A Standardized Model

It was always very interesting to me that we as practitioners have a very well laid out and stringent surgical algorithm or model, yet with respect to biomechanics there is practically no standard structure.

I think this is also interesting when you consider that a mechanical etiology lies at the bottom of most of what we are presented with as practitioners in our offices every day. 

We’ve structured and created a biomechanical model after our well-known and established surgical model.  From an orthotic standpoint, just as it would be a disaster if you left out any one or more of the necessary steps or procedures in the surgical model, so it is disastrous to leave out any of the parts of the biomechanical model we’ve established.

To illustrate this point, if I handed out a piece of paper to one hundred practitioners and asked all of them to list the steps and subsequent things they would do on a new patient that needed to be worked up for a bunion, every piece of paper would say pretty much the same thing. 

Why would all of these papers say the same thing?  Because it was beaten into our heads! 
But what was beaten into our heads?  The answer is a protocol.  And what is a protocol?  It is a structure.  It’s a structured system that was designed for success.

If we did the same for biomechanics, we’d get 100 different answers.

With respect to the Biomechanical model, to the degree that you omit the various component parts you will ultimately have either decreased overall orthotic results or you may have another orthotic failure and subsequently another patient demanding their money back.  

In short, the following are the component parts of our biomechanical algorithm which we call Structured BioMechanics.  As we modeled it after the traditional surgical model, we break it down and reference the traditional pre op, op, and post op phases to illustrate the comprehensive nature of the system:

Pre Op Section

  1. Paperwork 
  2. Initial Consult
  3. Review of Paperwork and Establishment of Short Term and Long Term Goals
  4. Static Exam
  5. Dynamic Exam
  6. Review of Findings with appropriate diagnosis made
  7. Orthotic offered if faulty mechanics correlated to chief complaint

Op Section

  1. Casting
  2. Dispensing

Post Op Section

  1. Follow up
  2. Trouble Shooting  - Adjusting Orthotics and Concept of “Adjusting Patient”

Here are the ancillary parts to structured biomechanics
“These things keep the machine moving forward!”

  1. Patient Education / Hatting
  2. Promotions
  3. Billing

There are many facets to each and every one of the component parts above. For example, you obviously have patient paperwork, but we have specific things to incorporate to help plant the seed for orthotics and to ultimately determine if there is in fact a need for orthotics. 

Do you have a section in your paperwork that asks for goals and expectations?  This section alone allows us to quickly sell the idea of orthotics more times than not as if we can confidently tell them that we can address and satisfy their goals and expectations with our orthotics, the patient is almost always willing to give them a try. How many potential orthotic indications do you not hear from your patient base simply because you never ask them in your paperwork?  Well if you are not asking or have a section for them to describe any knee, hip or back pain, you may well be missing quite a few. 

This example is of course only a part of a single component listed above.  There is much in the way of detail with respect to each component part which is why this course necessitates a two day time period.  Ultimately our course goes over each component part and presents it in a practical way that allows you to apply the concepts and structure of this program directly into your practice starting the day you get back from the course. 

Ability to Predict Orthotic Outcomes ►


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