Baxter Baker attorney Danielle Vranian presented on the often-debated definition of “practice dentistry” as it relates to the 1937 Dental Practice Act. Her presentation stated that SB 371 has proposed to change the definition of practice dentistry to “be an owner, manager, or an operator in any place in which a dental service or dental operation is performed intra-orally.”
This expansion also proposes to legislate compensation and how dental practices pay Dental Support Organizations (“DSOs”). The division of revenues or compensation should be what a dentist and DSO agree to – a business decision not defined by a dental board or legislative definition of dentistry. Ultimately, Danielle proposed that the definition should change to remove all non-clinical items from it – namely all “owner”, “operator”, “proprietor”, and “manager” language should be stricken. This modification modernizes the Dental Practice Act and brings it into alignment with all other practice acts in the State of Maryland.
Danielle is an attorney at Baxter Baker who takes a lead role in testifying before various State Senate and House of Delegate committees. She writes legislation and amendments to proposed legislation and counsels clients on potential legislative changes, the pros and cons of that legislation and the feasibility of accomplishing the clients’ goals within that legislative framework. Additionally, Danielle counsels clients on the impact of legislative changes proposed by the clients’ opponents and acts as a lead counsel in disciplinary matters before various state health care licensing boards.
