Foot Levelers Momentous Endowment Creates Chair in Biomechanics and Human Performance, Supports Research, Education for Evidence-Based, Patient-Centered Outcomes
ROANOKE, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Foot Levelers, the world’s leading provider of hand-crafted custom orthotics serving multi-disciplinary professionals and clinicians, announces a $500,000 endowment to create the Foot Levelers Chair in Biomechanics and Human Performance at Northwestern Health Sciences University, Bloomington, Minn. The new chair supports research and education to advance a deeper understanding of biomechanics, the science of movement of a living body, including how muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments work together to produce movement and will provide the opportunity to find more efficient, effective care that leads to improved patient outcomes and better quality of life, especially pertaining to spine care, throughout the world.
According to Kent S. Greenawalt, chairman and CEO of Foot Levelers, “Research is the backbone of high quality spine care, human performance and biomechanics and we are extremely gratified to play a role in supporting health care teams worldwide,” says Greenawalt, noting that some 16 million adults — 8 percent of all adults — experience persistent or chronic back pain, and as a result are limited in certain everyday activities. “We’re honored, excited and immensely proud of these efforts to enhance well-coordinated patient care among different providers and institutions that brings together care for the whole person. Our level of commitment to research resonates with providers, patients and payers.”
Concurrent to this endowment, Foot Levelers has also created an annual $25,000 matching gift to NWHSU which will be used to further clinical research on functional orthotics products and their effect on the biomechanics of the whole body, especially the spine.
Jamie Greenawalt, senior vice president, Foot Levelers, adds, “This level of support provides benefits that extend to payers and self-insured employers who are seeking pain management solutions that avoid the use of opioids or incur expensive hospitalizations, surgeries or interventions that drive up the cost of care. Studies document that Foot Levelers orthotics are proven to reduce lower back pain by 34.5%, an impressive result that translates into better care for patients, lower costs for healthcare systems and better outcomes for providers in the spine care continuum.”
According to the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, back pain is the sixth most costly condition in the United States, with health care costs and indirect costs due to back pain reaching over $12 billion per year and back problems representing a patient’s’ most frequent complaint to doctors. Many of the indirect costs of this chronic condition are related to missed days of work and disability payments, with some 83 million days of work lost per year due to back pain. Back pain may also affect other activities, including athletic performance and exercise.
About Foot Levelers
Foot Levelers, the world’s leading provider of hand-crafted custom orthotics, has been serving healthcare professionals since 1952. Stabilizing orthotics help properly support the back, knees, hips, pelvis, and even neck by providing a balanced and symmetrical foundation. Foot Levelers orthotics are proven to reduce LBP by 34.5%. Visit www.footlevelers.com; and follow on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@FootLevelers).
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Workers’ Comp for Remote Employees: Updates and Guidance for the Self-Insured Community
By Laura Carabello
The Self Insurer— Among the many changes and upheavals that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the workplace, now more than every Americans are working from home. To limit the spread of the virus, many offices simply closed their doors and transitioned their employees to remote work, reshaping and forever changing the world at work.
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Health insurers poised to pay $1 billion in rebates to 8.2 million people this year
By Sarah O’Brien
CNBC.com— There’s a chance your health insurance company owes you some cash.
Depending on how you get your coverage, you may be one of the 8.2 million policyholders expected to get a piece of $1 billion in premium rebates this fall from various insurers, according to a preliminary analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The amount is down from $2 billion issued in 2021 and a record $2.5 billion in 2020.
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Teachers face mental health challenges dealing with school shootings
By Arthur Jones Ii and Kelly Livingston
ABC.com— Ramon Benavides, 2022’s Texas Teacher of the Year, choked up, clutching his infant son as his mind raced with thoughts of the recent mass shootings in his home state.
From the attack at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 to the Uvalde school massacre, the tragedies conjure up unimaginable fears felt not only by parents — but by teachers.
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Kids Under 5 May Get Access to COVID-19 Vaccine by June 21, White House Says
By Julia Ries
Healthline.com— White House officials announced today that COVID-19 vaccines may be available for children aged 6 months to 5 years within weeks.
Dr. Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, told reporters in a White House briefing that the administration is planning to make 10 million doses available for states to order. They will be shipped to states if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorizes the vaccines for use for children under 5.
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Health plans can do more to improve price transparency for consumers, survey finds
By Anastassia Gliadkovskaya
FierceHealthcare.com— Despite rising availability in online transparency tools, consumers remain unsure about costs and avoid care as a result, a new survey has found.
The annual consumer sentiment survey was conducted in January 2022 by Healthsparq, a health tech company, and reached more than 1,000 insured Americans. Transparency tools were defined as those provided by payers such as in-network provider search, cost estimates and information on treatment.
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