3/20/2008
NAAOP Advances Veterans and Research Issues in Washington
NAAOP Washington Update
March 2008
On March 10th and 11th, NAAOP leaders came to Washington to advocate on issues important to NAAOP members and the O&P field. Tom Guth, President of NAAOP, George Breece, Executive Director, and Peter Thomas, General Counsel, participated in the Policy Forum held by the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association and took the opportunity to pay visits to a number of important policymakers on key NAAOP priorities.
NAAOP met with Dr. Lynda Davis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Military Personnel Policy at the Department of Defense (DOD), at the Pentagon to discuss the orthotic and prosthetic needs of returning wounded military and the transition of wounded military from the Department of Defense healthcare programs to the Veterans Administration. Dr. Davis heads the effort to coordinate case management and is in active communication with the Department of Veterans Affairs on these issues.
NAAOP pledged to contribute to a resource directory that the DOD is compiling that will be web-based and available to the public. It will serve as a clearinghouse of information for both military and civilians seeking information on rehabilitation treatment options, including orthotic and prosthetic care. This was NAAOP’s second major meeting with the DOD since the problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center were disclosed last spring. NAAOP has been impressed with the level of openness and willingness to cooperate that the DOD has shown in recent months.
NAAOP also met with the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee staff, including House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Bob Filner, to discuss the creation of an Injured and Amputee Veterans “Bill of Rights.” Conceived of by the NAAOP Board, the Injured and Amputee Veterans Bill of Rights is a document intended to be displayed prominently in VA Amputee clinics across the country that would inform veterans of their rights to quality orthotic and prosthetic care.
The document would include the right to see the practitioner of their choice, the right to the most appropriate technology, the right to a second opinion related to various treatment options, and the right to seamless and continuous care across the country, to name a few. NAAOP was encouraged by the reception given by Congressional leaders to this approach and will be actively working throughout the coming months to obtain support from other O&P organizations and disability groups, veterans service organizations, and other key policymakers on Capitol Hill.
NAAOP also met with Dan Gade, Associate Director, Domestic Policy Counsel at the White House. Dan is a true American hero, and he uses prosthetic limbs as a result of his service in Iraq. Dan gave NAAOP a warm reception and provided insightful comments in the course of our discussion of NAAOP priorities.
Finally, NAAOP took the opportunity to meet with the rehabilitation research staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs, including the Chief of the Orthotic and Prosthetic Research portfolio. The nearly two hour meeting covered a wide range of research topics, including the need for a greater evidence base in the orthotic and prosthetic field, the further development of measurement tools and functional outcome parameters, comparative research, and a need to build research capacity in the O&P field.
During the course of this meeting, NAAOP discussed the consensus position of the O&P field represented through the Orthotic and Prosthetic Alliance that greater focus on the research needs of the O&P community is sorely needed. A number of follow-up items resulted from this meeting that NAAOP will be engaged in over the coming months, but, at the very least, a good dialogue occurred and a budding relationship was solidified.
NAAOP will continue to update its members and the general O&P community as developments occur.
Written by Peter W. Thomas, General Counsel, NAAOP
