PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Making an Impact Clinician studies O&P outcomes data and what it means for patients, practitioners
O&P Almanac introduces individuals who have undertaken O&P-focused research projects. Here, you will get to know colleagues and healthcare professionals who have carried out studies and gathered quantitative and/ or qualitative data related to orthotics and prosthetics, and find out what it takes to become an O&P researcher.
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FEBRUARY 2021 | O&P ALMANAC
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DUAL-CERTIFIED O&P clinician,
Taavy Miller, PhD, CPO, brings strong scientific skills in health economics and clinical expertise to her role as a research scientist in the Department of Clinical and Scientific Affairs at Hanger Clinic. “I leverage my knowledge and experience in using real-world data to capture when, where, and why patients with functional impairment and chronic diseases utilize health services along their journey to better understand the health outcomes and value of health services,” says Miller, who is well-versed in quantitative and qualitative data analysis. “In addition, I have experience in patient-reported outcomes assessing health utility and qualitative research.” Given her background, it comes as no surprise that Miller plays a critical role in the IMPACT studies, a collection of research reports published by Hanger in collaboration with researchers, clinicians, and academic institutions. These studies assess outcomes among individuals with commercial health insurance, and have demonstrated the economic benefit that timely and appropriate prosthetic services have on patient outcomes, according to Miller. In the most recently published study—the IMPACT 2—Miller
worked closely with Hanger Clinic’s Shane R. Wurdeman, PhD, CP, FAAOP(D), as well as researchers from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Department of Public Health. They analyzed data on 510 patients with lower-limb amputations to evaluate how receipt of a prosthesis affects overall healthcare utilization. Emergency department (ED) use, a common proxy for healthcare utilization, was assessed in the context of the timing of receipt of a lower-limb prosthesis following amputation, as well as not receiving a prosthesis. Miller and her cohorts found that, across all age groups, individuals who received an early prosthesis—within three months following amputation— were 48 percent less likely to use the ED compared to those who did not receive a prosthesis. They also found that the percentage of ED use as a measure of overall healthcare utilization appears to have an upward trend as the time from surgery to prosthesis receipt increases. The findings were published in PM&R: The Journal of Injury, Function, and Rehabilitation. Miller led the study from conceptualization through executing the data analysis and writing the manuscript.
