News

Call for Papers for the 2nd AOPA World Congress

Gain International Recognition * Advance your Career * Improve Patient Care AOPA has announced the call for papers for the Second O&P World Congress to be held September 6‐9, 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. AOPA is seeking high‐quality educational and research content to set the stage for a broad curriculum of […]

OIG Releases 2017 Work Plan

HHS OIG Releases 2017 Work Plan-Two Longstanding Objectives in Orthotics Remain; No Other/New Prosthetic or Orthotic Items Listed Each year, the HHS Inspector General releases its annual Work Plan, which lists the topics where the OIG believes there are significant potential items of fraud or other inappropriate or inefficient operations by HHS (including CMS and […]

AOPA’s Post-Election Analysis

GOP Runs the Table, Trump Wins Presidency, and Maintains Control of Both Senate and House In an election unprecedented in American history, Donald Trump defied the polls, conventional wisdom and notions of political correctness for a convincing win of the Presidency in the Electoral College, despite a roughly break even in the popular vote. What […]

CMS Releases 2017 HCPCS Codes

 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the new HCPCS codes for 2017, and there were only a few minor changes. The biggest change was the deletion of the temporary K codes (K0901 & K0902), which became effective on October 1, 2014, to describe off the shelf (OTS) versions of custom fitted […]

CMS Announces New RAC Contractors

As we reported in July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), placed all the activities of four existing Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) contractors on hiatus as a result of the upcoming award of new RAC contracts.This hiatus was to allow for a smooth transition to the new RAC contractors, including the single, national […]

The O&P Almanac Wins Two Graphic Design Awards of Excellence

The O&P Almanac continues its award-winning performance netting TWO Graphic Design Awards of Excellence for the O&P Almanac from Graphic Design USA’s 53rd Annual Design Competition. The two entries submitted were the December 2015 and June 2016 issues. The December 2015 design will be featured in the Graphic Design USA Award issue. 2016 AMERICAN GRAPHIC […]

Noridian Prepayment Review Results

Noridian, the Jurisdiction D Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractor (DME MAC), recently released their quarterly results of its review for claims involving the HCPCS codes L1832, L1843, L0648, L0650 and L4361. Between April 2016 and July 2016 Noridian reviewed 161 claims involving the L1832 and 152 claims were denied; resulting in a 99% error/denial […]

AHRQ Announces Systematic Review of Clinical Literature on Lower Limb Prostheses

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the “government agency tasked with producing evidence to improve the quality of healthcare while working with partners to ensure that the evidence is understood and used” recently announced that it will be initiating a systematic review for lower limb prostheses.  The systematic review will be performed through […]

The 99th Annual National Assembly – Another Success!

AOPA has cruised through another successful National Assembly – the 99th! – with more than 2200 attendees from O&P and related disciplines joining us in Boston, September 8-11. The drum and fife band welcomed the crowd to Boston and helped us open the 100,000 sq. ft. Exhibit Hall of over 160 exhibitors. The Assembly featured […]

AOPA Submits Comments to the FDA on 3D Printing

AOPA has submitted comments on the publication entitled Technical Considerations for Additive Manufactured Devices: Draft Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff which was published in the Federal Register on May 10, 2016. AOPA submitted comments pertaining to additive manufacturing in the design and fabrication of external prosthetic components and orthotic devices, specifically through the use […]