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Market Reasearch for a new orthotic lab

Discussion in 'Australia' started by Ed_Norris, Feb 18, 2015.

  1. Ed_Norris

    Ed_Norris Member


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    Hi there,

    I'm doing a bit of market research for my orthotics lab in Newcastle Australia, NSW.

    I had a look at some of the data on podiatry management news and it was very helpful, but it obviously relates to american statistics.

    I have a few questions to ask to Australian Podiatrists in general that will help give me an idea for how I can best deliver my services.

    You can answer all questions, or only some if you want, Any information is helpful for me.

    Feel free to pm me if you would prefer to remain confidential.

    Here are my questions.


    1. How does your clinic prefer to capture the contours of the feet.

    2. How does your clinic prescribe orthotics?
    • Paper prescription fully detailed?
    • Lab discretion?
    • Online prescription form?

    3. What type of materials do you prescribe?
    • What are the most common top covers you would like to prescribe?
    • What type of orthotics do order most often?


    4. How many pair of custom orthotics do you prescribe per week?

    In America i think the average podiatrist prescribes something in the order of 7.5-8
    per week-how does that compare with Australian podiatrists?


    5. What type of distribution strategy would you like?

    • If it was slightly more expensive to reduce the order time would it be preferable?
    • If it was slightly less expensive to have a longer order time would it be preferable?
    • Does your clinic want Daily Cast / foam box delivery, bi-weekly shipments or other?

    6. What specific type of orthotics do you normally prescribe?
    • Direct milled?
    • Hand made?
    • Injection molded?
    • Prefab Heat molded?
    • Specialized materials ie. carbon fiber or composites?

    8. What is your opinion of Laser scanning?


    9. What is your opinion of handmade orthotics?
    Is the extra cost justifiable for the quality?

    Thanks for your time and best regards,

    :drinks

    Dean
     
  2. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

    Articles:
    8
    For me, you need to capture the contours of the foot in such a way that you get the segments of the foot into such a position that you get the design features you need in the foot orthotic. Each method of negative model production does things that each other method does not do. IMHO, a good clinician will have at their disposal a variety of methods and use which one they need to in order to get the effects that they want.
    IMHO , only those who do not know what they are doing go for 'lab discretion'. IMHO a good clinician will tell the lab exactly what is needed - the lab is not the clinician and has not seen the patient
    The material choice should be based on the effects that are desired to achieve the outcomes desired for that patient - it is going to vary from patient to patient. There is no one right material or method
    I suspect that the average in Australia is a lot lower. There are podiatrists in Australia who are doing a lot more than that; there are podiatrists who only do a few a month - it varies.

    IMHO, a good clinician uses all of those and has them at their disposal. The whole idea of orthotic therapy is to design an orthotic that delivers the design features that are needed to achieve the desired or expected outcomes. Different types of orthotics deliver things differently; as long as what you want is delivered, then the outcomes are going to theoretically be the same. Some design features can only be delivered by certain types of orthotics, so in those cases they are the ones that you can use.

    It is just another method of producing the negative model. Nothing more and nothing less. The way you produce the model is not important as long as you have the segments of the foot in the position that who want to get the design features that you need.
    Does it matter? - as long as you can you get the design features that you need. The foot is not going to notice any different in the manufacturing method
     
  3. Ed_Norris

    Ed_Norris Member

    Hi Craig,

    Thanks for the reply,

    Just out of curiosity do you mind if i ask you which features can be provided by handmade orthotics that cannot be provided by direct milled?

    The reason I ask is because my Business partner loves making orthotics by hand, but unfortunately we are finding it economically difficult to justify.


    I guess I left that question a bit too vague. Maybe a better question for me to ask would be:

    Statistically if 100 patients walked into your clinic, generally how many would require prescriptions fabricated from eva? How many would require poly? how many would require other materials? What would your least used material be?

    Anyways,

    Thanks again for your time!

    I have found everyone on this forum very helpful, and i hope to continue to expand my knowledge of this field.

    Best regards,

    Dean
     
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