From the Editor

We're on our way! This, our second issue, explores some of the challenges of today's O&P practice.

Ethical issues pose more of a dilemma than ever before. Putting the patient first was almost automatic before today's tight reimbursement climate. Legal landmines just waiting to be detonated add to the dilemmas. This issue's feature article on ethical practice, plus an online interview ( www.oandp.com/edge ) with Dr. Wilton H. Bunch, orthopedic surgeon, scoliosis specialist, and noted ethicist, will help you reach sound decisions.

What's happening now in O&P education will help set standards for the profession for decades to come-and the issues are not all homegrown. The Negotiated Rulemaking Committee of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), allied health profession organizations, and consumer groups are impacting its direction. Sidney Fishman, PhD, sets the stage for a series of articles on vital educational issues.

Technicians-this one's for you! "Shop Talk" features news, tips, and how-to's by and for technicians. Check this department out and add your input!

How do you get your top people to stay with your company, rather than flying off to opportunities elsewhere? Facility owner Joe Sansone shares his reasons for success.

And-our new, exciting website (the temporary one is no more) is up and running. Our strategic technology partners, oandp.com, have outdone themselves! Visit us at www.oandp.com/edge .

More innovations in both web and print will be coming down the highway-more "news you can use." Enjoy-and let us know what you like, what you don't, and what you want to see more of!

Table Of Contents - June 2002

	Ethics: What Comes First? Balancing clinical, business, and legal priorities - deciding what’s best for your patient, referral source, insurance provider.
	Ethics: What Choices Do I Make? Exclusively Online
	How To Keep Your Best Employees Most companies today are increasingly concerned about the problem of finding qualified applicants. With unemployment rates dropping, the steady stream of qualified applicants that used to be available to managers and small business owners has dwindled. Leading EDGE
	P&O Education: How Did We Get Here - Where Are We Going? Editor's note: Prosthetics and orthotics education is at a critical point. P&O student enrollment is dropping, even as the need for P&O services is rising. Other health care disciplines may try to fill the gap... Education Outlook
	Long-Term Entry Level Education Education Outlook - Exclusively Online
	MCO Contracting: "Nightmare on Elm Street" When it comes to contracting with managed care organizations, you can, indeed, imagine yourself wandering in a nightmare landscape with surrealistic skylines, inadequate directional signs presented in hieroglyphics, and bogeymen poised to pounce... Cutting Edge
	Getting Behind the Scenes: Who’s Really Paying You? Cutting Edge - Exclusively Online
	New Advisory Board Members Welcome
	Volunteer Organization Makes a Difference in Haiti Global View
	Karen Taylor, CP (c) Profile
	Amputees Look Forward to 3,500-Mile Trip Across USA Sports Page
	“Political Correctness” - Enough, Already! Perspective
	From the Editor Viewpoints
	Technician's Corner Shop Talk