Physician Documentation
Medicare and most insurance companies require ample documentation from physicians to justify the need for prosthetics. This documentation should be detailed... down to every prosthetic required and why. The problem is that most physicians don't know enough about prosthetic fabrication to really diagnosis a specific problem. Many times, a prosthetist will just receive a prescription reading "evaluate prosthesis for possible repair or replacement". If a major replacement is needed, it's then up to the prosthetist to get more information from the physician. To make matters even more difficult, the prosthetist is limited as to his/her participation in assisting the physician with proper documentation. Educating the patient as to what is required & why, and doing prosthetic in-services for physicians are both good ways as addressing this problem.
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