Washington's Continuing Education rule requires 21 clock hours of continuing education each year, as a condition of license renewal. Renewal forms include a statement of compliance or non-compliance. DQAC may randomly audit up to 25 percent of dentists for compliance. If audited, dentists must provide written documentation of dates and hours of continuing education. DQAC suggests keeping CE documentation for at least four years.

"Acceptable continuing education" is defined as courses offered or authorized by industry-recognized state, private, national and international organizations, agencies or institutions of higher learning. DQAC does not authorize or approve specific continuing education courses.

Continuing education sponsors may include (but are not limited to) the Washington State Dental Association and local component dental societies, the American Dental Association, Academy of General Dentistry, National Dental Association, American Dental Hygienists' Association, National Dental Hygienists' Association, American Dental Association-recognized specialty organizations and their constituent and component/branch societies. Dentists are allowed to count CE hours accumulated for other sources (i.e. national certification with specialty organizations, etc.). Basic first aid, CPR, BLS, ACLS, OSHA/WISHA or emergency-related training such as courses offered or authorized by the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society, are acceptable.

Some courses may not be counted toward the CE requirement or may receive only limited credit:

• Estate planning, financial planning, investments and personal health courses are not acceptable.
• Educational audio or videotapes, films, slides, Internet, or independent reading, where an assessment tool is required upon completion are acceptable, but may not exceed three hours per year.
• Teaching a seminar or clinical course for the first time is acceptable, but may not exceed 10 hours per year.
• Non-clinical courses relating to dental practice organization and management, patient management, or methods of health delivery are limited to seven hours per year.
• Provision of clinical dental services in a formal volunteer capacity may be considered for continuing education credits when preceded by educational/instructional training prior to provision of services. Continuing education credits in this area are limited to seven hours per renewal cycle.
• CE hours cannot be carried over from one year to the next.

Other CE Requirements
Additional state-mandated CE requirements for dentists include a one-time AIDS education course for initial licensing only, and 7 to 18 hours of anesthesia training every three to five years depending on the type of anesthesia administered in the dental office.

For further information contact the Dental Quality Assurance Commission in Olympia at (360) 236-4861

Retention of Records

How long should we keep the patients records is often the dilemma facing our members. You hear the insurance companies recommending keeping the records in definitively. With storage space being at premium what other reasonable options are there? I have consulted the Dental Laws and Rules section at the WSDA web site. The practitioners are required by the State Law to keep patients records for five years.

However they continue on with this statement:

• “The extent to which an individual practitioner wishes to retain records beyond five years is a matter of judgment. The reasons a practitioner might decide to keep the records longer could include:
• The statute of limitations may extend beyond three years. For minors or incompetent patients, the statute of limitations does not begin until adulthood.
• The general statute of limitations is three years from discovery of the problem or the time it should have been discovered. There may be circumstances where the problem does not become apparent for some time.

Ultimately, the decision concerning retention of records beyond statutory requirements rests with the individual practitioner. The factors involved in this decision include: the law, the statute of limitations, and malpractice issues.

The dentist should consult legal advice on this matter if the situation is warranted.”

How about this scenario:

Let say we start treatment of a 8 year old child that at 18 years of age decides to raise a claim of malpractice. He or she will have 3 years past their legal age to file before general statue of limitations expires. In this case you would like to keep the records for at least 13 years.

How long to keep the orthodontic records?

Again no clear answer is available because the statue of limitations is not clearly defined. You can ask your lawyer, or you can do your own math and compromise to what you think would work for you or…did we say…. ask your lawyer.

I.Baker