If you've ever been to an American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA) Policy Forum or an Amputee Coalition National Conference, you've probably learned how telling your story can help to promote your advocacy efforts. Storytelling is a common rhetorical strategy that is used regularly in political and advertising campaigns. When applied appropriately, genuinely, and truthfully, stories have the power to move people and shape policy.
This strategy is at work right now in O&P. If you're a member of the OANDP-L listserv, you've no doubt read countless stories about how Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) audits are impacting O&P businesses. The Orthotic and Prosthetic Group of America (OPGA), Waterloo, Iowa, has asked members of the O&P community to share stories with it about the negative impact CMS audits are having on their businesses and patient care so that OPGA can deliver those stories to congressional representatives.
In the article, "The New Reality: Documenting O&P Medicare Claims," Peter Thomas, JD, and Christina Hughes, JD, MPH, recommend, among other things, that O&P practices refine their documentation processes to ensure they are in compliance with all current requirements as part of a broader strategy for reducing the "the incidence and severity of Medicare prosthetic limb audits." Documentation, after all, is a focused, factual way of relating a person's story.
Relating your stories through our article content is something we're passionate about at The O&P EDGE. Your willingness to share your stories with us helps our magazine to thrive.
We've carried our passion for delivering your stories through article content to our new division, EDGE Custom Publications. As many of you are finding out, by combining information about what you do with related articles from The O&P EDGE, you can effectively communicate your value to referral sources and patients. If you are in Orlando for the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists (the Academy) Annual Meeting & Scientific Symposium and are looking for ways to reach out to your referral sources, visit us at booth #420. We have ideas to help you.
We're also debuting The O&P EDGE Job Board at our Academy booth. View current employment ads from practices hiring around the United States and immediately download the information to your smartphone. While you're at our booth, be sure to register for our drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card.
Thanks for reading. See you in Orlando!
