Re: Repost to Barrism

Re: Repost to Barrism

All this discussion seems to be about the amputee and the business of
prosthetics, but no one is discussing the prosthetist the one who fits the
prosthesis not the business.

Many prosthetists owners as we know are selling their business. You want the
prosthetist to provide quality prosthetics but what is his/her incentive.
With mangled health care their potential for income is being capped. How many
children of prosthetists are now coming into the profession. I think you will
find this number way down. Why would anyone want to come into the profession
today? You can demand, but without the manpower to provide the services it
means nothing. You need quality people coming into the profession to get
quality work. Where are the new prosthetists coming from and why? Reports I
read say there is going to be a prosthetist shortage as the demand grows with
baby boomers.

The people you are going to see coming into the business are those that can
make a buck and not that concerned with quality. If you want quality you need
to look at retaining quality prosthetists now and recruiting quality people
to become prosthetists and that is going to require incentives. Just look at
the number of classified ads in the O&P Almanac and O&P Business seeking
personnel.

Al Pike, CP