Working

by Tom Molony

Christine Farrell, RDH, BSDH

If you ask Christine Farrell, RDH, BSDH, of Lansing, Michigan, what she does for a living, you can expect a long pause followed by an even longer answer. Though, for the past 11 years, her job title with the Michigan Department of Community Health has been Medicaid dental program specialist. However, according to Farrell, those few words do not even begin to indicate the amount of work she does to ensure oral health and health care for the people of Michigan.

Farrell started thinking about a dental hygiene career in 1978, as an undergraduate with an undecided major at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "I liked the medical/health care field [but] wasn't sure what I wanted to go into," Farrell recalls. "I was home on a break [when] the neighbor next door, who was a hygienist, said 'You really ought to check into what the roles [of a dental hygienist] are.'" Farrell did just that and discovered that she liked the health care setting, the people, and the prevention aspect.

After she graduated in 1981 with a degree in dental hygiene, Farrell started her clinical career in a private dental practice. Following some changes in her family life, she moved on to working in an oral health care clinic while substituting as a dental hygienist in other area clinics. By 1987, she had landed at the Ann Arbor Veteran's Administration (VA) Hospital, working part-time in the hospital's dental clinic, as well as in a nursing home. During her employment at the VA, Farrell attended a meeting where she met up with an old classmate who was working with Medicaid for the state of Michigan. Farrell's interest was piqued, and she researched how to go about qualifying and applying for a similar position.

The agency had had a hiring freeze for a long time, but an opportunity presented itself, Farrell says, "and that's the end of the story." In 1988, she took the job working for the state. "I don't know if I went looking for [the job], or if it came looking for me, but private practice wasn't for me."

Farrell worked her first four years with the state as a Medicaid utilization analyst, reviewing medical and dental claims. She then got a position as a hearings officer holding administrative hearings on audit and insurance-related collection cases, before moving into her current job as a program specialist in the department of community health. "I don't work 100% on dental," she says, referring to the chiropractic and laboratory areas covered by Medicaid for which she is also responsible. "I look at the policies and procedures for what Medicaid covers for children, adult programs, and reimbursement rates. The last couple of years I've been dealing with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and how it affects the organization. All the Medicaid claims come through our administration. I like the variety, a lot," mentioning that this is still only the tip of the iceberg in light of what her job title entails.

Recently, Farrell also became the contract manager for a program called "Healthy Kids Dental." The state of Michigan and the Delta Dental insurance company entered into a contract under which Delta administers the Medicaid benefits to children under the age of 21 in 37 counties throughout Michigan. With many more responsibilities falling under her current title, Farrell's reply to her workload is that "it's been quite busy the last couple of years."

Farrell also is still active in her local component and serves on the American Dental Hygienists' Association Council on Public Relations. In addition, she is a board member for the Michigan Public Health Association.

In her spare time, Farrell spends her Saturdays as a part-time pharmacy technician in her hometown while also pursuing a master's degree in public health from her alma mater.

This edition of Working was prepared by Tom Molony.