The Business of O&P - September 2019
Feature
Transitioning Your Practice to a New Generation
By Tara McMeekin
Family-owned practices have been an integral part of the O&P profession for decades. Many of these businesses have seen generation after generation pass through their doors. For all of the benefits and rewards of private and family practices, owne...
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O&P Ten Years Later, Part Three: Raising the Bar in O&P Education and Professional Standards
By Judith Philipps Otto
In early 2009, O&P experts identified trends most likely to impact the profession during the next decade and discussed challenges that lay ahead for its professionals and suppliers. Our three-part follow-up began in January, as we revisited their...
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Who Has the Power?
By John T. Brinkmann, MA, CPO/L, FAAOP(D)
For a number of years, I provided O&P services to inmates in the largest medium security correctional institution in our state. Entering and exiting the facility involved the expected security measures, but prisoners were allowed to move within th...
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DMEPOS Proposed Rule Expands O&P Prior Authorization, Underscores Need for Legislation to Separate O&P From DME
By Peter W. Thomas, JD, and Joseph Nahra
On July 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule containing updates to durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) regulations. This annual process does not typically impact O&P c...
More...Academy Society Spotlight
Dynamic Stability and Cognitive Burden: Are We Properly Evaluating the Benefits of Microprocessor Knees and Feet?
By Seth O’Brien, CP, FAAOP
As microprocessor-controlled knees (MPK) and feet (MPF) are established as the standard of care for people with lower-limb amputations, it is crucial that the clinical benefits of the devices be accurately described and fully understood. MPKs prod...
More...Stepping Out
Leg Length Discrepancy
By Séamus Kennedy, BEng (Mech), CPed
Leg length discrepancy (LLD) is a diagnosis that appears deceptively simple, one limb being shorter than the other. However, there is more to the apparent difference in limb length than meets the eye, and sometimes an almost imperceptible differen...
More...Better Business
Weathering the Storm: How One O&P Partnership Has Flourished
By Linda Williams
In an industry that has seen many solo practices close over the last decade, Progressive Orthotics and Prosthetics, Albertson, New York, has marked a milestone: 20 years in business. Progressive O&P is a business partnership between Sal Martella,...
More...Clinical Issues
UCHealth’s Limb Restoration Program: Returning Patients to Their Optimal Self
By Betta Ferrendelli
Early every Wednesday morning in the Anschutz Inpatient Pavilion on the Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, a team of multidisciplinary professionals meet to review and discuss complex cases of patients who face a host of serious...
More...Perspective
Patient Referrals: What Is Unethical?
By Bonni Wilke
I have worked on the administrative side of O&P practices for over 20 years. It is not a secret that certain physicians prefer to refer patients to specific O&P practices. There are many reasons why the physician may have a preference.
More...On Topic
Create Raving Fans
By Erin Cammarata
Earlier this year I attended a Tony Robbins five-day business mastery seminar. It was an intense and amazing experience. I learned a ton, took pages of notes, and met some amazing people.
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Editor's Note - September 2019
By Andrea Spridgen
This issue of The O&P EDGE focuses on the business side of the profession, and like the technology used to enhance patients' lives, it too is always evolving. One trend facing the profession is the number of practitioners approaching retir...
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