On October 2, the PrimeCare O&P Network launched its first “Initiating Mobility Provider Relations Executives Seminar” (imPRES). Held at the Westin Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, the seminar was an opportunity for provider-relations executives, medical directors, and nurse life-care planners to get to know each other and several of PrimeCare’s board members, and for presenters to inform and educate these executives about prosthetics and orthotics.
Clint Snell, CPO, president of Snell’s Orthotics and Prosthetics, Shreveport, Louisiana, said, “I was very excited to see the insurance professionals that attended get an overview and detailed information on new technology in the prosthetics and orthotics fields. This is the first opportunity that I have seen to actually answer any questions that the insurance professionals may have on orthotics and prosthetics and have a good feeling about developing a beneficial relationship for both.”
Dan Oglesby, CPO, president of Birmingham Limb and Brace, Alabama, concurred. “As a business owner, president of a state association, and state licensing-board member, I consider myself knowledgeable on what is going on in our industry,” he said. “A strong point was made at imPRES that the independent provider of orthotics and prosthetics is key to the quality of future care.”
Presenter Byron Backus, CP, clinical specialist in prosthetics at Otto Bock HealthCare, Minneapolis, Minnesota, commented, “The conference was a wonderful opportunity for case managers and professionals in the insurance field to come together with members of the O&P industry to share ideas and information, especially with regard to new technology in the field. I enjoyed speaking about the microprocessor knee and how it changes the lives of patients. The sharing of this information with both the insurance industry and peers in the O&P profession is a benefit to all.”
Cathie Pruitt, PrimeCare president, said that imPRES is “part of our ongoing strategy to support independent facilities. We are committed to educating the decision makers at the managed-care organizations and will continue to build on October’s seminar. We are expecting this meeting to grow, similar to the growth our PrimeFare meetings have enjoyed.”
Jane Edwards, vice president of operations for PrimeCare, said, “This initial meeting opened a lot of doors for us to provide additional training, internally to case managers, adjusters, utilization-review staff, and others in managed-care organizations, as well as the provider-relations executives. As a result of this first foray into this type of education, we have had invitations from at least a half dozen managed-care organizations to provide seminars to their staffs. We are currently developing modules for this training, which will begin in second quarter, 2010.”
Aaron Sorensen, president of O&P Billing Solutions and of Restorative Health Services, both headquartered in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, concluded, “The imPRES seminar was a needed bridge in connecting different payer representatives to today’s O&P technology. I feel it was a success and a great foundation to build off of for future seminars.”
According to Pruitt, the next imPRES seminar is scheduled for the first week in October 2010 in Memphis.
For more information, contact PrimeCare at 888.388.5243 or www.primecareop.com
