Anthem: Connecting Dental and Medical Benefits Can Help Improve Member Health Outcomes
A clear connection exists between oral health and overall health.¹ To help show the clear advantages of connecting dental and medical plans, Anthem commissioned a study on the value of their integrated dental and medical solution, Anthem Whole Health Connection® — Dental.
The findings show lower overall medical costs²
- Up to $4,000 for cardiac members engaged in care management.
- $8,280 for members who use their enhanced dental benefits.
- $2,045 for members who close their dental care gaps.
Integrating dental insights into care management programs
The study examined the results of members participating in Anthem’s Cardiovascular Care Management Program. A key finding was that those enrolled in Anthem medical and dental benefits had better clinical outcomes than those enrolled in Anthem medical benefits alone.²
Members with integrated medical and dental benefits had²
- 20% fewer heart attacks
- 13% fewer inpatient hospital admissions
- 10% fewer emergency room visits
How coordinated care makes a difference
By having access to integrated dental and medical plan data, Anthem can optimize information sharing, care coordination, and communications to members and their providers. Anthem Whole Health Connection® plays a critical role in more efficiently identifying at-risk members, leading to improved overall health and lower costs for members and employers.
You can download the full study to share with your clients. Other powerful results show how providing enhanced dental benefits to members with certain medical conditions and using dental data to identify gaps in care can positively impact health outcomes and costs.
For questions, please contact a member of your B&P Sales Team - 888.722.3373.
1 Academy of General Dentistry, Know Your Teeth. Oral Warning Signs (accessed November 2020): knowyourteeth.com.
2 Anthem, Integration of dental and medical care can improve member outcomes, 2020.