Dear Colleagues,
No, this is not the same question that has been asked here many times already! I am writing on behalf of a number of my prosthetist colleagues who, along with myself, are facing a funding dilemma with the current Alpha liner conundrum. We all know that WillowWood Express liners, although of a different material than the Alphas are designed to retrofit into sockets made for Alpha liners. This is because their gel durometer and wall thickness profiles match. We are also aware of other manufacturers now making similar products designed to retrofit Alpha liner sockets. However, in our area, the funding authority’s management has long enforced a “lowest cost alternative” policy on prosthetic liners, specifically excluding silicone liners because of their historically higher cost. We are now asking for reimbursement for Express liners (which are the same cost as TPE Alpha’s were), in cases where a patient has an “Alpha” socket and needs replacement liners. These requests are being denied, with the suggested course of action being to retrofit with ALPS, since these are now the only “lowest cost” TPE liners.
I will ask this as an ignorant question with the hope for an overwhelming response: Have you as a prosthetist ever tried to retrofit an ALPS liner into a socket made for an Alpha liner? Were you ever successful at switching liners types or brands (different thickness profiles) while continuing with the same socket? What is your opinion on “retrofitting” a patient with a different liner profile and the chances of success or failure with that?
Thank you for your responses.
Markus Saufferer, B.Sc.(Kin), C.P.(c)
Motion Prosthetics
1145 Dufferin Cres.
Nanaimo, BC
250.591.1816
