Re: Hanger/Linkia/SPS and also education....part II of II
Peter Kapelke, CPO
Description
Collection
Title:
Re: Hanger/Linkia/SPS and also education....part II of II
Creator:
Peter Kapelke, CPO
Date:
10/3/2006
Text:
Re: Jim's comments, does anybody know another place to get charleston braces fabricated besides Orlando Fabrication (formerly seafab) which was sold to Hanger I believe by Ralph Hooper inventor of the Charleston? Pete Kapelke.
-------------- Original message --------------
From: Jim DeWees < <Email Address Redacted> >
> While I am at it, to re-emphasize Eric Eisenburg's comments, who among us is
> buying stuff from SPS? In the Quarterly meetings, they also boast that SPS
> sales grew more than 30% last quarter all from NON-HANGER facility
> purchases. Who did that? Why on earth are you supporting the company that
> is trying to take away our patients, and worse than that, take the CHOICE of
> the patient away and force them to go to their facilities? How can you sit
> and criticize Hanger for this Linkia deal, and complain how it is hurting
> the patients, and the independents, and then turn right around and place
> orders with that same company and support them?
>
> I have had the SPS sales rep in my office, and he is a very nice guy, I wish
> I could do business with him, but because of principles and SPS connections,
> I cannot work with him. He said straight to me, that SPS is totally
> independent of Hanger, and that what SPS does in business does not make any
> impact on Hanger. Well, according to the company meeting transcripts, that
> is NOT true, and I knew that was the case even before reading the minutes.
> The money that SPS makes goes directly into the Hanger company bottom line.
> EVERY item you purchase from SPS only helps them get stronger and bigger.
> In the transcripts, one of the executives stated that their goal is to get
> some vendors to do 100% business with SPS, so if any of us wanted to use a
> certain components for a patient, we would be forced to go through SPS,
> which would generate more revenue for Hanger. We CANNOT help them grow so
> that they can also capture the entire supply part of the field as well.
>
> There are a few other vendors out there that cater to the independent
> facilities, which do very good quality service and can provide possibly some
> other service which would make it worth your while to search them out and
> see what would work best for your situation. For example, I have used
> Cascade for the past 4 years. I have place hundreds of orders with them,
> and have 100% perfection on everything. One bonus they offer is they ship
> everything with overnight shipping, and only charge for the standard
> shipping rate. That saves me a lot of money over the year. The prices of
> the products are the same across the board, before any discounts are given
> at least.
>
>
> There is a lot going on in this field right now, and we ALL need to be
> informed and take some action, no matter how small it might be. I do not
> want to be guilty of helping any company capture an unfair portion of the
> market, or help someone that the independents view as a competitor. We all
> have voiced opinions and concerns over the possible monopoly and how that
> would not be good for the patients and the industry as a whole, but yet we
> as an industry have helped this monopoly grow by buying supplies and
> materials that could have been purchased from a number of vendors. It will
> NOT be a good thing for this industry if any ONE vendor is able to have sole
> distribution rights for any components. If that was to happen, then that
> vendor would have total control over the prices they charge, and the buyers
> or consumers would have NO power to do anything about that.
>
>
> On to a new topic, which I hope to come back to in the near future, is the
> educational issues of this field, this new educational deal that
> Northwestern has put together. I do not believe, from what I understand at
> this time, that it is a good thing for this field. We have gone from
> allowing people with NO formal education to enter this field, carrying the
> same credentials as those of us that did make the sacrifice to get an
> education, and that cost a whopping $75 to buy the credentials. Now, that
> door and pathway has been shut down, and so it is back to making everyone
> (almost everyone at least) that wants to get into this profession obtain a
> formal education in this field. But, as the talk of making the requirements
> equal to a master's degree and even having a doctorate available, we learn
> of this home study program. I can not even begin to understand how doing a
> distance learning, or a correspondence course, could ever teach enough about
> patient care, patient interaction, bedside manners, not to mention the hands
> on skills that are required to cast, fabricate, modify, and all the other
> skills that are necessary to do this work. What's next? Maybe when you
> turn on the computer, and log onto Hotmail, we will see a University of
> Phoenix ad on how to buy a degree in O&P and get it for virtually no effort,
> just money. Maybe we will start getting junk emails that offer the same
> thing, I get them all the time on how to purchase some master's degree in
> something, it only takes money to have some fancy credentials behind your
> name, but no real coursework, and no real education is done. Even though
> the practitioners will have some letters behind their names, and will be
> eligible to take the ABC exam (and with the proper review course, which of
> course costs more money, and practice exams are given out to study off
> of...it's a pretty much no brainer that you will pass the exam that way) it
> will look like we have a new way to get more qualified providers in this
> field. But what have they really learned? How can anyone possibly learn
> what they need to learn when they are only required to be in the actual
> class room setting just a few days at the most. With that kind of thinking,
> how can any of us in this field ever say that the course work that PTs have
> to take on O&P is inferior to what is required in our own field? The
> average PT will have more formal training, more hours in the actual class
> room than what is required by an NCOPE educational program. That is just my
> thoughts at this point, and I am open to learning more about what the
> program is all about. I certainly do NOT see any other health care
> profession that offers anything like this. We cannot continue to try to
> convince the public, the other health care entities, payers, etc. that we
> are the better ones to do this work when we continue to water down the
> academic requirements (or remove the academic requirements altogether).
> Maybe that will be a good way to PTs that have interest in this field (maybe
> out of necesity) to do the home study course in their free time, pay the
> money to Northwestern, and get a gratuitous credential, and then make them
> officially a qualified provider, at least in OUR eyes. But, this would have
> some positive impact to the field in the long run: it would generate more
> money for NCOPE for residency fees, and would produce more candidates for
> Hanger to hire at $25,000 a year to run an office and treat patients;
> generate more money for ABC and every other organization that has a hand
> sticking out there for their piece of the pie.
>
> The big question is: will this pathway produce new practitioners that have
> all the skills and knowledge to fit and fabricate the appropriate devices?
>
>
> Have a great week.
>
> Jim DeWees, CP
>
>
-------------- Original message --------------
From: Jim DeWees < <Email Address Redacted> >
> While I am at it, to re-emphasize Eric Eisenburg's comments, who among us is
> buying stuff from SPS? In the Quarterly meetings, they also boast that SPS
> sales grew more than 30% last quarter all from NON-HANGER facility
> purchases. Who did that? Why on earth are you supporting the company that
> is trying to take away our patients, and worse than that, take the CHOICE of
> the patient away and force them to go to their facilities? How can you sit
> and criticize Hanger for this Linkia deal, and complain how it is hurting
> the patients, and the independents, and then turn right around and place
> orders with that same company and support them?
>
> I have had the SPS sales rep in my office, and he is a very nice guy, I wish
> I could do business with him, but because of principles and SPS connections,
> I cannot work with him. He said straight to me, that SPS is totally
> independent of Hanger, and that what SPS does in business does not make any
> impact on Hanger. Well, according to the company meeting transcripts, that
> is NOT true, and I knew that was the case even before reading the minutes.
> The money that SPS makes goes directly into the Hanger company bottom line.
> EVERY item you purchase from SPS only helps them get stronger and bigger.
> In the transcripts, one of the executives stated that their goal is to get
> some vendors to do 100% business with SPS, so if any of us wanted to use a
> certain components for a patient, we would be forced to go through SPS,
> which would generate more revenue for Hanger. We CANNOT help them grow so
> that they can also capture the entire supply part of the field as well.
>
> There are a few other vendors out there that cater to the independent
> facilities, which do very good quality service and can provide possibly some
> other service which would make it worth your while to search them out and
> see what would work best for your situation. For example, I have used
> Cascade for the past 4 years. I have place hundreds of orders with them,
> and have 100% perfection on everything. One bonus they offer is they ship
> everything with overnight shipping, and only charge for the standard
> shipping rate. That saves me a lot of money over the year. The prices of
> the products are the same across the board, before any discounts are given
> at least.
>
>
> There is a lot going on in this field right now, and we ALL need to be
> informed and take some action, no matter how small it might be. I do not
> want to be guilty of helping any company capture an unfair portion of the
> market, or help someone that the independents view as a competitor. We all
> have voiced opinions and concerns over the possible monopoly and how that
> would not be good for the patients and the industry as a whole, but yet we
> as an industry have helped this monopoly grow by buying supplies and
> materials that could have been purchased from a number of vendors. It will
> NOT be a good thing for this industry if any ONE vendor is able to have sole
> distribution rights for any components. If that was to happen, then that
> vendor would have total control over the prices they charge, and the buyers
> or consumers would have NO power to do anything about that.
>
>
> On to a new topic, which I hope to come back to in the near future, is the
> educational issues of this field, this new educational deal that
> Northwestern has put together. I do not believe, from what I understand at
> this time, that it is a good thing for this field. We have gone from
> allowing people with NO formal education to enter this field, carrying the
> same credentials as those of us that did make the sacrifice to get an
> education, and that cost a whopping $75 to buy the credentials. Now, that
> door and pathway has been shut down, and so it is back to making everyone
> (almost everyone at least) that wants to get into this profession obtain a
> formal education in this field. But, as the talk of making the requirements
> equal to a master's degree and even having a doctorate available, we learn
> of this home study program. I can not even begin to understand how doing a
> distance learning, or a correspondence course, could ever teach enough about
> patient care, patient interaction, bedside manners, not to mention the hands
> on skills that are required to cast, fabricate, modify, and all the other
> skills that are necessary to do this work. What's next? Maybe when you
> turn on the computer, and log onto Hotmail, we will see a University of
> Phoenix ad on how to buy a degree in O&P and get it for virtually no effort,
> just money. Maybe we will start getting junk emails that offer the same
> thing, I get them all the time on how to purchase some master's degree in
> something, it only takes money to have some fancy credentials behind your
> name, but no real coursework, and no real education is done. Even though
> the practitioners will have some letters behind their names, and will be
> eligible to take the ABC exam (and with the proper review course, which of
> course costs more money, and practice exams are given out to study off
> of...it's a pretty much no brainer that you will pass the exam that way) it
> will look like we have a new way to get more qualified providers in this
> field. But what have they really learned? How can anyone possibly learn
> what they need to learn when they are only required to be in the actual
> class room setting just a few days at the most. With that kind of thinking,
> how can any of us in this field ever say that the course work that PTs have
> to take on O&P is inferior to what is required in our own field? The
> average PT will have more formal training, more hours in the actual class
> room than what is required by an NCOPE educational program. That is just my
> thoughts at this point, and I am open to learning more about what the
> program is all about. I certainly do NOT see any other health care
> profession that offers anything like this. We cannot continue to try to
> convince the public, the other health care entities, payers, etc. that we
> are the better ones to do this work when we continue to water down the
> academic requirements (or remove the academic requirements altogether).
> Maybe that will be a good way to PTs that have interest in this field (maybe
> out of necesity) to do the home study course in their free time, pay the
> money to Northwestern, and get a gratuitous credential, and then make them
> officially a qualified provider, at least in OUR eyes. But, this would have
> some positive impact to the field in the long run: it would generate more
> money for NCOPE for residency fees, and would produce more candidates for
> Hanger to hire at $25,000 a year to run an office and treat patients;
> generate more money for ABC and every other organization that has a hand
> sticking out there for their piece of the pie.
>
> The big question is: will this pathway produce new practitioners that have
> all the skills and knowledge to fit and fabricate the appropriate devices?
>
>
> Have a great week.
>
> Jim DeWees, CP
>
>
Citation
Peter Kapelke, CPO, “Re: Hanger/Linkia/SPS and also education....part II of II,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 2, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/227441.
