and other state government
organizations. I want to reach out to students and dental educators
to become part of organized dentistry and help to make the PDA
strong with membership and voice.
My insurance goal was to organize our Dental Benefits Committee
to return to the bargaining table and work to improve benefit
communications and reimbursements, and make better sense of
third-party reimbursement “interesting” decisions that continue to
confound how we provide care. Many times the insurance language
limits our ability to provide the best concepts and materials that
represent the best dentistry has to offer.
Lastly, continue to use the Board of Trustees, Council of Presidents
and the membership at large to inform dentists in Pennsylvania
of the benefits we gain with a unified membership and voice.
So membership, membership, membership. We learned that together
and not separately, we can often influence state government decisions
along with providing more benefits to our members. And, it is not
what organized dentistry does for us, it is our actions as the dental
community at large and coming together as one voice, that allows
organized dentistry to make a difference in our professional lives.
PDJ: Do you still have initiatives that you want to see
through this year?
DR. TAUBERG: The foremost is to get legislation moving to allow
dentists to exercise their education as doctors to be part of the
COVID-19 testing needs and solutions. Who better knows the
head and neck better than dentists? We as health care experts are
perfectly capable to administer nasopharyngeal testing. But, it’s
not just about testing for COVID, it’s about using our doctor skills to
order other testing that may be critical to the patient’s care. We
should be able, if desired, to do A1C and INR testing to name a few.
In addition, I would want dentists to have the ability to provide
HPV, COVID and influenza vaccinations. We do injections every
day so why not be part of an overall health solution, and not just be
the “teeth” experts? There are 300 million people who need COVID
and influenza vaccinations and we can help.
I would love to see the legal ramifications of how third-party
insurers are creating PPE coding, fees and participation rules.
I would also like to see what patient rights are to pay out of pocket
for higher grade restorations and better quality materials, and
restore the right to choose above the basic guidelines for dental
care that third-party insurers tell us we have to do as part of a basic
fee. This is about choice and access to care, and not about using the
least costly alternative to restore the form and function. And to do it
in the best way possible rather than always be forced to provide a
possible lesser but acceptable care due to arbitrary reimbursement
fee schedules.
PDJ: What is your leadership style? How do you approach
a problem or an issue you want to solve?
DR. TAUBERG: My leadership style is about working with others.
This is a democracy and all of our voices matter. Even if the feedback
I seek is not as positive as I would like, the less positive comments
are used to better understand the wants and desires of dentists and
their effects on our profession.
I seek information from my fellow leaders, BOT, COP and other dentists
throughout the Commonwealth to help make decisions on how
the PDA needs to address issues and needs.
It’s important to recognize the people who put in the work and
thank them for doing so. Always be polite, be informed and listen.
PDJ: Can you discuss some of the issues – membershiprelated
and others – that are going to drive PDA and the
long-term organization?
DR. TAUBERG: Two words best describe this answer, and they are
diversity and value.
For the future of organized dentistry to succeed and continue to
be representative for us, we need to encourage all groups of dental
providers, generalists and specialists, along with all races, creeds
and religions to be part of how we represent ourselves. The diversity
of practice formats, religion, race, gender, culture are things that
are bound to be different for every person that you meet. Now is the
time to embrace this diversity.
JULY/AUGUST 2020 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 17