Personal observations re:Otto Bock
RICHARD Miller
Description
Collection
Title:
Personal observations re:Otto Bock
Creator:
RICHARD Miller
Date:
2/24/2006
Text:
Hello O&P world,
Those of you who know me realize that I am not without opinion or passion
for this field. To the rest of you I can only offer my 30+ years of O&P
related education and experience as evidence of my connection. I am first a
practitioner, but also educator, lecturer, exhibitor, product spokesperson,
etc.
My disclaimer for the following observations is that I am not in any way
contractually bound or beholden to the Otto Bock Corporation. My home state
and residence is the same as U.S. corporate headquarters which means that
more frequent encounters have led to closer relationships within Otto Bock.
I have some old and new friends at Bock.
Last June I attended the AOPA Policy Forum in Washington D.C. as half of the
Minnesota delegation. Brad Ruhl from Otto Bock was the other half. Prior
to lobbying on behalf of the O&P profession we planned our strategery
following extensive briefing on key issues from the AOPA staff. We divided
up the issues, and Brad, representing Otto Bock, was adamant at choosing to
support qualified O&P provider legislation and also voice opposition to the
PT Direct Access language that might allow PT self-referral of O&P. This
would be a strange position for a company to take if they wanted a PT group
to be able to provide O&P.
We roamed the halls of congress together and had meetings with staff from
Senators Coleman and Dayton, and Congressman Gutknecht. We were fortunate
enough to meet directly with Jim Ramstad, who represents the Minneapolis
district where Otto Bock is located. (Refer to O&P Almanac, August, 2005,
page 20 for article and photograph). Representative Ramstad was actually a
co-author of the PT Direct Access bill in the House, so our tactics changed.
Brad very carefully pointed out how the bill�s language could be open for
interpretation. He secured Rep. Ramstad�s assurance to bring a language
clarification to the committee hearing, addressing the concerns of
preventing O&P self-referral by PTs.
I asked Brad how Otto Bock planned to integrate OrthoRehab and avoid
conflict within O&P. He stated that there would be no effort to circumvent
legitimate O&P providers, or to set up competition. I believed him then. I
called Brad this morning to confirm that their official position had not
changed since the Policy Forum. As of this morning he assured me it has not
changed.
I would strongly advise anyone who actually considers joining the illegal
call to boycott to contact someone and check your knowledge of the �facts�.
My personal opinion based on my experience is that a boycott is
ill-advised, ill-conceived, and wrong.
Regarding the issue of who provides what to patients, remember it is the
physician who refers. If a physician in your market refers patients to the
PT, sales rep, pharmacist, or tax collector for treatment, that is probably
who will see the patient. Compete with your competition. If you are
lamenting the loss of referrals, go to the source and ask for them back!!
Ask yourself what are or aren't you doing that gives the physician reason to
use anybody else? Then go out and compete.
Rick Miller, C.O. #1587
Those of you who know me realize that I am not without opinion or passion
for this field. To the rest of you I can only offer my 30+ years of O&P
related education and experience as evidence of my connection. I am first a
practitioner, but also educator, lecturer, exhibitor, product spokesperson,
etc.
My disclaimer for the following observations is that I am not in any way
contractually bound or beholden to the Otto Bock Corporation. My home state
and residence is the same as U.S. corporate headquarters which means that
more frequent encounters have led to closer relationships within Otto Bock.
I have some old and new friends at Bock.
Last June I attended the AOPA Policy Forum in Washington D.C. as half of the
Minnesota delegation. Brad Ruhl from Otto Bock was the other half. Prior
to lobbying on behalf of the O&P profession we planned our strategery
following extensive briefing on key issues from the AOPA staff. We divided
up the issues, and Brad, representing Otto Bock, was adamant at choosing to
support qualified O&P provider legislation and also voice opposition to the
PT Direct Access language that might allow PT self-referral of O&P. This
would be a strange position for a company to take if they wanted a PT group
to be able to provide O&P.
We roamed the halls of congress together and had meetings with staff from
Senators Coleman and Dayton, and Congressman Gutknecht. We were fortunate
enough to meet directly with Jim Ramstad, who represents the Minneapolis
district where Otto Bock is located. (Refer to O&P Almanac, August, 2005,
page 20 for article and photograph). Representative Ramstad was actually a
co-author of the PT Direct Access bill in the House, so our tactics changed.
Brad very carefully pointed out how the bill�s language could be open for
interpretation. He secured Rep. Ramstad�s assurance to bring a language
clarification to the committee hearing, addressing the concerns of
preventing O&P self-referral by PTs.
I asked Brad how Otto Bock planned to integrate OrthoRehab and avoid
conflict within O&P. He stated that there would be no effort to circumvent
legitimate O&P providers, or to set up competition. I believed him then. I
called Brad this morning to confirm that their official position had not
changed since the Policy Forum. As of this morning he assured me it has not
changed.
I would strongly advise anyone who actually considers joining the illegal
call to boycott to contact someone and check your knowledge of the �facts�.
My personal opinion based on my experience is that a boycott is
ill-advised, ill-conceived, and wrong.
Regarding the issue of who provides what to patients, remember it is the
physician who refers. If a physician in your market refers patients to the
PT, sales rep, pharmacist, or tax collector for treatment, that is probably
who will see the patient. Compete with your competition. If you are
lamenting the loss of referrals, go to the source and ask for them back!!
Ask yourself what are or aren't you doing that gives the physician reason to
use anybody else? Then go out and compete.
Rick Miller, C.O. #1587
Citation
RICHARD Miller, “Personal observations re:Otto Bock,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 24, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/226230.
