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    • Month: January 2015

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    DME MACs Issue Revised LCD to Expand Coverage of Knee Braces Used to Treat Osteoarthritis

    Thursday, Dec 11, 2025

    2015 National Assembly: Call for Papers

    WASHINGTON, DC —The American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA), announced a call for papers in preparation for its 2015 National Assembly. The National Assembly Planning Committee issued the invitation for submissions for the country’s oldest and largest meeting for the orthotic, prosthetic and pedorthic profession, which will be held October 7-10, 2015 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas.

    “We are excited for the 2015 Assembly to once again be the premier forum where O&P professionals can participate in industry-leading educational lectures, symposiums, and related educational events,” said Chris Nolan, Chairman of the AOPA National Assembly Planning Committee.

    The deadline for submissions is March 10, 2015, and papers are being accepted for podium, poster, and/or symposium sessions for each of the five concurrent programs including orthotic education, prosthetic education, pedorthic education, business education, and the technician program. All papers must be submitted electronically and must conform to the submission guidelines detailed in the sample model abstract that is available for download here.

    • Abstracts for orthotic, prosthetic, and/or prosthetic clinical papers may be submitted here.
    • Abstracts for business education papers may be submitted here.
    • Abstracts for papers in the technician program may be submitted here.

    Further submission guidelines, AOPA contact information, and answers to frequently asked questions can be found here.

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    O&P Industry Leaders Attend the Inaugural AOPA Leadership Conference

    Leadership pic 1On January 9-11th more than 150 O&P industry leaders participated in the inaugural AOPA Leadership Conference held at the Eau Palm Resort & Spa in Palm Beach, Florida. While the stunning views and great weather outside of the meeting room proved to be quite a temptation, the group remained focused on the task at hand: discussing the ways to ensure the continued success of O&P as an industry despite the current and unforeseen challenges the industry faces.

    Attendees spent the first morning of the meeting hearing from dynamic speakers who presented a snapshot of what the industry should expect in the future and the strategies that AOPA has developed to address any challenges head-on. In the next session, speakers provided global perspective on the future of the O&P industry in a worldwide marketplace. Attendees then broke out into small discussion groups where specific challenges were discussed with a focus on how the O&P industry can prepare for what the future may hold. The group reconvened to share the insight developed during the breakout sessions and then began a second breakout session that focused on various opportunities that the future may hold for the O&P industry. The first day ended with the group coming back together to provide reports on each of their breakout sessions.

    The second day of the conference began with a thorough review of the issues that were identified as crucial to the future of O&P during the breakout sessions from the previous day. The program continued with presentations and discussion regarding the future reimbursement landscape for O&P, as well as presentations that focused on perspective from the insurance industry, the role of the FDA in O&P, and the potential for alternate delivery models for O&P services in the future.

    Charles Dankmeyer, Jr., CPO, AOPA President, ended the conference with a recap of the many accomplishments that had occurred in just one and a half days and encouraged the O&P leaders in attendance to make sure that the discussion did not end after the meeting; that the meeting was just the beginning of many more discussions and efforts to ensure the success of the O&P industry for many years to come.

    To learn more about the inaugural AOPA Leadership Conference, read the preview article that was published in the January 2015 O&P Almanac and look for the full conference recap that will be published the subsequent issues of the O&P Almanac.

    Editorial Published on Dobson DaVanzo Research Proving O&P Saves Lives and Money

    AOPA immediate past-president Anita Liberman-Lampear of University of Michigan Orthotics and Prosthetics Center has published an editorial in the Roanoke Times on the Dobson-DaVanzo research, funded by AOPA and commissioned by the Amputee Coalition, that used Medicare’s own data to prove that providing orthotics and prosthetics is cost-effective. The study was the basis for Mobility Saves, the public relations campaign where we are spreading the word to O&P providers, referral sources, payors, and patients that O&P saves Lives and Money. Read the editorial here.

    Please note that at the time the editorial was submitted, Anita Liberman Lampear was the AOPA President of the Board of Directors. As of December 1, 2014, Charlie Dankmeyer, Jr., CPO is the current president.