U.S. Rehab retools tech program

WATERLOO, Iowa - U.S. Rehab has brought in some new faces to revamp its technician training program: Elizabeth Cole and Dick Fuller.

“We're trying to take a more focused effort to help providers run a functional and profitable operation,” said Greg Packer, president of U.S. Rehab, a division of The VGM Group.

To that end, Cole, an ATP and U.S. Rehab's clinical director, will be teaching a two-hour segment on how to recognize potential seating and postural issues.

“This is something very new and different since it provides basic information about the customer who is using the wheelchair versus the nuts and bolts of the wheelchair itself,” Cole said.

The idea is, if technicians know which red flags to look for, they can refer the patient to an ATP and avoid making costly repairs if the patient requires new equipment, says Packer.

“It's more to save the system money, as well as give the patient the best product and outcome they can have,” he said.

The new program will also offer a series of online classes for new repair technicians; and advanced, in-person seminars in California, Iowa, Texas and Georgia for those with more than two years of experience.

“We don't want to cover redundant material for seasoned people and we don't want newcomers to become overwhelmed by too much information, too fast,” said Fuller,   president of Fuller Consulting, who helped design the program. “In this industry, we rely a lot on job training, but it needs to be balanced with a logically structured, sequential education program.”

Representatives from Permobil, Invacare, Motion Concepts and Sunrise Medical will also be on hand to share pertinent information about issues or trends they may be seeing with certain products.

“If there's an issue and our people know it, they can spot it more quickly,” said Packer. “If we can reduce no-fault returns by any percentage, we're saving manufacturers time and money.”