AOPA evolves with internal revamp

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Far from an exercise in aesthetics, the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association’s (AOPA) recent rebrand was a culmination of nine months worth of data collection, member surveys, and in-depth interviews with key leaders and constituents within the profession.  

"We’ve seen a lot of evolution in the orthotics and prosthetics field in the last decade or so and AOPA hasn't done enough work to keep up with that,” said Executive Director Eve Lee. “We realized very quickly that we needed to evolve our internal structure, how our departments worked, how we serve our members, and most importantly, how we communicated more broadly to the world who we are in order to drive positive change within the field.” 

While AOPA has six strategic priorities it will work to accomplish over the next three to five years, the organization has two major goals: to be seen as a trusted partner—a resource for regulators, policy makers, legislators, payers, as well as those in the community, including sister organizations and allied health societies—and to effectively communicate the importance of orthotic and prosthetic care to those partners. 

“We know the O&P story is incredibly compelling and we want to utilize that and tell the story of quality, evidence-based care in our work much more intentionally, primarily with our advocacy efforts to really change and influence policy,” said Lee. 

To reach those goals, AOPA has restructured and tripled staff capacity for its newly reimagined health policy and strategic alliances department to influence policy at all levels: legislative, state, regulatory, and payer. 

"We want to influence policy as it's being developed so we’re not always being reactionary,” said Lee. “It takes a lot of effort to make sure we have a seat at the table when these decisions are being made, to make sure we're being seen as a collaborative resource, as a trusted resource,” said Lee.