Greetings from your President,

Karen Nation, DMD

Full Newsletter

Hello!  This is my last president’s newsletter, and time has flown by!  It seems like just yesterday that Dr. John Rakutt was passing on the gavel to me (well, on to my husband in my behalf since we just had just had baby Lily!).  It has been a great honor serving our Louisville Dental Society and being involved at the state level as well.  I have been involved with so many great things this year:  the tenth anniversary of Smile KY!, general membership CE meetings with great speakers and great member attendance,  a wonderful LDS Executive Board with Executive Committee members that always attend meetings and participate and share ideas, the annual KDA House of Delegates meeting and Executive Council meeting where relevant topics are discussed and voted on to maintain OUR profession, supporting the KDPAC to ensure that our interests are expressed to state legislators, and talking to various dentists from across our state about anything from dental practice, house bill legislation, managed care and insurance issues to tornado and storm relief and families.  What an amazing year this has been.

One topic of much conversation throughout the past year has been the economy, the cost of doing business, and survival of the dentist.  The ADA and KDA together are our voice.  Did anyone see the article in the Courier on March 29 entitled, “Some fear higher dental, vision fees”?  At the end of the legislative session, lawmaker’s approved an amendment that would “prohibit health and vision insurance plans from requiring dentists, optometrists and ophthalmologists to discount fees for services not paid for by the insurer.”  The KDA is behind this legislation, saying the amended bill will “promote fairness in the way insurers treat dentists who choose to be in their networks.”  Our KDA President, Terry Norris argued that “insurance companies have mistreated providers for years by signing contracts and then requiring providers to give discounts after the fact.”  We need to maintain our strong presence regarding these issues.  I am confident that our state dentist representatives are doing a fine job. 

In closing, I want to say thank you for this opportunity to serve this outstanding organization.  It is a blessing to be a member of a profession that enjoys the trust and respect of the general public and is largely self-policing.  It is our obligation to continue earning this trust every day for the benefits of our patients and our profession.  I wish Dr. Todd Cochran well as he takes over this position and I am certain the LDS is in great hands.  Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Past Presidents Dinner on May 17 at Wildwood Country Club!

Regards,

Karen