Vol.6, No.9

October 2001

Academy's New Type of Meeting a BIG Hit

The Academy's latest education offering, Advanced Training Series, debuted at the end of September to a full house and rave reviews from the participants. The first program of the new series, Overview of Gait Analysis for Prosthetists and Orthotists, was presented in partnership with Northwestern University Prosthetic Orthotic Center in Chicago. Frank H. Bostock, CO, FAAOP, described the course as one where in general "practitioners can expect to leave with a skill they can use when they complete the intensive training."

Evaluations from the course singled out a notable faculty and excellent content as reasons for the success of the course. The faculty included Dr. Childress, Steven Gard, PhD, Stefania Fatone, PhD (Australia), Margrit-Regula Meier, PhD, CPO (Switzerland), Rebecca Stine, MS, Mark Edwards, MS, CP, and Bryan Malas, CO, among others.

Future "short courses" will cover other pertinent O&P skills over two, three, or even four days depending on the subject. Bostock, John Michael, CPO, FAAOP, FISPO, and Dudley Childress, PhD developed the concept of the Advanced Training Courses. Plans are already underway to repeat the course next fall at Northwestern.

CEC-3-2001 Could Be Best Meeting Yet

Promotional mailings for CEC-3 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, CA, November 9-10 proclaim "this meeting is not your typical sit-in-your-chair series of lectures." The planning committee has changed the format such that Day One has four clinical presentations, each about 25 minutes in length. The audience will then divide into groups and rotate through a live practical demonstration by each of the four speakers (round robin style). The unique format will be repeated twice on Day Two with two sessions of four different topics.

The meeting is presented by the Academy and the AAOP Southwest Regional Chapter as a member service. Planners report Academy members will save 34% by registering early.

Complete information on the program and hotel can be found on the Academy's website (www.oandp.org). Online registration for the meeting is also on the website.

New Jersey Chapter Establishes New Award

The New Jersey Chapter of AAOP will host its annual fall meeting November 1-3, 2001 at The Hilton Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Previous meetings in Atlantic City have all been well attended. Three physicians headline the program. Dr. Frank Liggio will speak on The Use of Botox with Neuromuscular Disease and Spasticity, Dr. Joseph Marsicano will cover Advances in Spinal Surgery, and Dr. Heikki Uustal will address Dual Disabilities in Prosthetic Management. This year's format consists of mini-meetings on Thursday, November 1, scientific sessions on Friday, and clinical symposia on Saturday.

Saturday sessions are new to the meeting. In prior years the chapter invited manufacturers to participate in symposia on specific topics. Two of the panels this year will consist of practitioners with clinical expertise in orthotics speaking on AFO Designs and prosthetics speaking on prosthetic liners. The third symposium will discuss materials in orthotics and prosthetics and will include speakers from Otto Bock Health Care, Becker Orthopedics, Orthotic Technical Services, and Springlite. The meeting has been approved for 17.25 Credits from ABC with 2 additional credits for the Exhibit Hall.

The Chapter elected new officers whose terms begin in January -President Douglas Reber, CO, Vice President Adam Canvisser, Secretary Robert Silvestri, CPO, and Treasurer will continue to be Robert Frank, CPO.

NEW AWARD: The NJ Chapter has established the Walter Frank Outstanding Practitioner Award to be given to a practitioner from the Chapter who excels in his/her skills as a practitioner. Along with the Award the Chapter will pay both State and National AAOP dues for the coming year and will make a $500 donation to an NCOPE approved Orthotic & Prosthetic Education Program. The award will recognize some of the many great practitioners in NJ for their achievements in clinical practice.

Inside the Academy

Testing Split-Payment on Dues - About 10% of the Academy's practitioner members were selected to participate on a voluntary basis in a test of splitting their renewal into two credit card payments. The test will help determine the impact of multiple payments on administration, record keeping, and processing the credit card transactions. A successful test may open the door to other variations of split payments.

Board Considering Shifting Renewal Cycle - Member input is welcome on this. At its Nov 17 meeting the Board will consider the pros and cons of changing the Membership Year from its current Dec-Nov cycle to July-June, putting it in sync with the term of office for leaders. The proposed change would mean the dues renewal cycle would no longer be just before the Christmas holidays. Members may email their comments to Andrew Francis.

Board approves Funds for NAPOE & NCOPE - Requests for $2,592 for NAPOE and $17,000 for NCOPE to fund operations in 2002 were approved by the Board at its September 25 conference call. A special request by NCOPE for $3,000 to help fund travel reimbursement of its representative at the negotiated rulemaking committee meetings will be considered when the meetings begin.

New Chairmen Named - Gary M. Berke, MS, CP, FAAOP was named to chair the Professional Issues Council which develops and implements policy and direction with respect to professional issues impacting the delivery of comprehensive O&P services. Thomas H. Colburn, CO, FAAOP was named to head the Scientific Societies Council which coordinates the activities of individual societies.

Lots of Record Changes - 546 responses to the Academy's Data Verification mailing were received and processed in members' records. The Academy annually mails members the basic information contained in their records for review and to make changes. This process, coupled with the continuous updating that occurs as members call or email the Academy, keeps the accuracy of member records at 98% or better, saving the Academy on lost postage due to inaccurate addresses.

What's the Delay with Negotiated Rulemaking?

When federal mediator Lynn Sylvester spoke at the AOPA Policy Forum in June, she thought the members of the negotiated rulemaking committee would be named by the end of August and the process would begin by October. However, Medicare has procedural issues that need to be reviewed to ensure it is in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. An announcement in the Federal Register will detail the schedule.