How the Orthotic Industry Sizes Foot Orthoses

Podiatrists prescribing custom made foot orthoses need to be confident what they prescribe will meet the needs of their patients. In this blog and video, Martin Mc Geough discusses how the orthotic manufacturing industry size devices.

FEBRUARY SECOND SET OFFER

FEBRUARY SECOND SET OFFER – 20% OFF

We’re rolling out the Firefly second set offer for the month of February.

Across our network of Firefly Foot & Ankle clinics in Ireland, we find offering our patients’ a second set of orthoses at a reduced rate is good for the patient and good for business.

The offer gives patients an opportunity to avail of a second set of Firefly custom made foot orthoses for alternative footwear at a great price!

Normally we offer second sets at a reduced rate of 15%, for this promotion Firefly is offering you a 20% discount* on second sets from February 1st to 28th 2022.

For example, you may have prescribed a patient a set of  functional devices  for everyday footwear and you know the patient will benefit from a pair of dress or sport devices for alternative footwear**. You now have an opportunity to re-engage the patient by offering the product at a discounted rate of 20%.

HOW IT WORKS
From today, reach out to your patients via mail or email informing them of the chance to order a second/subsequent set of Firefly Orthoses custom made foot orthoses in a different style from their initial set, or the same style depending on their needs.
Firefly are offering you a 20% discount on the cost of ordering an exact duplicate or a modified order. How you present this to your patients is entirely up to you. However, to make things as easy as possible, we have created a template you can use to reach out to your patients.

Orders must be placed between Tuesday 1st & Monday 28th of Feb to avail of this discount. Quote the code: FEB20 on the order form or in the special instructions section if ordered via the FUSION app. The promo code must be quoted to avail of the offer!!!

If you’ve any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
*discount available to customers on Firefly Orthoses standard pricing only.
**This promotion is not applicable to Richie Brace AFOs.

Why Choose Firefly in 2022?

A new year brings fresh goals for many podiatrists, both personal and professional. Why not join the Firefly community, broaden you scope of practice and achieve better patient outcomes. Start your Firefly journey today!

Royal College of Podiatry Conference 2021

We are delighted to announce Firefly Orthoses will be attending the Royal College of Podiatry Conference in Liverpool on November 18th to 20th.

Firefly MSK Case History Session 

On Friday evening of the conference from 5.45pm in room 12 we will be presenting a specion Firefly MSK Case History session featuring 3 podiatrists; Martin J. Mc Geough, Founder & Medical Director of Firefly Orthoses Ltd, Sarah O’Connell of Momentum Foot & Ankle Specialists and Zoe Wilson from ZW Foot & Ankle. Each of the three podiatrists will present on a MSK case history that incorporates the prescription of a custom made foot orthoses.

This is a unique opportunity to broaden your scope of practice and to learn how orthotic therapy can be an effective conservative form of treating pathologies relating to the foot and ankle.

You can find us at stand 11 in the exhibition hall, close to the catering area and discussion zone. At the stand we will have the full range of Firefly custom made foot orthotics for you to explore. Members of our Technical Support team on hand to answer any questions you might have about our products and services. You will be able to demonstrate our FUSION app for iPad which is the most efficient way of capturing patient foot anatomy and submitting a prescription to our lab for manufacture.

To keep up to date on all Firefly news and announcements leading up the the Conference in November join our mailing list.

 

Watch Kevin Rosenbloom’s Firefly Webinar

In September Firefly brought you another world class speaker from the field of podiatric medicine, Kevin Rosenbloom. Watch it now.

Webinar Special with Craig Payne

Watch renowned podiatrist Craig Payne deliver a webinar special on the topic of getting the foot orthotic dose right.

Webinar Special with Dr. Christopher MacLean

We are delighted to present one of the world’s leading voices in Biomechanics Dr Christopher MacLean as he delivers a Firefly Webinar Special titled What’s More Important, The Hip or The Foot? – A Biomechanist’s Perspective. Dr. MacLean’s work is helping us understand current evidence-based offloading strategies & integrating medical paradigms.

The presentation aims to share Dr MacLean’s knowledge relating to the influence the foot has on lower extremity dynamics and the importance the hips play in this regard.

About Dr. MacLean

Dr. MacLean has been involved in the prescription foot orthotic industry for approximately 30 years first as a Pedorthist, in Educational Marketing, as Director of Biomechanics, and currently as Chair of the Professional Advisory Board at Paris Orthotics Lab Division, Vancouver BC. Chris is the Past President of the Prescription Foot Orthotic Laboratory Association (PFOLA) and Scientific Co-chair (with Dr. Douglas Richie, DPM) of the International Conference on Foot Biomechanics & Orthotic Therapy that is annually sponsored by PFOLA.

Academically, Chris completed a Master of Science (Human Kinetics) at the University of British Columbia with Dr. Jack Taunton. Following this, he completed the Ph.D. (Biomechanics) program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with Dr. Joseph Hamill. His research efforts over the past several years have focused on the mechanism of overuse running injuries and on the dynamic influence of custom foot orthotic and running shoe interventions. Currently, he holds Adjunct professor positions at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. He has presented at over 100 scientific and clinical symposia and has published articles in several peer-reviewed journals.

Medical Device Regulation

News update regarding MDR ROI and NI customers: upcoming changes to the laws around the issuing of medical devices. These will affect many healthcare professionals, including podiatrists, who work in Northern Ireland and any EU member country.  

As the 26th of May 2021 approaches, we have worked on developing and implementing strategies to achieve compliance with the new European Medical Device Regulation MDR 2017/745 and UK MDR 2002. Firefly has engaged with a third-party regulatory consultant and have carried out a regulatory assessment of the requirements of the MDR 2017/745 for Class I Custom-Made Devices.   

MDR compliance means that as custom-made medical device manufacturers we need to comply with the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) in order to sell within the EU market and Northern Ireland.  For Great Britain (England, Wales, Scotland), The EU Medical Device Directive MDD 93/42EEC is transposed into UK law through the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (UK MDR 2002).  

Firefly was awarded EN ISO 9001:2015 by the NSAI in 2018 and have taken the necessary steps to integrate the new MDR compliance into our current Quality Management System (QMS) by developing a Regulatory Strategy that ensures we meet the general safety and performance requirements. This award recognises Firefly’s excellence in quality management systems. For our clients, this means you can have confidence that Firefly’s procedures, products and services meet the highest international standards.   

We can confirm the following will be implemented:  

  • Generating and Maintaining Technical Documentation (MDR 2017/745 Annex XIII Section 2)
  • Preparing Instructions for Use and Labelling
  • Providing a Statement that the device conforms to the general safety and performance requirements (MDR 2017/745 – Annex XIII – Section 1)
  • Registering with Competent Authority (HPRA / MHRA) 
  • Post Market Surveillance system
  • Appointment of a Person Responsible for Regulatory Compliance

From 26th May 2021, Firefly Orthoses customers will receive a ‘custom made statement’ to be presented to the patient along with each custom-made and modified device dispatched from Firefly.   

We would suggest that as a prescribing clinician, you refer to the College of Podiatry for guidance and training on the regulations and what is required in your clinical setting. To comply with the regulations, standards of quality and performance need to be recorded and reported. This requires you to provide certain information to your patients as well as documenting details of the product you have issued/prescribed to the patient in your clinic notes.  

If you require any further information regarding same, please do not hesitate to contact us.  

FIREFLY GOLD: Sarah O’Connell

Sarah O’Connell presents for the second edition of our Firefly Gold series – in her 10 minutes injection of clinical gold, Sarah discusses the treatment of plantar fasciopathy among elite athletes.

A chat with the Firefly Ambassadors

Our three Firefly ambassadors recently sat down with Firefly founder Martin McGeough to discuss their careers to date, why they chose to follow the path of podiatric medicine and what they get up to outside of the clinic.