The Association of Dental Support Organizations, (ADSO) governmental affairs committee, chaired by non-dentist Heartland VP and 6 other non-dentist corporate guys decided that their number one priority is getting corporate/chain friendly dentists appointed to state dental boards.
Read the article and tell me this isn't flat out corruption. They are asking for volunteers in states where they have lobbyists. They want to influence regulatory decisions. And you've got to love the whole "often political preferences will apply to the candidate selection process".
Government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the top dogs at the corporations.
October 2015 Association of Dental Support Organizations Quarterly Newsletter:
ADVOCACY UPDATE
The Importance of Getting DSO-supported Dentists on Dental Boards
The ADSO Government Affairs Committee was formed this summer. The committee, chaired by John Pantazis, Heartland’s Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary with representatives from 6 other ADSO member companies, meets monthly and is charged with providing the ADSO with strategic guidance on state and federal legislative and regulatory issues. Among the committee’s top priorities is promoting DSO-supported dentists for appointments to state dental boards.
Board appointments are a top priority for the ADSO government affairs team because many of the state issues the DSO industry faces grow out of dental board actions. We strongly believe that having one or more DSO-supported dentists or strong public sector members on the board involved in discussions and rule-making will go a long way in mitigating state legislative and regulatory issues we have faced in recent years.
While we are happy to promote candidates in any state, we recognize that we are much more likely to have success in one of the 13 states where we have a contract lobbyist on the ground to assist in shepherding the candidate(s) through the process. So make a committed effort when openings are coming up to reach out for potential candidates. We include in our Government Affairs Weekly Round-up, which is distributed every Friday, the list of states with lobbyists where we need our members help to promote candidates (if you are not on the distribution list for the Round-up and would like to be, please contact Wendy Chew). The lobbyists are able meet with the governors’ appointment staff and follow up throughout the decision-making process. They can also assist the dentist in getting letters of support from state legislators or other recognized leaders in the state to support their nominations.
With few exceptions, Board appointments are made by the governor of the state. Dental boards generally consist of dentists, hygienists, public sector (non-dental related) members and sometimes academics. All states have rules around the appointments and can include: how long the term of service lasts; requirements on how long the candidate has been a resident of the state; how long the dentist/hygienist have practiced in the state; what area of the state the appointee needs to be from; as well as many other possible requirements. Since the appointments are made by the governor of the state, often political preference will also apply to the candidate’s selection process.
In the past year, the ADSO has helped get DSO-supported dentists on the dental boards in Colorado, Iowa and Florida and are actively working on appointments in every other state where we have lobbyists. In addition to supported dentists, the ADSO has also promoted public sector members for state dental board appointment.
If you haven’t already done so, please participate in the ADSO database project. Your dentists’ information is confidential and will not be shared in any way, but having the information in the database allows us to identify potential candidates in states where there are openings on the dental board. Participation in the database also helps us when we have legislative issues in a state. We are able to reach out through a contact at your company to activate supported dentists on issues of concern to our industry.
