The latest news from Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, and New York Colorado AOPA has received reports from several members indicating significant delays in the prior authorization process for orthotics and prosthetics by Colorado Medicaid. Additionally, reports indicate that Colorado…
Author: Yelena Mazur
Spring 2019 Tech Tips
O&P Technician Education & Training By Ruthie H. Dearing, MHSA, JD Enter the O&P lab at Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) and you instantly realize this is not your typical classroom. Individual work benches, strewn with tools of the trade,…
Spring 2019 O&P Visionary: Eve Lee, MBA, CAE, Executive Director of AOPA
The recent indictments in fraudulent Medicare schemes are a step in the right direction… On March 28, 2019, AOPA released a statement strongly criticizing the use of lead generation marketing to deliver orthotic devices to patients covered by Medicare or…
Spring 2019 Research: A Retrospective Analysis of CROW Appointment Frequency
Charcot Restraint Orthotic Walker (CROW) orthoses represent a unique and complex category of orthotic management. CROW orthoses affect the patient’s functional gait pattern, by restricting motion in the encompassed Charcot joint(s), as well as offload any existing ulceration and provide…
Spring 2019 O&P News Cover Story: Reimbursement in O&P: A Changing of the Tide?
For many years, the O&P profession has grappled with the challenges of an outdated payment model that does not always support the provision of care necessary for the best patient outcomes. O&P professionals routinely justify low margins on some delivered…
January/ February 2019 Tech Tips
A Bright Future—Technicians Needed By Joanna Kenton, CPO, LPO, FAAOP On Aug. 21, 2017, the day of the “great American solar eclipse,” I began my career as a prosthetic technician instructor. While America was out sporting their eclipse glasses, I…
January/ February 2019 State by State
The latest news from Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, and Vermont Arkansas AOPA members have reported that a private payor is denying authorization unless the O&P provider lowers the patient’s K level. The reported negotiation tactic is arbitrary and unsupported by…
January/ February 2019 O&P Visionary
Jack Richmond, CPOA President and chief executive officer of the Amputee Coalition offers his vision of a perfect day in the O&P profession When I was asked to write about my vision for the perfect day for O&P, I…
January/ February 2019 Research: Vertical + Horizontal TLSO Treatment in a Skeletally Immature Patient with Scoliosis
Case Study: Vertical + Horizontal TLSO Treatment in a Skeletally Immature Patient With Scoliosis By Debra Auten, CPO, LPO Nonoperative scoliosis treatment has long included the side-bending technique. In the late 1970s, C. Ralph Hooper Jr., CPO, and Frederick E.…
January/ February 2019 Cover Story: Compliance Monitoring for Scoliosis Brace Treatment
Compliance Monitoring for Scoliosis Brace Treatment By Jennifer Johansson, MS The goal of brace treatment for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is to stop the progression of the curve as bracing does not typically reduce the degree of the…