What the Academy’s Role in the Alliance Means to Its Members and O&P Professionals

In February, we introduced the first of our series of articles about the Orthotic and Prosthetic Alliance (O&P Alliance) to highlight united advocacy efforts in the profession. This issue features reflections about the role of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists (the Academy) in the Alliance. The primary focus of the Academy, a professional membership organization, is providing the quality continuing education its members want and need. In addition, the Academy has always sought to keep its members informed of the congressional and federal regulatory issues impacting them, even when government affairs were not a front-burner issue. The Academy's leadership understands that issues like reimbursement are crucial to the health of the profession and our members as they strive to deliver the highest quality of care to their patients. Beginning in the early 2000s, the government and private-sector insurance companies talked more and more about trying to curtail rising healthcare costs in the nation. This made it more important for the Academy to speak out and protect the profession. Therefore, the Academy very seriously considered a 2005 proposal to join in an alliance with other O&P organizations and ultimately agreed to participate. The Academy was pleased to become a founding member of the O&P Alliance. The Academy viewed the Alliance as a way to enhance service to its members and make their views more clearly known to Congress and federal agencies like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). We also agreed with the other founding members of the Alliance that this was a good way for the profession, as a whole, to speak to the government with one voice. Orthotics and prosthetics is a small field. The Academy has grown and now represents nearly 3,500 professionals. Still, the part of our field with the most money is the manufacturing and business sector, represented by the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA). Often when dealing with the government, those with the most money have the most clout. Yet since our field is small, the sister organizations, as we call ourselves-the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics (ABC), AOPA, the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP), and the Academy-felt that speaking with one voice was crucial to moving the entire field forward. What began as an Alliance of four sister organizations became five after the Board of Certification/Accreditation (BOC) raised its certification requirements to match those of ABC and was voted into the Alliance. The Academy, which represents individual professionals, recognized that Alliance members will not always see things the same way. So it was important to us that the Alliance would only be the voice of O&P if we all agree on what is to be said. If one of the organizations isn't comfortable with a position of the other four, then the Alliance won't speak out on the issue, but the individual organization can do so on its own. What has occurred, and I think has been good for the profession, is that we have agreed on about 95 percent of the issues that have come up. The major work of the Alliance has been on the regulatory side. There has actually been relatively little lobbying, but many efforts have been made to educate members of Congress about what O&P is and what its professionals do. A large part of the Alliance work is focused on issues such as reimbursement, competitive bidding, and what constitutes the education and training needed for a professional to serve those in need of O&P care. Congress will continue to debate healthcare over the next decade. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the continued focus on how to reduce healthcare costs, Alliance members will have to be even more vigilant in protecting the profession and people's right to quality O&P care. With advancements in technology occurring almost daily, it is more important than ever to ensure that only well-educated professionals who are fairly reimbursed for their work provide O&P care to patients who will be living longer and want to maintain full and active lifestyles. Editor's note: All member organizations of the O&P Alliance will be given the opportunity to submit their perspective about their involvement in the organization. Views expressed by the individual associations do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or publisher.

What the Academy’s Role in the Alliance Means to Its Members and O&P Professionals

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