Insurance companies aren't saving money when they deny a prosthesis. They're just moving the cost — onto your patient, onto the system, and often right back onto themselves. The research is unambiguous. The problem is what you do about it at the practice level, today, with the staff and systems you already have. Here's a practical look at what may help. 

You just hired a new clinician.  Fresh out of residency, this person you found seems ideal. They are smart, they believe in your vision…maybe they will take the reins someday. You’re training them, introducing them to your patients, trusting them with your reputation. And statistically, there's a real chance they won't be in your clinic in ten years. That's not pessimism. That's the first real data we've ever had on O&P career attrition — and it's worth your attention. 

Two days. Packed sessions. Conversations that actually mattered. From outcome measure discipline to LCD updates that will affect every practice in the country, LAOP 2026 delivered. Oh, and OPIE 2.0? Let's just say people had questions — a lot of them. 

If you're wondering what the sharpest practitioners in O&P are thinking about right now, this one's worth three minutes of your time. 

Your front office just clicked a phishing link. Your systems are locked. Everything grinds to a halt. Sound far-fetched? It's happening to small medical and allied healthcare practices just like yours every day. A 2025 Healthcare Cyber Resilience Report confirms what many of us have been slow to accept — cybersecurity is no longer an IT problem, it's a business survival problem. Here's what small O&P practices need to know. 

Your Medicare playbook just changed again—and if you missed the fine print, your eligibility checks, prior auths, and even expansion plans could already be at risk. Between new HETS vendor rules, fresh DMEPOS appeal routing, updated benefit‑category guidance, and added prior‑auth requirements on key HCPCS codes, it’s getting harder to tell where your real exposure is hiding. In this post, I’ll show you how a 60‑minute SWOT turns all that noise into a clear, actionable O&P leadership game plan. 

Medicare says it wants to CRUSH DMEPOS fraud—but right now, it can’t even see who actually treated the patients. That blind spot is exactly why honest O&P clinics keep getting hammered with audits and prior auth chaos while bad actors slip through. There’s a ridiculously simple fix CMS isn’t using yet: put the treating clinician’s NPI on every O&P claim. Want less nonsense from payers? It might start with one short message to your DME MAC. 

Limb Loss Awareness Month ended yesterday but the fight for our patients continues. 

This year, the Amputee Coalition, AOPA’s Policy Forum, and the So Every BODY Can Move campaign quietly shook the ground under payers and policymakers. Coverage rules are shifting, states are rewriting laws, and O&P voices are finally being heard (maybe?). 

What are you doing about it? Will your practice help sustain the wave…or watch from the shore wringing your hands? 

If setting goals in your practice mostly falls flat, you’re not alone. Research shows the way we usually set goals practically guarantees overload, firefighting, and burnout—not meaningful change. This week, I am flipping the script: one goal per “season,” behavior-based targets instead of abstract wishes, and guardrails, so you don’t accidentally break the rest of your practice while chasing a metric. If you’re ready for goals that actually work in real life, start here.

If you’re still on the fence about “getting ready” for value‑based care, Part 2 of this series is where the math gets interesting. We skip the buzzwords and lay out what you actually gain from tightening outcomes, upgrading your professional identity, and acting like a true allied health partner—even if VBC never lands on your doorstep. From sharper clinical decisions to a stronger shield in a fraud‑sensitive world, this is the upside story no one’s telling O&P practices yet. 

Do you really have to change the practice for value‑based care—or can you just keep my head down and do what you do? Instead of doom‑and‑gloom, I want to walk you through a real cost–benefit analysis of tightening outcomes, shifting how people see prosthetists and orthotists. In a world where we are not well understood and where CMS is cracking down on DMEPOS fraud, can we thrive and be a valued part of the Value-based care chain? 

People are saying we should fight for value-based care (which means —track outcomes, join networks, prove your value). But almost no one is talking about the bill that comes with that shift. In Part 2, The Hidden Costs of Change (and How Not to Get Burned), we break down the real price tag: data, culture, politics, and risk you don’t control. Before you play the VBC game, you need to know exactly what you’re putting on the table. 

Everyone’s talking about “value-based care” like it’s the magic fix for O&P—better outcomes, more respect, maybe even better pay. But what if the same trend that could finally validate your clinical value also sets you up to be squeezed as a disposable line item? In Part 1 of The Value-Based Care Trap, we unpack what VBC really means for prosthetics and orthotics—and why it’s both your best opportunity in years and a quietly loaded bear trap. 

Do you think O&P lives in a simple “bill the Lcode, get the check” world? Think again. Medicare says we’re fee-for-service, but your day-to-day reality already looks a lot like bundled, episode-based care—with all the risk and none of the control. If you’re still managing your practice as if every visit stands alone, you’re walking blind into the next wave of payment change. Before value-based care hits your doorstep, you need to see the fee-for-service illusion for what it is. 

Change is coming to your clinic… and your nervous system knows it. Improved software, more visibility, “efficiency initiatives” – no wonder everyone’s on edge. This blog pulls back the curtain on what’s really driving that anxiety and gives you plainspoken, practical ways to handle it. Whether you’re frontline staff, a manager stuck in the middle, or a leader who can’t share every detail, you’ll get specific scripts, mindsets, and moves to lower the stress and increase real cooperation. 

You think leadership is about being respected… until it costs you sleep, friendships, and your “nice boss” reputation. This week I talk about the brutal, unfiltered price tag of leading a small O&P practice: making decisions that hurt people you care about, being quietly resented for doing what’s best, and biting your tongue when rumors swirl. If you’ve ever wondered, “Is it just me, or is this supposed to feel this hard?”—you’re exactly who this was written for. 

Medicare just slammed the brakes on new DMEPOS enrollments—and honest O&P providers are suddenly guilty until proven otherwise. Are your notes strong enough to save you in an audit, or do they look like they were written by a robot after the fact? Discover why documentation could quietly prove or destroy your credibility, how CMS is using timestamps and metadata against sloppy suppliers, and what smart practices are doing right now to stay off the revocation list. 

I went to the Academy meeting expecting the usual sessions and handshakes—but what happened this week left me genuinely inspired. Barriers that once divided pedorthics and O&P melted away, replaced by collaboration, generosity, and a powerful sense of purpose. A six-figure donation, a lifetime achievement award, and a room full of people who care deeply about this profession reminded me: our future doesn’t just happen—it’s built by those who show up, speak up, and dare to make things better.

If your team looks “fine” on paper but feels fried, this one is for you. You don’t need a new system; you need a new way of leading through the one you already have. In Part 2 of my “Truth in Action” series, I want to show you how to build a practice where results and relationships actually feed each other—through the way you design work, run meetings, and manage pressure. Three small leadership experiments could reset the entire nervous system of your organization. 

You say you value people, but does your leadership behavior agree—or are you quietly sacrificing relationships on the altar of results? In O&P care, it shows up in rushed huddles, drive by decisions, and workflows that treat people like widgets. The cost is higher than you think: burnout, turnover, and flatlined performance. In this blog, I want to look at why the real sweet spot is results and relationships—and how three simple engagement modes might be making or breaking your practice. ​

In today’s post‑truth world, your brain is being hacked—and you probably don’t even notice it. Patients arrive with “Google truths,” staff repeat hallway narratives, AI floods your feeds, and suddenly your leadership decisions feel shakier than ever. This week’s blog unpacks a quiet superpower that cuts through the noise: discernment. Discover how your worldview, your emotions, and your habits are shaping what you treat as “true” —and what to do about it.