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Will your practice be in compliance in 2020? Multiple state and federal agencies are charged with regulating dental practices, and it can seem challenging to stay ahead of regulatory compliance processes. As you shop and prepare for the year ahead, it’s critical to be informed of environmental regulations that impact your practice.

Claims of discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination aren’t unique to large corporations. Federal discrimination lawsuits against Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company and Wal-Mart tend to make the headlines with their multimillion-dollar settlements, but under the protection of state laws, California workers at smaller companies, including dental practices, can file lawsuits claiming that their legal rights as employees have been violated. And they do.

Protections for nursing mothers in California were significantly expanded under a bill signed into law in October by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Senate Bill 142 clarifies employer obligations to provide breaks and safe, private locations that include specified accommodations. The bill increases penalties for noncompliance and requires that employers implement a written lactation accommodation policy beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

The IRS on Dec. 5 released a significantly revised Form W-4 for employees’ use when calculating their 2020 federal income tax withholding. the IRS in May issued a first draft seeking comments from tax preparers and payroll companies. For the 2019 tax year, there are no withholding allowances, and “allowances” was removed from the title of the form to reflect this change.

The December issue of the Journal of the California Dental Association features research conducted by dental students on minimally invasive veneer restorations, titanium-oxide nanoparticles and nanofibers, changes in orthodontic patients using clear aligners versus fixed appliances, medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, and more.

The ubiquity of cellphone use puts employers in a difficult spot. See how phone use can bring up questions of productivity, professionalism and privacy in a dental office setting, and how to develop and enforce appropriate policies.

Health care providers can expect to see major revisions to the Medi-Cal program over the next couple of years as a result of a new initiative by the Department of Health Care Services. Released in late October, the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) proposal will implement “broader delivery system, program and payment reform across the Medi-Cal Program,” according to the proposal summary.

From a young age, Matthew Mecheal, DDS, has been sure about two things: his passion for helping others and his love for dentistry. Through the years, he never lost sight of his goals or the values that were instilled in him many years ago. As an advocate for the underserved and this year’s recipient of the CDA Foundation’s Student Loan Repayment Grant, Dr. Mecheal plans to focus on his personal objective to improve the oral health of underserved communities and minimize barriers to care.

CDA Practice Support receives hundreds of calls each year concerning the coordination of benefits when a patient has more than one dental plan for coverage. Standard COB allows secondary dental plans to pay up to 100% of the covered service, i.e., the primary plan pays the service at 80%, and the secondary could pick up the remaining 20%. Here, CDA’s dental benefits analyst covers the COB basics and answers common questions members have about COB.