Value-Based Care Without the Buzzwords: Practical Steps in Dentistry with Caitlin Walsdorf

Kinda Different is back with a practical conversation with Caitlin Walsdorf from Healthscape Advisors about where dental innovation is really happening, why “value-based care” fatigue is real, and how rebuilding trust across payers, providers, employers, and patients opens the path to better benefits and better health.

What we cover

▸ The state of dental benefits and why oral health is finally getting real attention

▸ Concrete innovations making a dent: diagnostics, smart devices, saliva and microbiome testing, AI, and enablement tech

▸ Why the words “value-based care” turn people off, and better ways to make progress with pilots and shared goals

▸ The payer–provider–patient triangle, plus the employer’s role, and how to align incentives without creating new friction

▸Medicare Advantage benefits season and what MA design signals for seniors’ oral health

▸Trust as the system’s missing infrastructure and how to rebuild it

▸Making care more human through shared decision making, plain-language explanations, and access to your own data

Five takeaways

1. Oral health is no longer “ancillary.” It is connected to overall wellness and deserves modern benefit design that proves ROI to employers and government programs.

2. Progress beats perfection. Pilot with a single payer–provider partnership, learn fast, and share results so the industry can iterate.

3. Trust drives adoption. Patients need price clarity and agency. Payers and providers need to assume positive intent and measure outcomes together.

4. MA is a bellwether. Watch how dental is packaged for seniors to anticipate design shifts and member expectations across segments.

5. Human beats hype. Shared decision making and plain language build confidence faster than any new acronym.

About Caitlin Walsdorf

Caitlin is a partner at HealthScape Advisors, focused on ancillary markets. She has worked on the front lines of payer strategy and supplemental benefits, including a widely cited survey on value-based care readiness across dental.