the care digest vol 2 issue 2 (6-26-08)

8/14/2019 The Care Digest Vol 2 Issue 2 (6-26-08)

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Improving the Qual ity of Your Life is O ur Primary Concern ! Vol2. Issue 2 2008

Care Digest ... keeping you informed about whats going on in the prosthetic and orthotic industry right here in St. Louisand around the world!

Care DigestTheThe

P&O Care Plans to Open New Festus Office!

Prosthetic and Orthotic Care has decided to open anew office across from Jefferson Memorial Hospital at1479 US Hwy 61 Suite D, Festus, MO, 63028. The newlocation will enable P&O Care to better serve itscurrent patients and provide more localized servicefor rural Missourians who otherwise would have to

travel to St. Louis.Certified prosthetists and orthotists will be availableevery day of the work week, and a full-servicefabrication laboratory will be running out of the newfacility. P&O Care has decided to call this new officetheir Jefferson County Care Center, and will refer totheir Missouri and Illinois locations as the St. LouisCounty Care Center and the St. Clair County CareCenter respectively. From Festus, P&O Care will havebetter access to outlying towns like Potosi, De Soto,Farmington, St. Genevieve, Chester (IL), Perryville,and Cape Girardeau.

Jim Weber, President of P&O Care, says he hopes to have the new facility in operation by August. Untilthen, the St. Louis County Care Center in Des Peres will continue to service the southern region as well.

P&O Care Prosthetists Are Accredited Providersof the New i-Limb Hand and Proprio Foot

Manny Rivera and Dan Luitjohan from P&O Care have become accreditedproviders of the new i-Limb hand by Touch Bionics. Additionally, Riveraand Luitjohan join P&O Care prosthetists Jon Wilson, Greg Doerr, andMaggie Ware-Smith in becoming accredited in Ossurs new Proprio Foot.

The i-Limb hand is the first prosthetic hand with individually movingdigits, so it can hold a penny, turn a key, punch cell phone keys, or pick up

a coffee mug. Touch Bionics manufactures the monumental prosthetic, which moves muchmore naturally, from Scotland. The only downside seems to be its costs and that it is not yetcovered by Medicare or private insurance.

The Proprio Foot, manufactured by Ossur, offers the first "bionic" ankle, with computerizedsensors and a tiny motor that adjusts the angle of the foot to the angle of the incline on which

a person is walking. The Proprio enables below-knee amputees to walk much morenaturally up and down ramps and hills or over uneven terrain than they couldwith even the best traditional non-bionic foot. Unfortunately, it is also expensiveand difficult so far to get third party payment for, but that may be changing soon.

The i-Limb hand by Touch Bionics

Ossurs Proprio Foot

JeffersonMemorialHospital

Jefferson County

Care Center

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Parity Update....Prosthetic Parity Bill Passes Out of MO Senate Insurance Committee

Members of the Missouri Coalition for People with Limb Loss (MCPLL) and amputees from across

the Show Me State showed up in Jefferson City on April 1 to support the Prosthetic Parity Bill beforeHouse and Senate Committees.Representing P & O Care were Jon Wilson, Clinical

Director; Mark Woodson, Director of Fabrication;and Bill McLellan, Director of Sales andMarketing.

Four witnesses testified before the SenateSmall Business and Insurance Committee,chaired by Senator Lowden: Dr. John Rush,Medical Director for Hanger Orthopedic;Mark Wilson, President of Prosthetic andOrthotic Design, Inc., in St. Louis; JeffDamerall, Chairman of the MCPLL; andSecretary of the Coalition Jean Freeman.

Dr. Rush, a national expert on prostheticparity, flew in to testify on many of the more technical issues. Wilson testified that as a small businessowner, he was not given the option of purchasing health insurance that did notinclude ridiculously low caps on prosthetic coverage. Damerall testified abouthis personal experience losing both his legs below the knee to meningitis whilea freshman at Truman State University. Damerall said that while he had goodinsurance through his father at the time, he is fighting for everyone whodoesn't. Now that he is on his own and working as a lawyer for a small firm,Damerall must pay approximately $16,000 every 3-5 years to have his twolegs replaced. Finally, Freeman brought the whole room to the verge of tears,telling how caps on her prosthetic coverage force her to hope that the various

parts of her prosthesis don't wear out at once. "As an amputee, I am beingdiscriminated against!" she explained.

That evening before the House committee, P&O Care's Jon Wilson represented the state's prosthetists."Surgeons often ask me to speak with patients before they loose their limbs, often to convince themthat it's worth an amputation to save their life. I tell them I can help them walk again," Wilson said."But later, when they're ready for the prosthesis, I have to be the one to tell them that their insurancewon't pay for it. When they need health insurance the most, it isn't there."

After the hearings, the Senate version of the Prosthetic Parity Bill was attached to a bill for autism,and the Senate Health Insurance Committee voted the new bill due pass.

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Supporters of the Prosthetic Parity Bill in Jefferson City, MO

BBQ and Washer Toss for Prosthetic ParityHosted by :

The Missouri Coalition for People with Limb Loss (MCPLL)

Food and Fun are FREE...but donations are greatly appreciated!

Saturday August 9, 20084:00-8:00pm

Des Peres City Park Pavilion1501 New Ballas Rd

Des Peres, MO 63131

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Practitioner Profile........Shawn McAdams, ABC Certified Orthotist

Shawn McAdams graduated from Northwestern Medical School's Orthotics

and Prosthetics Practitioner Program in 2005, and he has worked in the fieldsince he became an orthotic and prosthetic technician in 2001. He completedhis residency in orthotics with C. H. Martin Co. in Macon, GA before joiningthe care team at P&O Care in July 2007.

Shawn got into the P&O field to help people just like himself. "In Novemberof 2000, I fell and broke my back so that I could no longer do a laborers job.

Through a vocational rehabilitation program, I was able to get retrained,so I went to school to become an orthotic and prosthetic technician.

I knew that I wanted to help people directly with their needs ratherthan in an indirect way with fabrication, so I went back to school

for my bachelors degree and then on to Northwestern Universityto become a CPO. Recently, Shawn passed his board exams

to become an ABC Certified Orthotist, the highest level ofcertification in the profession.

"First, I became a technician because I wanted to makethe tools for people to have a better life. Then, I became apractitioner because I wanted to see the smiling face of thepatient using the tools that I had designed. I like to helppeople achieve peace of mind. When someone is hurting,they tend to focus on that hurt. If I can help relieve that

hurt, then they can focus on other things in life that makethem happy and fulfilled."

Shawn McAdamsABC Certified Orthotist

Update....

Oscar Pistorius Allowed to Run in the 2008 Olympic Games

Oscar Pistorius, the now-famous double BK amputee from South Africa, won his appealbefore the world's highest court for athletics, the Court ofArbitration for Sport. He can now compete in Beijing this summerwith able-bodied sprinters in his best event, the 400m, so long ashe qualifies with a time of at least 45.95 seconds.

After hearing of his victory in court, Pistorius said, I am thrilledwith the panel's findings and hope that it silences many of thecrazy theories that have been circulating in recent months aboutmy having an unfair advantage.

One test in particular that was used to show the unfair advantage he hadwas a measure of the volume of oxygen he used on straight-of-ways afteraccelerating. The problem with this is that volume of oxygen used measuresaerobic energy, whereas the 400m dash is mostly an anaerobic sprint.

Pistorius explains, My focus throughout this appeal has been to ensurethat disabled athletes be given the chance to compete and competefairly with able-bodied athletes. I look forward to continuing myquest to qualify for the Olympics. Oscar Pistorius and his sprinting legs

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To comment on these stories and read more visit us at our blog,CareDigest.Blogspot.com

Or

Contact Bill McLellan: 314.779.4641 [email protected]

Missouri care Center1074 Old Des Peres Road

Des Peres, MO 63131314-775-2041

Illinois care Center13 Executive Dr., Suite 13

Fairview Heights, IL 622081-800-871-5237

Get connected to individuals and professionals with interests and questions just like yours.

www.PandOCare.com

Prosthetic & Orthotic Care, Inc

1074 Old Des Peres RoadDes Peres, MO 63131

314-775-2041

Care DigestThe

Whats Next for Parity in MO?

So far, funding for parity efforts have come from prosthetic companies in St. Louis.Between now and January, the MCPLL will be continuing to raise awareness andfunds from organizations and individuals who understand the need for parity in

prosthetic coverage for working amputees. A BBQ will be held later this summerand a trivia night is being planned for the fall.

The MCPLL will pre-file its parity bill in December before the legislative sessionbegins in January. Visit www.molimbloss.blogspot.com for information on howyou can get involved.

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the care digest vol 2 issue 2 (6-26-08)

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