IC40 – New & Emerging Technologies: How to Ask the Right Questions When Evaluating Mobility Devices

Program ID : IC40.2017
Webinar Length of Time: 1.25 Hour

Link to view the lecture presentation:

Presenters

Kendra Betz, MSPT, ATP
Veterans Health Administration
Littleton, Colorado
United States

Note: Faculty for this activity have been required to disclose all relationships with any proprietary entity producing health care goods or services, with the exemption of nonprofit or government organizations and non-healthcare related companies.

* No conflicts have been disclosed.

Description

New technologies that support increased mobility and participation for individuals with physical impairment are consistently developed and introduced to the rehabilitation community. Product innovations capture a wide realm of proposed mobility solutions, ranging from unique ambulation assistive devices, to highly customizable wheeled mobility options and rapidly evolving powered exoskeletons that support individuals who are paralyzed to stand and walk. Within each mobility device category, extensive variability exists. As just one example, manual wheelchairs are available with a multitude of frame designs and features, are built with diverse materials, and are highly customizable by configuration, individualized selection of options and accessories, and interface with complementary mobility enhancing products such as power add-on systems. Often, limited objective evidence is available about the appropriate use and effectiveness of a new mobility device, yet rehabilitation professionals must respond to consumers who believe it is a “must have,” to product representatives who promote it as the “greatest invention ever” and to funding sources who insist it is an “unnecessary expense”. Many people are challenged to strategically analyze mobility products to differentiate between beneficial attributes and limits of use based on the information available.

The aim of this session is to empower participants to ask the right questions about new and emerging mobility technologies to support an accurate and meaningful assessment of potential value and identified limitations. Topics will include regulatory requirements, established national and international test standards, impact of published literature, product coding, reimbursement and payment implications, ethical considerations, and objective review of device performance, durability and reliability. Strategies to identify specific clinical indications and contraindications for various mobility options will be discussed and the impact of mobility device failure on consumers will be explored. Participants will develop a framework for objectively evaluating devices to support practical clinical recommendations about new and emerging technologies.

Learning Objectives

Upon viewing this webinar, participants will be able to:

Review three critical considerations for evaluating new and emerging wheeled mobility devices.
Discuss two reasons that objective results from standardized test protocols provide meaningful information about mobility device performance.
Describe three common wheeled mobility device failure modes that result in challenges for wheelchair users.

References

Gebrosky, B., Pearlman, J., Cooper, R.A., Cooper, R., & Kelleher, A. (2013). Evaluation of lightweight wheelchairs using ANSI/RESNA testing standards. J Rehabil Res Dev. 50(10): 1373-90.
Iezzoni, L.I., & Ogg, M. (2014). Performance metrics for power wheelchairs: a pipe dream? Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 95(4): 604-7.
Lajeuness, C.V., Routhier, F., Careau, E., & Michaud, F. (2016). Exoskeletons’ design and usefulness evidence according to a systematic review of lower limb exoskeletons used for functional mobility by people with spinal cord injuries. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. 11(7):535-47.

CEU Registration and Cost

0.125 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be awarded to individuals for viewing 1.25 hours of instruction.
The cost for the webinar is $59.00

Instructions to Obtain CEUs

go to the RSTCE web site at: www.rstce.org

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Select Webinars
Select the webinar: IC40 – New & Emerging Technologies: How to Ask the Right Questions When Evaluating Mobility Devices
Complete your registration

A payment confirmation will be sent via e-mail.
(Allow 10 minutes for the database to process payment and send a confirmation e-mail).

After viewing the webinar

log back into database and Select Post Tests and Evaluation for: IC40 – New & Emerging Technologies: How to Ask the Right Questions When Evaluating Mobility Devices
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You will receive your CEU Certificate via e-mailed as a PDF file (Please allow 10 minutes for the database to process your certificate and send it to your e-mail)

The University of Pittsburgh, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences awards Continuing Education Units to individuals who enroll in certain educational activities. The CEU is designated to give recognition to individuals who continue their education in order to keep up-to-date in their profession. (One CEU is equivalent to 10 hours of participation in an organized continuing education activity). Each person should claim only those hours of credit that he or she actually spent in the educational activity.

The University of Pittsburgh is certifying the educational contact hours of this program and by doing so is in no way endorsing any specific content, company, or product. The information presented in this program may represent only a sample of appropriate interventions.

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Updated | 06.20.2017