(617) 787-8779 Phone
Enhancing Performance, Comfort & Safety in Shoes
DIABETES
Now in Springfield, Mass.
Protecting the At-Risk Foot
If you have medical insurance and are diagnosed with diabetes and foot complications, you may have coverage for therapeutic footwear at little or no out-of-pocket or up-front cost.
FORMS THAT YOU NEED
To schedule an appointment, you will need a Prescription, and for most payors: a recent foot exam and a recent exam with the physician who manages your diabetes.
For fastest service, new patients can Register Here and get the Forms.
For full service, our staff will fetch the required documents with your permission.
PROCESS
When your prescription and other paperwork is received correctly, we can schedule your first appointment to be examined and fitted. Allow one hour. You can be seen in Boston or in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Usually within three weeks, you can receive your shoes at a second appointment, usually 45-60 minutes in duration where we assess the fit and make any necessary adjustments.
* REMEMBER TO BRING:
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Socks
INSURANCE ACCEPTED
Boston Pedorthic is Contracted With:
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Commonwealth Care Alliance
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Fallon
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Harvard Pilgrim
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Mass Health
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Medicare
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Navicare
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Tufts Medicare Preferred
Kindly have your ID numbers handy when you call for an appointment. This way, we can verify eligibility & benefits before your appointment.
Thank you.
PROTECTING AT-RISK FEET
People with Diabetes, who are diagnosed by their doctor to have complications of neuropathy and circulatory deficiencies face the risk of developing lesions on their feet. Lesions become infections that easily escalate and progress to amputations. A major contributing risk-factor is footwear that causes excessive shear and compression forces to occur on the weight-bearing foot.
For people with Diabetes,
One of seven will develop foot ulcers
One in five of them will need an amputation*
A primary strategy for protecting the feet of people with diabetes is to provide therapeutic footwear. Therapeutic shoes are professionally fitted to accommodate custom molded insoles, and provide a safe environment for the feet, especially in the toe area. Custom molded insoles evenly distribute pressures across the weight-bearing (plantar) surface of the foot.
* Pendsey, S. P. (2010). Understanding diabetic foot. International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries, 30(2), 75–79. http://doi.org/10.4103/0973-3930.62596
THERAPEUTIC SHOE BENEFIT (TSB)
In May 1993, Congress amended Medicare statutes to provide partial reimbursement for depth shoes, custom molded shoes, and shoe inserts or orthopedic modifications to qualifying Medicare Part B patients with diabetes. Most insurers and HMOs provide coverage for diabetic footwear.
In order to qualify, you must have a diagnosis of diabetes with at least one of the following conditions:
History of partial or complete amputation of the foot
History of previous foot ulceration
History of pre-ulcerative callus
Peripheral neuropathy with evidence of callus formation
Foot deformity
Poor circulation
WHY BOSTON PEDORTHIC FOR DIABETES?
At Boston Pedorthic your footwear is our “sole” concern. Pedorthists are clinically trained shoe specialists, knowledgeable in anatomy & physiology, lower-extremity biomechanics, and disorders affecting the feet and gait. What’s more, experienced pedorthists know shoe construction.
Whether it’s for casting and crafting a custom shoe, or cutting apart a shoe and building up an orthopedic modification, you can depend upon skilled hand work and expert decision-making.
Choose from a wide variety of styles in depth shoes.
BRANDS
Acor Orthopedics
Alden of New England
Apis Footwear
Brooks Running
Calzamedi
Comfortrite
Doctor Comfort
Drew
Finn Comfort
In-Stride
Mt. Emey
P.W. Minor
Pedors
Propet
Sequoia
Tauer & Johnson
Theresia M.
Waldlaufer
DIABETES TRENDS
LOWER LIMB AMPUTATIONS DUE TO DIABETES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease and Health Promotion. National Diabetes Fact Sheet: National estimates and general information on diabetes and prediabetes in the United States, 2011. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention; 2011.
LOWER LIMB AMPUTATIONS BY NATION
Lower extremity amputation rates in people with diabetes as an indicator of health systems performance´, Carinci, Massi Benedetti, Klazinga and Uccioli.
DECREASES IN LOWER-LIMB AMPUTATIONS IN MASSACHUSETTS
From 1997 to 2012, the number of lower-limb amputations in Massachusetts decreased 24.2 percent A total of 45,756 lower-limb amputation procedures were performed in the state of Massachusetts in these years. This represents 92.7 percent of all amputation procedures performed in the state.
From 1997 to 2012, 2,132,297 lower-limb amputations procedures were performed in the United States. The number of lower-limb amputation procedures performed in Massachusetts represents 2.1 percent of this national total.The leading causes of lower-limb amputation are complications resulting from dysvascular diseases such as diabetes, and the number of people who lose a limb due to diabetes is expected to almost triple by the year 2050.
(1) Ziegler-Graham K, MacKenzie EJ, Ephraim PL, Travison TG, Brookmeyer R. Estimating the prevalence of limb loss in the United States: 2005 to 2050. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation2008;89(3):422-9.
(2) Dillingham TR. Limb amputation and limb deficiency: Epidemiology and recent trends in the United States. Southern Medical Journal2002;95(8):875-83.
WHO LOSES A LIMB IN MASSACHUSETTS (2012)
In 2012, most amputations in Massachusetts were performed on individuals aged 65-84 years old (43.8 percent) and those aged 45-64 years (38.8 percent) (see Graph 3.1). These trends largely reflect the aging population and causes of amputations resulting from dysvascular conditions, especially diabetes, which are more common in older individuals.
(1) 1. Ziegler-Graham K, MacKenzie EJ, Ephraim PL, Travison TG, Brookmeyer R. Estimating the prevalence of limb loss in the United States: 2005 to 2050. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation2008;89(3):422-9.
NEWLY DIAGNOSED CASES OF DIABETES IN MASSACHUSETTS
Source: Centers for Disease Control
DIABETES RESOURCES
