The Baltimore Sun chronicles Erika's return to walking in this article.
Recommended Reading
Outcome Measures: Avenues for Optimizing Prosthetic Performance By Vibhor Agrawal, PhD, ATP (Content provided by The O&P EDGE).
Are you optimizing prosthetic performance in your patients? Is improved performance translating into better health for your patients? Are you measuring outcomes to document the health-related benefits of the prostheses you provide to your patients?
The need to measure and evaluate prosthetic outcomes has become a hot topic in the current healthcare environment. Outcome measurements may become a necessity for reimbursement in the near future as some payers are subscribing to the philosophy that anything that was not measured was not done and therefore should not get reimbursed.
Recommended Reading
The Knee-ds of the K2 Transfemoral Amputee By Phil Stevens, MEd, CPO, FAAOP (Content provided by The O&P EDGE).
As part of a recent joint educational effort by the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists (the Academy) and the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), a few colleagues and I were asked to address our processes and preferences in recommending the most appropriate prosthetic knee options for geriatric individuals with K2-level transfemoral amputations. As part of our presentation, my colleagues and I were asked to reference the published literature relative to this clinical question. In preparing that material, several key questions emerged: Are microprocessor-controlled knees (MPKs) appropriate? Can they facilitate a transition to a K3 functional level? Should the consistency and simplicity of a locking knee be considered? Not only does the current body of published evidence provide insight into these important questions, it also does a great deal to inform the prosthetic knee decision-making process.
Recommended Reading
Clinically Relevant Outcome Measures in Orthotics and Prosthetics
By Phil Stevens, MEd, CPO, FAAOP
Natalie Fross, Student Prosthetist
Susan Kapp, MEd, CPO, LPO
(Content provided by The Academy Today)
The culture of third-party reimbursement for medical services is changing. Increasingly, providers throughout the healthcare industry are called upon to validate the benefit and efficacy of the services they provide. As prosthetists and orthotists, we have historically been less scrutinized in this regard, as the tangible devices we supply have often been looked upon as an "outcome" in and of themselves. However, with the growing emphasis on the importance of outcomes assessment, it will become increasingly necessary for clinicians in O&P to be able to select and administer those accepted outcome measures that will best justify our interventions.