international partners?
John Zeffer
Description
Collection
Title:
international partners?
Creator:
John Zeffer
Date:
2/20/2002
Text:
I have seen many posts wherein the prosthetist is looking for a professional
referral recipient of the patient that was just fitted with a brand new
prosthesis and is returning to their country of origin. We all know that the
profit returns for time, materials, and energy are diminished when follow-up
care is calculated into the equation. Yet it is the follow-up care that
justifies the industry-driven prices of the product delivered in the United
States of America to the patient seeking professional services of the
highest quality. Thus it is most profitable to receive a patient from
abroad, fit them with a well-advertised high-tech limb, and usher them out
the door.
It would be refreshing to see a cost-profit share offer from the delivery
end of the transaction, that would help with the follow-up required for long
term success of the prosthesis or orthosis that was fitted. I think an
appropriate and generous sponsorship to a technical course involving the
high-tech system received by the patient, or a monetary contribution/partial
refund via follow-up billing payments to the receiving end of the particular
case, would demonstrate true concern for the professional result of services
delivered. I challenge Prosthetists and Orthotists in the US to follow
through with their professional counterparts of other countries, especially
in developing regions, with a partnership attitude for mutual benefit and
professional growth, rather than slapping a referral name in the palm of
their quickly fitted patient as they run off to the bank to make a cash
deposit.
Developing partnerships with peers in other countries might be one of the
most rewarding opportunities encountered, and might serve to link our
profession as it evolves worldwide. In my opinion something professional has
been lost to the O&P Industry in America. Perhaps it can be replenished
with an international perspective.
John Zeffer
referral recipient of the patient that was just fitted with a brand new
prosthesis and is returning to their country of origin. We all know that the
profit returns for time, materials, and energy are diminished when follow-up
care is calculated into the equation. Yet it is the follow-up care that
justifies the industry-driven prices of the product delivered in the United
States of America to the patient seeking professional services of the
highest quality. Thus it is most profitable to receive a patient from
abroad, fit them with a well-advertised high-tech limb, and usher them out
the door.
It would be refreshing to see a cost-profit share offer from the delivery
end of the transaction, that would help with the follow-up required for long
term success of the prosthesis or orthosis that was fitted. I think an
appropriate and generous sponsorship to a technical course involving the
high-tech system received by the patient, or a monetary contribution/partial
refund via follow-up billing payments to the receiving end of the particular
case, would demonstrate true concern for the professional result of services
delivered. I challenge Prosthetists and Orthotists in the US to follow
through with their professional counterparts of other countries, especially
in developing regions, with a partnership attitude for mutual benefit and
professional growth, rather than slapping a referral name in the palm of
their quickly fitted patient as they run off to the bank to make a cash
deposit.
Developing partnerships with peers in other countries might be one of the
most rewarding opportunities encountered, and might serve to link our
profession as it evolves worldwide. In my opinion something professional has
been lost to the O&P Industry in America. Perhaps it can be replenished
with an international perspective.
John Zeffer
Citation
John Zeffer, “international partners?,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 7, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/218070.
