Ossur Launches Affiliated Facilities Program

"It's good for the O&P industry; it's good for the amputee; it's good for referral sources. It's a win-win all the way around."

Thus Ossur North America President Gary Wertz described Ossur's new Affiliated Facilities Program, which kicked off April 1.

More than 625 O&P facilities across the country joined the program during its charter membership period, January 1-March 31.

The program provides the power and resources of national marketing initiatives to facilities that separately wouldn't be able to plan or afford them. The idea for the program was born "when quite a few customers told us that they would like to market to referral sources but didn't quite know how to go about it or that they didn't have the resources," Wertz said.

Marketing strategies are targeting referral sources, including orthopedic and vascular surgeons, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, physical therapists, case managers, and amputee consumers. Marketing avenues include display ads in major professional journals, participating and exhibiting at various national professional conventions, educational workshops and seminars, and direct mailings. Affiliated facilities also are provided with marketing materials to use locally for referral sources and consumers.

Ossur provides a Facility Locator Guide for referral sources and others. The Locator Guide also is featured on Ossur's Affiliated Facility website ( www.ossur.com/affiliates ). Users can click on a state on a US map or click on a list of states on the right. Referral sources and consumers can also locate a facility by calling 800.233.6263.

To assist patients in financing, Ossur has made an arrangement for preferential service with MediCredit®, a company which provides installment payment options for various types of medical and rehabilitative care. As Wertz noted, even a Medicare patient may have to pay $2,000 of the cost of a $10,000 prosthesis-a substantial amount of money to put down at one time. Other insurance copays (or cases in which the patient has no insurance or his insurance does not cover prosthetic care) can even be a higher proportion of the cost. Among MediCredit options for patients is 12-month interest-free financing.

Ossur also has made an arrangement with Acc-Q-Data, a firm specializing in electronic billing and claims handling, for its associated facilities to use the service at a discounted rate.

Ossur Affiliated Facilities are not required to use Ossur products exclusively. However, to be part of the program, each facility has to have at least $12,000 in annualized sales with Ossur in the last year, and the sales have to include a mix of Ossur liners, knees, and feet-not one product category exclusively-which demonstrates that the facility's practitioners are proficient in fitting each type of product. The goal is to encourage facilities to use what is best for the patient, not simply whatever is the cheapest or the most money-making for the company, Wertz stressed.

To build "brand awareness" of their identity as Ossur Affiliated Facilities, the associated O&P companies are required to display Ossur Affiliated Facility decals on their buildings and use the logo on business cards and promotional materials. Facilities also must display Ossur's patient brochure in their waiting rooms.

To qualify and maintain membership, facilities must be accredited by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics & Prosthetics (ABC) or pass an Ossur audit with requirements which parallels those of ABC, Wertz said. "That way, we are comfortable that they are a quality facility," he added. Practitioners also must regularly attend Ossur Academy courses, including one in the last 24 months.

Charter membership fees were: one-three facilities: $750 a year; four-ten facilities: $1,500 a year; 11-30 facilities: $3,000 a year. Companies can still join the program; however, the membership costs are now double.

Commenting on the program's philosophy, Wertz said, "We really believe that amputees should get the prosthetic devices that are best for them. They should have every advantage."

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