Members of the VGM Group’s U.S. Rehab division are starting to get access to the University of Pittsburgh’s Functional Mobility Assessment (FMA) survey, thanks to a new exclusive license agreement between the university and the group.

Developed over 15 years by Mark Schmeler, Ph.D., OTR/L, ATP, assistant professor, and Margo Holm, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, ABDA, professor emerita at the University of Pittsburgh, the FMA provides outcomes data about patients’ ability to function with their current means of mobility. That mobility can include assistive devices such as walking aids, prosthetics, and wheelchairs.

U.S. Rehab is first conducting a pilot project of the FMA access, and plans a complete rollout to its membership in 2016

 “VGM and U.S. Rehab are most concerned with outcomes and giving patients a better quality of life,” said Greg Packer, president of U.S. Rehab, a division of VGM Group Inc. “The FMA is one of the only complex rehab outcomes measures in the industry. The data we are gathering with our pilot study will be used to validate the FMA as an outcomes tool.”

The FMA can be used to compare the results of patients’ satisfaction and mobility capabilities after the determination is made that they need new equipment.

“Ultimately, the goal now is to collect and track pre- and post-FMA scores on people receiving mobility device interventions, as well as track them over time to make sure the intervention is still working for them,” Schmeler explained. “We will also collect a de-identified/uniform dataset on users to perform analyses to see what types of devices improve user satisfaction with Mobility Related Activities of Daily Living (MRADLs) based on factors such as diagnosis, age or living situation.

“We can also start comparing how funding sources, geographic locations, and access to services impacts self-reported performance in MRADLS, employment and community participation,” he added.

“Eventually, we will be able to track patient outcomes and show that better equipment provides more patient healthy days, which leads to a better quality of life,” Packer said. “Better equipment will help manage disease states, which will reduce the overall life cost of patients over time.”

Hopefully, the data will also help ensure better lawmakers decide more appropriate public policy when it comes to mobility devices, as well, Schmeler adds.

“Policymakers need these research results to make better policy determinations based on evidence,” he says. “Although it’s been a long road to get to this point, the journey is far from over and the timing is right. Health care has shifted to Accountable Care with a focus on Patient-centered Outcomes supported by ‘Large Data’ to promote Evidence-based Practice.

“No tool is perfect to measure everything, but at the end of the day, customers and their satisfaction are perhaps the only thing that really matters,” he continued. “We’re gotten a lot of preliminary data from pilot studies with early adopters, but this relationship with VGM/U.S. Rehab will allow us to take this to a large level.”