http://www.insightful-products.com
In this Foot of the week, a patient explains his success with the Blaze AFO and Ian Engelman, CPO, describes how to determine and adjust the length of the AFO strap.
As expected, the height requirement for an AFO is being removed by medicare.
Let’s get on with helping people walk!
Below is the text from the Medicare website:
February 6, 2013
Ankle-Foot Orthoses/Knee-Ankle-Foot Orthoses LCD related Policy Article – Revised
The related Policy Article for the Ankle-Foot Orthosis/Knee-Ankle-Foot Orthosis is being revised. The Policy Article with an effective date of January 1, 2013 included Coding Guidelines for AFOs that included a height requirement. The height requirement is being removed. The effective date for the revised Policy Article is for dates of service on or after January 1, 2013.
See for yourself here:
http://www.cgsmedicare.com/jc/pubs/news/2013/0213/cope21209.html
Again, the only type of AFO that requires a PDAC Coding verification letter is the L1906. Insightful does not use that code for any of its current bracing. To verify this for yourself, please see the PDAC website listing those that are required. The link to this page is below.
https://www.dmepdac.com/review/items_requiring_coding_verification_reviews.html
Finally, keep in mind that the pretibial shell that has been offered by our competitors is essentially a custom shin guard, the argument that this provides axially unloading as medical justification is risky in our opinion.
http://www.insightful-products.com
Insightful Products offers a full array of AFO solutions. Each of our custom AFO ankle braces is designed for a specific biomechanical problem. We have the most advanced and newest designs on the market. Our new AFO ‘s or new ankle brace solutions are the most innovative AFO ‘s in the industry.
Dr. Marc Feder, DPM, talks about the new Blaze MI AFO for post tib (Posterior Tibial Tendonitis or PTD). The Blaze MI ankle brace is a custom ankle foot orthosis that helps people with medial ankle instability. It is an articulated design that works well for those with early stage PTTD.
See http://www.insightful-products for more info.
In this video blog, we discuss the importance of casting the post tib patient’s foot and ankle in a neutral position. If the cast is taken in a full weight bearing position, it can be difficult to provide the needed correction to the AFO or custom ankle brace for posterior tibial tendonitis.
In this week’s video blog, we have a guest appearance by Diana Bean, granddaughter of LL Bean, who happens to wear Insightful’s Blaze MI brace for post tib (posterior tibial tendonitis). She had some pain in her toe caused by a condition called hammertoes. This condition is not addressed by the Blaze brace, but provided us an opportunity to show how shoes often need adjustment in order to relieve pain and discomfort. In this particular situation, the shoe needed to be marked in the area creating the pressure so that the orthotist could remove some material from the shoe thereby creating more space for the problematic toe. Often times when pressure or irritation is a problem, people incorrectly think that adding padding is the answer. The solution is actually the reverse of what most people might think. Rather than adding more padding or cushioning to the area of the foot and ankle, the answer is to remove material from the shoe or ankle brace, creating the required space. This is called a “relief” for the prominent area of the foot and ankle. This is a practice commonly used in AFO’s or ankle foot orthoses but also is commonly needed in shoe fitting.
In this week’s episode, we visit a local foot and ankle doctor to help fit a bilateral pair of AFO’s or ankle braces. This particular case involves a patient with foot drop or drop foot in one leg and lateral ankle instability in the other. The solution for the inversion problem was the Cuboid Lock design used for the lateral ankle problem and the Step-Smart for the Foot drop problem. The Step-Smart also provides lateral support to control inversion and will help prevent the ankle from rolling over.
http://www.insightful-products.com
In this Week’s vblog, we talk about the use of the term orthotic and how it is more than just a word to describe the Foot orthotic but also the AFO or Ankle Foot Orthosis. Also, we discuss AFO straps and how simple it can be to adjust your strap’s length by simply cutting excess material. We have many foot and ankle patients that dont feel comfortable altering the brace strap but so long as you leave enough of the strap to fasten the brace to the foot and ankle, its fine to cut off the excess material to make the adjustment.
http://www.insightful-products.com
In this episode, we demonstrate how we can refurbish an old AFO, in particular, the Step-Smart AFO. If your drop foot brace is looking old and shabby and needs to be cleaned up with new straps and brace parts, we provide this service at a reasonable price.
http://www.insightful-products.com/buy-afo.html
In this episode, we compare the Step-Smart AFO with the Dynamic Walk AFO, Dorsi-strap, and Swedish style posterior leaf spring drop foot orthosis / brace. These ankle foot orthoses are compared for shoe fitting, comfort, and general gait proficiency.
AFO Blog 