Las Vegas—the city that promises you more—delivered. AOPA’s 90th National Assembly, held this Sept. 17-21, was its biggest and best yet. Record attendance of 2143 and an Exhibit Hall that held close to 200 booths kept sessions full, exhibits bustling and attendees happy. Miss out on the party? Here’s what went on.

Manufacturer’s workshops
Many attendees kicked the Assembly off early by attending the manufacturers’ workshops on Monday. These four-hour sessions were well-attended. In fact, the workshop on ABC accreditation was so popular that another one was held at the end of the conference.

Crowded clinical sessions
Clinical education sessions were filled to capacity, with practitioners lining the walls to hear presenters talk about research, the latest products, or new techniques to try. Prosthetics, orthotics and pedorthics were all covered, showing pedorthics’ growing overlap with O&P.

Among the PowerPoint presentations, Thranhardt lecturers Ian Engelman, CPO, and Robert Gailey, PT, stood out. Engelman, discussed his research in finding out how to produce an AFO that was neither too stiff nor too weak. Gailey, rallying after a malfunctioning computer presentation, brought models up on stage to demonstrate how to select and train candidates for Ossur’s Power Knee. The crowd laughed and applauded as Gailey gestured and joked to illustrate the points that would have been on his lost slides.

Minding your business
AOPA knows practitioners face a changing landscape in reimbursement and patient requirements, so business sessions gave attendees insight into hot topics such as the shrinking number of L codes, pros and cons of state licensure, and outcomes studies.

The “Working Today for a Better Tomorrow” session block on Tuesday brought together O&P professionals to discuss issues affecting O&P’s future. It began with a popular and contentious session, in which five panelists shared their experiences with licensure. The divergent views they presented prompted many comments and questions from the audience.

Attendees of that program also learned the results of the O&P Shared Vision Leadership conference in Chicago in late 2006, presented by Ted Snell, CP, AOPA’s outgoing president, and Brad Ruhl, AOPA’s president-elect. The session also included a panel discussion with the O&P Outcomes Initiative Steering Committee, and a summary of the 2007 OPC report results from Industry Insights.

Business owners filled up all the available appointments at the Assembly with Industry Insights representatives. The meetings discussed the customized reports owners had received showing how their particular businesses stacked up against the industry norm and profit leaders.

Attendees flocked to Thursday’s “Top Ten Series” to hear AOPA’s Joe McTernan talk about the top ten risky business practices, top ten lesser-known facts about Medicare, and top ten rules of dealing with skilled nursing facilities. The standing-room-only crowd also listened to Russ Hornfisher contribute top ten ways to deal with patient complaints (number one: listen to them!), and Scott Whitaker advised attendees on the top ten ways to avoid a lawsuit (for instance, know your local parking lot regulations!).

Excitement in the Exhibit Hall
The Exhibit Hall seemed to have a perpetual party going on. The welcome reception, AOPA’s 90th birthday party, and the exhibitor breakfast with its announcement of the Harley-Davidson giveaway winner all kept people celebrating.

Exhibitors sported oxygen bars and showgirls in addition to their products. One of the biggest draws was the Harley-Davidson 50th anniversary sportster, featured at AOPA’s O&P PAC booth. Donated by Branier Shoes and Arizona AFO, this limited-edition motorcycle had people waiting in line to participate in the drawing. Ken Rolff, president of Atlas International in Cordova, Calif. won the motorcycle, which also came with his-and-hers leather jackets and motorcycle helmets.

The event raised money for Capital Connection, a fund that supports legislative and regulatory initiatives for better O&P care. Participants chose to “kick-start the future of O&P,” and, in the process, raised over $19,000. The O&P PAC, which is the only political action committee working to ensure O&P receives fair treatment on Capitol Hill, raised over $18,000. The total—close to $40,000—well surpassed last year’s.
The Walk Through Time feature was popular, with people stopping to read the stories and examine each display. Thanks to AOPA, the efforts of Russ Hornfisher, and donations from all sorts of companies, attendees could see models from as far back as the Civil War.

New products from AOPA
In contrast, AOPA had its newest products out. LCodeSearch.com, the new Web site that gives AOPA members coding advice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, debuted. “To a person, people were impressed and excited by it,” said Joe McTernan, director of reimbursement services at AOPA. Attendees liked the ability to search by product, manufacturer or L code in the database. Many experimented with finding their favorite products in AOPA’s database.

For their part, manufacturers were interested in the enhanced listings available after seeing the difference between basic and enhanced listings. AOPA also presented the 2007 OPC report for sale.

The Annual Business Meeting
At the Annual Business Meeting & Member Breakfast, members gathered to see president Ted Snell pass the baton—or rather, the traditional ceremonial gavel—to Brad Ruhl, and recognized the accomplishments of the outgoing board members. Awards were presented to Charles H. Dankmeyer, CPO, for lifetime achievement, and to Michael E. Hamontree for legislative advocacy.

Grayson Rosenberger, the 15-year-old winner of the Bubble Wrap® Competition for Young Inventors, followed his mother Gracie’s heartfelt rendition of the National Anthem with a speech on his use of Bubble Wrap to create a low-cost covering for prosthetic limbs. The teenager impressed his audience with his poise and sincere appreciation of O&P as he spoke of his invention and his family’s charity work in Ghana.

Thomas Watson, CP, gave a presentation on the O&P PAC. He showed a pie chart to the group, illustrating the 2 percent of AOPA members who give funds to the PAC and asking how much more weight the PAC might have in advocacy if every member got more involved.

AOPA executive director Tom Fise closed the meeting with his report. Presentations after the formal meeting included words by Paddy Rossbach, executive director of the ACA, and information about AOPA’s Business Optimization Analysis Tool (BOAT) project to help business owners make their patient care facility more profitable.

The wider world
The Assembly also attracted attention from beyond the walls of the Venetian.

A local CBS affiliate reporter, Rick Andrews, was coaxed away from the breaking O.J. Simpson story to cover the AOPA Assembly. Andrews shot film of exhibitor booth displays from Otto Bock and Touch Bionics, among others, looked at Grayson Rosenberger’s bubble-wrap prototype, and interviewed Josh Olson, a U.S. Army sharpshooter and amputee. Olson was one of the soldiers working at the Army booth in the Exhibit Hall, and is in the running for the Paralympics—or perhaps even the regular Olympics—for his sharpshooting skills.

The Las Vegas Sun published an article by Marshall Allen, who visited the Assembly and brought a friend of his, Manish Desai, an architect who recently had his left hand amputated. Desai experimented with the i-LIMB Hand at Touch Bionics, and stopped by the Texas Assistive Devices and Motion Control booths.

Alan Goforth from the Kansas City Star also ran a story during the Assembly quoting Brian Gustin, the
2008 president-elect of AOPA, in an article focusing on diabetes-related amputations.

Same time, new place
Don’t miss next year’s assembly, which promises to be even bigger and better, at the Chicago Hyatt Regency. Planning is already under way to bring attendees the sessions they need to keep them updated on their most urgent O&P concerns. Make sure to mark September 10-13, 2008 on your calendar!