Mobility Management Podcast
The complex rehab technology (CRT) industry includes seating and mobility clinicians and providers, funding and policy specialists, rehab engineers, manufacturers and, of course, consumers and their families. Join Editor Laurie Watanabe as these stakeholders share their insights, predictions and hopes for CRT. Whether you design, manufacture, recommend, build, fit, service or fund seating and mobility, our podcasts offer personal perspectives from CRT’s front lines.
Aug 31, 2023
Historically, custom seating has been considered something of a last resort for wheelchair riders who cannot be accommodated any other way. Now that new technology has greatly reduced the timeline for its creation and delivery, should custom seating be considered sooner in the assessment process? Ride Designs’ Tom Hetzel discusses how to determine when off-the-shelf seating systems can be the optimal choice.
Duration: 46 min
Sponsored by Ride Designs
Jul 28, 2023
Digital enablement sounds impressive — but what does it really mean? And can it work in a people-centric industry such as Complex Rehab Technology (CRT), where relationships and communication are everything? Numotion’s Bret Barczak (Chief Marketing Officer & Executive Vice President, Retail Division) and Elizabeth Floegel (Chief Information & Digital Officer) discuss the many efficiencies that digitization can offer today’s CRT provider… and why people will always be key to successful CRT outcomes.
Duration: 30 min
Sponsored by Numotion
May 31, 2023
Complex Rehab Technology manufacturers design power wheelchairs for a wide range of stakeholders. Consumers, caregivers, clinicians, providers, and technicians all have their own priorities, while payers want to get the most function while paying the lowest possible cost. Bret Tracy, ATP, and Josh Haynes from Merits Health Products discuss how they balance those priorities — not to mention Medicare funding based on in-the-home usage — and what questions suppliers should consider when choosing which power chairs to provide.
Duration: 21 min
Sponsored by Merits Health Products, Inc.
May 08, 2023
While wheelchair seating often prioritizes the positioning of the client’s pelvis, supporting upper extremities is also crucial to efficient functioning and mobility-related activities of daily living. In this episode, Tina Roesler, PT, MS, the Director of Clinical and Business Development for Bodypoint, explains how to identify sub-optimal upper-extremity positioning among people using wheelchairs, and shares a new approach to dynamic upper-extremity positioning.
Duration: 24 min
Sponsored by Bodypoint, Inc.
Mar 31, 2023
A landmark proposed decision on Medicare funding for seat elevation should be very encouraging to Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) stakeholders, but several other CRT issues are also demanding attention. In this first podcast of the year with NCART Executive Director Wayne Grau and Associate Director Mickae Lee, Mobility Management Editor Laurie Watanabe asks about power standing (the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has not yet responded to the industry’s request for Medicare coverage consideration), the expansion of right-to-repair laws, and what else the industry can expect for 2023.
Duration: 28 min
Jan 31, 2023
How do you define a successful ultralightweight wheelchair? How do rolling resistance, rolling dynamics, center of mass, weight distribution, etc., impact that wheelchair’s efficiency and function? In this second podcast sponsored by RGK, Josh Anderson and Jim Black — both longtime ultralightweight wheelchair riders — and Sarah Leonard, PT, DPT, ATP, discuss RGK’s made-to-measure custom-building process, why individualized configurations are crucial, and the many benefits of optimizing these “wheeled prosthetics.” For the first RGK podcast, click here.
Duration: 34 min
Sponsored by RGK
Dec 14, 2022
So many factors impact ride quality for people who propel their own wheelchairs. Can truly building that wheelchair around its rider — a process that manufacturer RGK refers to as “made to measure” — make a difference in the overall rider experience? RGK’s Josh Anderson, Jim Black, and Sarah Leonard, PT, DPT, ATP, explain the significance of made-to-measure’s precise calculations, how made to measure differs from custom configuration, and what a better ride can ultimately mean to people who use ultralightweight wheelchairs.
Duration: 34 min
Sponsored by RGK
Nov 17, 2022
While consumers who use seating and wheeled mobility equipment are the ultimate Complex Rehab Technology and DME customers, suppliers also work with a number of other stakeholders every day, including all-important referral sources. In this podcast sponsored by ATLAS Enterprise Software, CEO Bill Paul and Chief Innovation Officer Diana Escalera explain the benefits for suppliers who nurture their relationships with referral sources, and how efficiently handling prescriptions can strengthen those collaborations by providing timely, accurate, excellent customer service.
Duration: 18 min
Sponsored by Atlas Enterprise Software
Oct 21, 2022
With a busy, productive summer 2022 now in the rear-view mirror, NCART Executive Director Wayne Grau and Associate Director Mickae Lee provide a recap and an update on priorities for the rest of 2022 into 2023, as exiting Executive Director Don Clayback says good-bye.
Duration: 26 min
Sep 28, 2022
Reimbursement is at the heart of so many Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) challenges — and in recent years, CRT providers have faced a perfect storm of pandemic-driven supply chain delays and increased business costs, complicated by surging fuel prices, labor shortages, and overall inflation. Too often, the impact has been longer wait times for equipment delivery and repairs. National Seating & Mobility’s CEO Bill Mixon and Chief Revenue Cycle Officer Charles Sargeant discuss impactful reimbursement reforms that could keep pace with current and future events… while also mitigating the service delays that are fueling the Right to Repair consumer movement.
Duration: 26 min
Sponsored by National Seating & Mobility
Aug 23, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined how Complex Rehab Technology providers do business, from seating evaluations to equipment deliveries, repairs and service. Jeff Preston, Director of Product & Marketing at Motion (formerly Motion Specialties), discusses how the national Canadian provider has identified and implemented solutions over the last few years, as well as trends its ATPs have noticed among seating and wheeled mobility clients.
Duration: 26 min
Jul 28, 2022
It's a challenge for smaller Complex Rehab Technology and mobility providers to distinguish themselves from the competition. But optimal product selection can be one way to stand out. In this podcast sponsored by WHILL, VP of Sales Justin Gagnon discusses what providers should look for when choosing products to carry, while Doug Mykol, Managing Partner at New Tech Mobility, explains his product selection process for this new business.
Duration: 23 min
Sponsored by WHILL
Jul 18, 2022
Due to the immense amount of documentation required by payers, operational efficiency is crucial for a Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) or Durable Medical Equipment (DME) business to be successful.
In the third episode in the ATLAS Technology Group-sponsored series, CEO William Paul and Chief Innovation Officer Diana Escalera discuss how to leverage technology to make the documentation and justification process more accurate, consistent, and efficient, to the benefit of the provider, clinical partners, consumers and caregivers, and the funding sources themselves.
Listen to the second episode in the series (Documentation Dilemmas: From Identifying Delays to Streamlining Solutions) or the first episode (Service & Repair: Busting the “Unprofitable” Myth) for more information on how providers can improve their customer service outcomes.
Duration: 24 min
Sponsored by Atlas Enterprise Software
Jun 30, 2022
NCART's Don Clayback and Mickae Lee preview a busy summer in Complex Rehab Technology (CRT), as the industry awaits a CMS power seat elevation and standing public comment period, and advocates get ready for August's CRT Awareness Week and September's virtual Congressional fly-in.
Duration: 24 min
Jun 22, 2022
As the National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers (NRRTS) celebrates its 30th anniversary, Executive Director Weesie Walker discusses how the job of Rehab Technology Suppliers (RTS) has changed over the years, the current challenges they face, and how NRRTS plans to raise up and educate the next RTS generation for the benefit of all Complex Rehab Technology stakeholders.
Duration: 38 min
May 19, 2022
Evaluation-to-delivery (E-to-D) times for Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) can balloon for many reasons, from the sheer volume of information that payors ask for to the fact that different payors can have significantly different justification requirements.
In this podcast sponsored by ATLAS Clinical Evals Software (ACES), ATLAS CEO Bill Paul and Joe McKnight, ATP/SMS, CRTS, discuss the most common causes of E-to-D delays and how to streamline the documentation process to benefit all members of the seating team, from client and caregivers to clinicians, referral sources, funding sources… and yes, the ATP.
This is the second in a series of ATLAS Technology podcasts focusing on creating and providing the best-possible client experience. To listen to podcast #1, Service & Repair: Busting the “Unprofitable” Myth, click here.
Duration: 21 min
Sponsored by ATLAS Clinical Evals Software ACES
Apr 18, 2022
Historically, service and repair departments at Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) and HME businesses have underperformed, existing mainly to support clinicians and consumers, but with few expectations for growth or profitability. Bill Paul (CEO of ATLAS Technology/co-CEO ATLAS-FIOS) and Matthew Macpherson (ATP, co-CEO of ATLAS-FIOS) discuss why so many service departments underachieve, how investing in service makes sound business sense, and what tools are available to assess and address each service department’s unique needs and goals.
Duration: 26 min
Sponsored by ATLAS FIOS
Mar 30, 2022
The pandemic has made employees re-evaluate what they want from their jobs, while perspectives from younger workers — Millennials and Zoomers — are making companies rethink their workplace culture and policies. National Seating & Mobility CEO Bill Mixon and Chief Human Resources Officer Ann Mahaffey discuss employment trends, why job satisfaction will hinge on more than just a paycheck going forward, and what it will take to build successful workplaces in the future.
Duration: 22 mins
Sponsored by National Seating & Mobility
Mar 23, 2022
Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) relies on innovation to meet the evolving needs and goals of people with disabilities. But is CRT a nurturing environment for new ideas and new technology? LUCI co-founders Barry Dean and Jered Dean discuss barriers to new technology and how stakeholders can work together toward more successful seating and mobility outcomes.
Duration: 36 min
Feb 25, 2022
In the best of times, working in Complex Rehab Technology is physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging. CRT professionals are accustomed to taking care of others... but who's taking care of CRT professionals? Patrick Boardman, ATP, discusses what he's hearing and noticing from colleagues... and explains why self care should also be industry priorities.
To talk to someone live, 24 hours a day, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or visit the Web site for more resources and information. Doctor On Demand’s resources include mental health professionals available to meet online, as well as online assessments for anxiety and depression.
Duration: 27 min