Dr. Amit Acharya, Director of Institute for Oral and Systemic Health (IOSH) was recently invited by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to write a discussion paper on application of After Visit Summary (AVS) in the field of dentistry.  Dr. Acharya collaborated with Alice M. Horowitz, Ph.D., R.D.H. from University of Maryland, Lindsey A. Robinson, D.D.S. from California Dental Association and Man Wai Ng, D.D.S., M.P.H. from Harvard School of Dental Medicine, on this publication.

In dentistry, AVS can be thought of in both the context of a standalone dental practice and as a combined summary integrating oral health-related information with medical information.  In this commentary, the authors explored the AVS from both perspectives and made a case for considering AVS as an important piece of the larger puzzle needed to improve oral health and general health literacy for all patients, as well as highlighted the success at Marshfield Clinic in developing AVS for dentistry as a case report.

“It was an honor to discuss the efforts going on here at Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation and Family Health Center of Marshfield, especially in an article invited by the Institute of Medicine as it reaches a wide national and international audience,” said Dr. Acharya.

After Visit Summaries: A Tool Whose Time Has Come for Use in Dentistry