METLIFE ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

METLIFE ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Apr 27, 2010

Dental Offices Can More Easily Obtain Training to Handle Emergency Situations

New York, NY, April 27, 2010

MetLife, a leading provider of employee benefits that provides dental plan administration for over 21 million people, today announced an agreement with the Institute of Medical Emergency Preparedness (IMEP) that makes it easier for dentists and their staff to avail themselves of important, potentially life-saving information in preparation for medical emergencies occurring on their premises. Through a membership arrangement, IMEP, created by doctors to promote safe patient care in the dental setting, helps dental offices prepare for potential emergencies that could occur while patients are in their care, through online continuing education programs and monthly emergency drills.

Through the agreement, MetLife is the only dental carrier able to offer its dental preferred provider organization (DPPO) and dental health maintenance organization (DHMO) providers a discounted membership in IMEP.

“The work that IMEP does to prepare dental offices for medical emergencies is invaluable, and MetLife encourages all of our DPPO and DHMO network providers to take advantage of these services with over 40% discounted membership. The IMEP membership is a complement to MetLife’s Quality Initiatives Program, which is dedicated to promoting improved oral health and safe environments for care through education and research. For dental offices, it provides an opportunity to earn continuing education credits for staying on top of the latest research and techniques in the field of dentistry,” said Dr. David Guarrera, vice president, MetLife Dental Products.

“It is exciting to have the opportunity to work with MetLife, which has a long-standing commitment to providing the dental community with quality educational resources, recognized by the American Dental Association and Academy of General Dentistry. Working with MetLife is a key step to continuing IMEP’s mission to making medical emergency preparedness a core competency in dental offices,” said Dr. John Roberson, IMEP co-founder.

According to IMEP, the first ten minutes following a medical emergency are critical to the individual's chances for survival. The IMEP membership enhances a dental office’s preparedness to manage the medical emergency in those crucial moments.

The IMEP continuing education topics focus on the following areas:

  • medical emergencies
  • airway emergencies and equipment
  • anesthesia emergencies
  • emergency medications
  • basic life support
  • advanced cardiovascular life support
  • pediatric advanced life support
  • emergency response team development
  • emergency action planning and documentation
     

With an IMEP membership, dentists can build a training team with up to 20 members who can participate in 12 monthly mock emergency drills, have online access around the clock to more than 30 medical emergency specialty tests, and can earn up to 53 continuing education credits per year.

For additional information about the IMEP membership discount, dentists can visit www.emergencyactionguide.com/metlife.

About IMEP
IMEP is an innovative leader for dental healthcare professionals and their team members in preparing for medical emergencies within the dental field. IMEP is recognized by national and state organizations and associations across the United States as the preferred provider of medical emergency preparedness. The goal of IMEP is to make Medical Emergency Preparedness a core competency in every dental office; and through enabling education, prepare the dental healthcare professional and their team to respond calmly, effectively and efficiently during the extremely critical time period between the onset of an emergency incident and the arrival of EMS professionals. These skills may be the difference in the life of a patient and the preservation of your practice. For more information, please visit www.emergencyactionguide.com.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. is a leading provider of insurance, employee benefits and financial services with operations throughout the United States and the Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife, Inc. reaches more than 70 million customers around the world and MetLife is the largest life insurer in the United States (based on life insurance in-force). The MetLife companies offer life insurance, annuities, auto and home insurance, retail banking and other financial services to individuals, as well as group insurance and retirement & savings products and services to corporations and other institutions. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.