O&P ADVOCATE
Championing O&P Teri Kuffel, JD, combines her legal background with her business acumen to advocate on behalf of the profession
This month, O&P Almanac debuts a new column focusing on individuals who go above and beyond to advocate on behalf of the O&P profession. Here, you will get to know colleagues and O&P stakeholders who champion issues of importance to O&P practitioners, business owners, and patients, and who foster relationships with decision-makers to ensure equitable access for individuals with limb loss and limb impairment.
T
ERI KUFFEL, JD, EMBRACED
O&P advocacy to unite her two professional interests—law and her family business. Kuffel is vice president of Arise Orthotics & Prosthetics Inc. in Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, which she founded with her husband, Charles Kuffel, MSM, CPO, LPO, FAAOP, but she began her career as an attorney and worked at a law firm for several years after graduation. Then she switched focus, using her legal skills to help her brother build an O&P practice in
Arizona before moving to Minnesota to open Arise O&P. Since Arise launched in 2007, Kuffel has overseen the contract, human resources, and organizational management of the facility, and has become extremely involved in advocating on behalf of both O&P patients and the profession itself. “My interest in advocacy grew out of an organic need to do more than just run an O&P business,” says Kuffel, who is president-elect of AOPA and a long-time board member. “It’s an incredible field, so I felt an incredible desire to help.” She now dedicates part of her time to studying O&P policy issues and honing her skills at effectively communicating with legislators. “No one asked me to be an advocate,” she says, “but I felt compelled to do so.”
Policy Forum Pro
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FEBRUARY 2022 | O&P ALMANAC
PHOTO: Teri Kuffel, JD
Teri Kuffel, JD, brought patient Nick Nelson (seated in wheelchair) to the first AOPA Policy Forum she attended in 2011. Also pictured are Charles Kuffel, MSM, CPO, LPO, FAAOP, Rep. Erik Paulsen, Nick’s mom, and two of Kuffel’s children.
Kuffel began advocating for the profession on a national front more than 10 years ago, when she attended her first AOPA Policy Forum in 2011. Since then, she hasn’t missed the annual event, where O&P stakeholders from across the nation convene in Washington, D.C., to attend legislative-focused educational sessions, then meet with their members of Congress to encourage them to support O&P-friendly bills.
