Volunteers Offer Professional Insight into Success in O&P

AOPA understands that it is tough to keep your O&P business afloat. As a result, AOPA creates seminars and products to help assist facility owners, operators and practitioners. To further assist the O&P business owner, a specific initiative was created as a result of a successful AOPA board meeting in the summer of 2005.

One of the Sunriver Initiatives, this initiative is aimed at developing tools and resources to help facility owners and operators succeed in the current challenging business environment.

As a result of the initiative, a group of O&P volunteers is currently working together to create a new resource for O&P business owners and practice managers. This newly-formed group includes Rick Fleetwood, Snell Prosthetic & Orthotic Laboratory, Little Rock, Ark.; Tom Kirk, Ph.D., Hanger Orthopedic Group, Bethesda, Md.; Rodney W. Cheney, CPO, FAAOP, American Prosthetics & Orthotics Inc., Clive, Iowa; and Anita Liberman-Lampear, University of Michigan Orthotics & Prosthetics Center, Flint, Mich.

AOPA turned to these volunteer professionals because they know and understand the issues and problems faced every day by the O&P business owner. This group has held various conference calls regarding the project and met last month to work on the initiative as part of an AOPA board meeting. Thus far, they have discussed the type of product to be developed and how best to tackle the project. Part of the board meeting was used to further refine the process of creating a product by soliciting the advice of other board members.

AOPA currently offers a variety of tools to help keep your business on the right track, including the Operating Performance & Compensation Report, O&P Profitability Guide, the AOPA Profitability Seminar at this year’s National Assembly, and the Cost Accounting Manual. These products are available through the AOPA bookstore at www.AOPAnet.org or (571) 431-0865.