SAT-604 - Enhancing Dental Health Documentation for Diabetic Patients

Routine dental evaluation is recommended as part of comprehensive diabetes care; however, documentation of dental health discussions and visits is inconsistent in clinical practice. An electronic medical record (EMR) review at a large academic health system identified a gap in dental care documentation among patients with diabetes, potentially contributing to missed opportunities for early oral health intervention. The objective of this quality improvement initiative was to improve documentation of dental health discussions and dental visit status in patients with diabetes.

A baseline EMR review assessed the frequency of documented dental discussions and dental visit history among diabetic patients, stratified by provider type including attending physicians, advanced practice providers, and fellows. The intervention consisted of prompting providers to include a dedicated dental health section in clinical notes, aligned with American Diabetes Association recommendations to support comprehensive diabetes care.

Following implementation, dental health documentation significantly improved from 19% (22 of 116 encounters) pre-intervention to 47% (254 of 541 encounters) post-intervention (z = −5.54, p < 0.00001). In addition, the proportion of patients reporting a recent dental visit in this clinic exceeded national benchmarks, with 76% of patients reporting a dental visit compared with a national average of 61% among diabetic patients (p < 0.00001).

Despite improvements, gaps in dental care remain. Provider-reported barriers included time constraints, competing urgent medical issues, lack of a dedicated EMR field, and absence of a standardized documentation workflow. Patient-reported barriers included lack of dental insurance, cost concerns, limited awareness of the importance of dental care, difficulty accessing dental services, and dental anxiety. This intervention demonstrates a scalable, low-cost approach to improving preventive care documentation in patients with diabetes and highlights the need for continued efforts to address systemic and patient-level barriers to oral health care.

*Unless otherwise noted, all abstracts presented at ENDO must not be released to the press or the public until the date and time of presentation. For oral presentations, the abstracts are embargoed until the session begins. The Endocrine Society reserves the right to lift the embargo on specific abstracts that are selected for promotion prior to or during ENDO.*