Simbex Works with Career Clinician to Realize His Vision for an O&P Wearable Device
Seeing the Need
Dennis Clark has had a lifetime of experience in orthotics and prosthetics (O&P). He trained under his father and eventually took over his practice, growing it from a small family business to a multi-site enterprise, Clark and Associates, headquartered in Waterloo, IA. Highlights of his career include serving as the president of ABC (American Board of Certification) and holding appointments as lead prosthetist at Walter Reed Medical Center during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Like many healthcare professionals, while Dennis observed the profession from every angle throughout his career, he noticed that there was an unmet need.
There was no patient-specific data on how patients actually used their O&P devices during activities of daily living.
- Did they use the prosthesis full time, or only for certain activities, such as when they left the house, and were only using crutches at home?
- What if the patient wasn’t using their prosthesis at all, and it was just sitting in the closet collecting dust?
- How would the medical team know about this pattern of behavior and be able to anticipate and address any potential adverse outcomes?
Even the very best O&P devices are only capable of creating functional change in a patient’s life if that person actually wears them.
