Straight from my green spiral college-ruled notebook for this week:
— Back from Medtrade in Phoenix (March 2-4), where show organizers reported a 14% jump in conference attendance and 116 new exhibitors in the expo.
— Rehasense’s Eco Assist front-mounting power-assist system won the gold in Medtrade’s New Product Pavilion.
—I noted these three products on the show floor that really captured the importance of human factors engineering, i.e., technology that gives consumers and patients plenty of room to be themselves, quirks and all (I’m paraphrasing). Rehasense’s Art Line of rollators made my scorecard, as did Dignity Lift’s toileting/hygiene system featuring anterior tilt for easier transfers.
— Loved the “Recruiting ATPs” panel discussion, moderated by Rifton’s Derek Meier with panelists Matthew MacPherson (ATLAS-Fios), Andrea Madsen (International Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers/iNRRTS), and Ted Metcalf (U.S. Rehab), and with Bret Tracy (ATLAS-Fios) as the emcee in the audience. I’ll have in-depth coverage of this panel, which asked the crucial question of how to recruit and retain the next generation of Assistive Technology Professionals, and the challenges in doing so. To paraphrase Andrea: One of the difficulties is the lack of a succinct, but comprehensive definition of what an ATP supplier truly does. So true.
— The American Association for Homecare’s (AAHomecare) regulatory council and Complex Rehab and mobility council met in Phoenix, and I chatted informally with several council meetings afterward. Again, paraphrasing: The recent Medicare DME MACs’ announcement of their proposed local coverage determinations (LCD) for power seat elevation on Group 2 power wheelchairs with codes K0830 and K0831 doesn’t impact Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) Group 3 power wheelchairs with seat elevation. Nonetheless, council members I spoke to advocated for preserving access to seat elevation for consumers who would benefit from it — and there are many who could, even if they lack the types of neurological, skeletal or genetic conditions that typically qualify consumers for Group 3 chairs.
— Next up on the CRT event calendar: The inaugural Abilities International Accessibility Conference (for professionals), taking place before and during the Southern California Abilities Expo (for consumers and caregivers). This year’s event — March 26-27 for the conference; March 27-29 for consumers — is in Long Beach, also home to the Tibor Rubin Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The professional conference for seating and wheeled mobility professionals features two full days of education with continuing education units. Sessions include Manual Wheelchair Setup, Adjustment and Impact on Function; Integrating Ethical and Equitable AI in Augmentative & Alternative Communication; and Leveraging Technology to Enhance ATP/Referring Clinician Collaboration.
The Abilities Expo will also hold professional conferences at its second (Edison, New Jersey, at the end of April) and third (Schaumburg, Illinois, in June) consumer events.
— And finally, I’m catching up on Paralympics viewing that I missed while I was in Phoenix. While watching the athletes is thrilling, I also love videos like this, a clip of a dad watching his daughter win gold in alpine monoskiing. Cheers to all Paralympians and the ones shared their dreams.
