The National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP) hosted an informational luncheon on August 5 to discuss transitions of care for Medicare beneficiaries with amputations. Current literature indicates that a significant gap in care often occurs during the transition from acute medical treatment to prosthetic rehabilitation.
Topics included identifying challenges in post-amputation care transitions, O&P policies that affect timely access to quality care, and potential solutions.
The event included more than 30 participants from O&P organizations and other stakeholders in the continuum of care for people following amputations with a goal of building a wider alliance of interested stakeholders. It was coordinated by Elijah Brummond, NAAOP’s 2026 Breece Fellow, following his Drake University capstone project on the subject.
Preliminary research indicates that only 31 percent of people with lower-limb amputations with Medicare coverage use a prosthetic device to ambulate, and 61 percent of beneficiaries with limb loss die within four years of limb loss, versus 20 percent of all traditional Medicare beneficiaries. This data underscores a gap in patient care, NAAOP said, and the lack of prosthetic care detracts from the patient’s ability to return to post-amputation levels of health, function, mobility, and independent living.
