Saturday, March 30, 2024

Re: Let’s knock off the crap!

tony barr

To most everyone, its of no surprise, that I agree and applaud Mr. Howell’s courage and fortitude to say what needed to be said about his own colleagues.

It’s the apathy described below by Mr. Howell that is most disturbing. No discussion or outrage on behalf of this group of 3500 “professionals?” has taken place of the recent initiated federal investigation of a major supplier and provider of O&P services. Thisis not the first inevestigation of this industry. The blinders wont work any longer!

This is not only about an investigation of a company, it’s a investigation of your credability and professional ethics.

There is an expression often used to identify some things, “use it or lose it”

For this industry, to be even have a remote opportunity of ever becoming recognized as a legitimate health care profession,each one of you going to have ” to develop it, support it or you’ll lose it.”

To do anything less will not only take you down but the millions of handicapped people that require and deserve compotent O&P services as well.

Shame on you,

Tony

—–Original Message—–
From: Orthotics and Prosthetics List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Greg Howell
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2004 3:15 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [OANDP-L] Let’s knock off the crap!

After reading the posting by, Mr. Ralph Nobbe CPO I find it necessary to help clearly identify what I feel is the major crisis in our industry and stop blaming it on everyone else!

We are industry composed of approximately 3500 practitioners and we serve a population of approximate 3 million amputees per year. Yet we are not able to stand together as healthcare professionals but continue to cut each other throats on a daily basis. Third-party payors are in hog heaven with our industry is that we have been so greedy and territorial that we not have not paid attention to properly organizing and demanding we be treated as healthcare professionals. We and our associations have allowed our elected officials to classify us as vendors. Have you ever wondered why the VA treat just the same as the vendor who delivers little Debbie snack cakes to their facility, that is not the way they treat their physicians, therapists, or any other healthcare related profession. So why do we tolerate this? Why do we not demand to be treated as a healthcare professional, to be paid for office visits, consultations, and travel time to see patients in nursing homes hospitals or homebound? When and is this going to stop. I can tell you this will not stop unless each and every practitioner in this industry gets involved personally, and stop to bitchin about it.

I have had the opportunity through various workers compensation insurance carriers to review claims for them for orthotics in prosthetics for approximately five year’s I am amazed but not surprised to see patients still in the hospital, 14 days postop, and the prosthetists is requesting a C-leg authorization for $75,000. Too many people in our industry have raped and pillaged, and we are now paying the price for that, we have not policed our own field and everybody has just been fighting for themselves and among themselves, and it is about time that we backed off on a masters degree programs, the ultra high tech prosthetics, and the high tech orthotics and get back to the basics,(we can refocus on these issues after we reestablish a sound foundation) we will dye on the vine(we may already be dead), and am not sure that we can even be saved at this point. Unless we go back to our basics , and reorganize ourselves to invest in our futures stop the turf wars, the interprofessional fighting, and demand that the organizations which we pay dues to represent our industry’s are accountable with a focused goal on getting our profession reclassified as a healthcare professional instead of a “vendor” we will live day by day and be ripped apart piece by piece like a patient with metastatic cancer.

I therefore challenge our profession to stop the creative billing, which I have seen thousands in doing these reviews, stop focusing on seeing how much you can squeeze out of a payor and focus at least 10% of your time on trying to change our classification from a “DME vendor” to healthcare professional. Get paid fairly for the work that we do, spend the time necessary with each patient to make them feel important and special, and let’s All get back to a profession that we can enjoy it on a regular basis not just caring for the patient but the entire profession we are in.

I apologize if I’ve offended anybody as this is not my attention I have made several postings with regard to this issue and I am surprised at the amount
of apathy which exists. If you just take a look at the way that the
lawyers
in this country(which I have no love for, and I blame them for being the major contributor destroying the ethics of this country), but they have banded together in a way where are in control of their destiny.
Please comment to the server , as I feel is necessary for all to get involved .

Respectfully .
Greg Howell CPO

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