The original question was: Have any of you run the numbers? We typically see our cranial kids back for monthly follow ups with a few exceptions. What percentage of babies after initial fitting, in your experience or knowledge, return in less than a month for an adjustment? Exceptions are; VPN shunt, craniosynostosis after initial fitting and age 4 months or under are followed up after 2 weeks.
In our hospital department, we have families often driving in from far away. Sometimes 3 hours or more as we are the only viable place to obtain the service. That and the fact that we simply don’t have the staff to schedule every baby for 2-week helmet checks. Additionally, most of our infants are >6 months of age when they start therapy and we are continually encouraging providers around the state to refer earlier. We ran the numbers and 15% return for an adjustment following the initial fitting of the CRO. Overall 6% made at least 1 additional appointment between the monthly helmet checks. Personally, I think that’s pretty good and better than I expected. The responses I received appear that most babies are being seen every 2 weeks which is not realistic for us. Following are some of the reply comments and summaries:
* One orthotist uses the iButton installed to track compliance.
* Several responders see babies on the younger side at 3 to 4 months and follow up 1 week after fitting then every 2 to 3 weeks.
* Cranial Tech orthotist, seeing babies from 1 month to 18 months old. Scheduled adjustment every week for the ones under 4/5 months old, 2 weeks for 5 to 12 months and 3-4 weeks for 12 months and older. Some of them who were under 5 months, were not growing so fast so just minor adjustments were needed.
It was an interesting little adventure collecting the anecdotal data. We have a successful program here and I didn’t find any reason to make changes except to take more decisive action in getting PCPs to refer sooner rather than later to achieve the best outcomes in the shortest amount of time.
Greg Armstrong, CPO/L
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