Sign Up, Pay Down!
Recruiting Dentists to the Safety Net
We have all been elated that Virginia Medicaid now offers dental coverage to adults and pays competitive rates. At the same time, we have all been frustrated that it is so difficult to recruit dentists. Despite the many rewards of working in the dental safety net, it can be hard to compete with private salaries, benefits and perks.
Sign Up, Pay Down is a joint effort to enhance competitive offers from dental safety net practices in Virginia through student loan repayments and signing bonuses.
The Virginia Health Care Foundation, Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation, United Concordia Dental Charitable Fund, and DentaQuest have teamed up to create an incentive package to help five qualifying Virginia dental safety net practices attract and retain a dentist for two years.
Sign Up, Pay Down Details
- Incentive packages include $20,000 in student loan repayment funding and $20,000 for a signing bonus.
- Available to any Virginia dental safety net organization that is a Medicaid provider and in the midst of recruiting a dentist.
- Preference will be given to practices located in dental professional shortage areas and/or medically underserved areas
- Awardees will have four months from the date of award to contract with their new dentist.
Dentist recruitment season is in full swing and time is of the essence! Applications must be submitted by April 10, 2023 to be considered. They should only take about 30 minutes to complete.