Member Spotlight

SHAWN BRIGHT, CO, and Tracy Ell, CP, founded HiTek Limb and Brace, an O&P patientcare facility in Columbia, Missouri, in 2000. Several years ago, the clinicians sought out a company to manufacture a part they needed, but the companies were all too busy, recalls Bright. “One of my friends was a machinist, and we started talking about making our own parts, which led us to create a central fabrication lab,” he says. “At first, we only made parts for our own clinics, but word spread and other practitioners started sending us work.”

Bright and Ell launched HiTek Fabrication in 2018 in St. Peters, Missouri, and they continue to serve both their own clinics and those of O&P professionals worldwide. The company, which has grown to 25 employees, has never formally marketed its services, relying solely on word of mouth, says Bright.

The owners are committed to finding the most cost-effective methods of producing highquality products, and for HiTek, automation is key. “We’re creating devices that are custom molded and not scaled, using robots to make the process more efficient by carving the foam, trimming the brace, buffing it, and drilling holes for straps,” says Bright. “Robots don’t like it when the process is unique for each item—they

work best with repetitive tasks. We developed an algorithm so these robots can handle unique items,” he explains. The result is that clinicians receive something consistent. “They can specify trim lines and they will be exactly that, every time. You don’t have to rely on a tech knowing that a clinician likes it a certain way,” he says. “The machines do it the same way, every time.” According to Bright, other companies have dabbled in similar technologies, but none have implemented a process that is faster than The HiTek HOPS System a human doing it. “That’s been the is used to make custom prosthetic liners. sticking point,” he says. “But we have been able to develop robots that can do it more quickly than a human.” HiTek also has its own CNC milling machines, which carve metal and other materials to produce items for prosthetic components. “If we use it in the O&P field, these machines can produce it,” says Bright. The company manufactures industry-standard and proprietary devices, including lower-extremity orthoses, spinal bracing, pediatric pronation/ supination braces, pediatric

Lower-limb orthoses are among the products manufactured at HiTek Fabrication.

HiTek Fabrication

Shawn Bright, CO, and Tracy Ell, CP

St. Peters, Missouri

HISTORY: Three years

Prosthetic liner cover subtalar-control foot orthoses, and a full range of upper- and lowerextremity prosthetic devices.

The company developed a system, patent-pending, that allows practitioners to produce foam blanks in house, a process that can save up to 80 percent on foam, says Bright. “HiTek Limb and Brace was paying $220,000 a year for foam, and now we are paying $33,000,” he notes. The patent-pending HiTek HOPS system allows practitioners to create just-in-time foam blanks, saving on inventory and storage space and avoiding steep shipping costs from foam blank manufacturers. The system is modular, allowing facilities to start small and add new molds as needed. “The tech uses a computerized gun, which fills the metal mold with the exact amount of foam required,” he explains. “After the foam expands and hardens, the tech removes it from the mold and it’s ready for carving.”

HiTek’s prosthetic liner system is another cost-saving innovation; it allows clinicians to pour liner molds in the office. “So a liner you might buy for up to $250, you can pour in the office for $50 or less,” Bright says. “This is a modular system, too, so customers can choose the appropriate-size mold.”

Bright’s overarching goal is to help O&P return its focus to service rather than products. “When we bill for a device, it includes both the product and the service. The issue is that the products are starting to exceed the reimbursement, so we are not getting paid for any of our service,” he says. “Our intention is to reduce the product cost so that we can focus on the excellent service our patients need.”

Deborah Conn is a contributing writer to O&P Almanac. Reach her at deborahconn@verizon.net.

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1. Business Name: 2. Mailing Address: 3. City: 5. Contact Name and Phone Number: State:

7. Coastal State:Yes No (If yes, distance to body of water): 9. Do you have a website? Yes No (If yes, URL): 10. Email address: Zip: 4. Phone: 6. Fax: 8. Number of locations:

1. FEDERAL TAX ID #: 2.Corporation:Yes No Individual: Yes No 3. Provide a brief description of operations including years in business:

4. If new venture, please explain your prior experience, how many years, and what position and field this experience is in:

6. Any business conducted other than Orthotics & Prosthetics? Yes No (If yes, please describe):

7. Current Insurance Carrier: Premium:

8. Prior Insurance Carriers and policy dates: 9. Check off if you are a member of any of the following:

AAOP Pedorthic Footwear Association AOPA Other:

Is the facility accredited? Yes No Years with carrier:

1. Have you had any losses in the past 3 years? Yes No (If yes, please describe below):

Practitioner Patient Care: Includes all items fabricated for patients. Custom Products. Manufacturing: Items manufactured by you and sold to others to distribute. There is no patient care for this class Wholesale Distribution: Includes all items purchased from others that you resell to other facilities. No direct sales to patients. Retail Sales: Sales/ Revenue includes pre-fab items that you rent/sell to others. Off-the-shelf items that you do not repackage. Includes ‘prefab’ custom fit braces. Medical Equipment Repair: Sales/ Revenue of Medical Equipment that is repaired, installed (no retail sales)

1. Download the O&P Program Application at:

2. Fill out the form. 3. Email the form to dfoley@cailorfleming.com Cailor Fleming Insurance will quickly provide your individual program quote.

THE O&P PROFESSION HAS been good to Jason Friedman, CPO, and Esperanza Friedman, CO. The couple first met in 1991 while working for the same company in Los Angeles. Ten years later, they launched their own facility in the San Diego area, J&J Artificial Limb and Brace—named for their two sons at the time, Justin and Joshua, now 22 and 23, who were later joined by brother Jaden, 15.

J&J specializes in pediatric orthotics and prosthetics but treats adult patients as well. “About 90 percent of my patients are pediatric,” says Jason Friedman. “Overall, we see about 75 to 80 percent pediatric patients, and about 80 percent of our practice involves orthotics.”

The facility’s staff comprises 14 employees, including four practitioners and four technicians. J&J spans three offices, each about 30 minutes apart, which makes it easy for patients to reach them. The Friedmans opened their newest office, in Mission Viejo, in response to patients travelling from out of state and from northern California—often combining trips to Disneyland with visits to J&J. “We felt bad they had to drive so far, so we opened that office to accommodate them,” says Jason. “Now families who live in that area are coming to our Mission Viejo office as well.”

The impetus to establish their own practice stemmed from the Friedmans’ desire to treat patients differently. At some of their previous workplaces, “we both noticed that patients were more of a quantity,” explains Jason. “We weren’t comfortable with that. We wanted to spend more time and offer better care, to treat patients more as family.” At J&J, clinicians share their personal emails and cell phone numbers with patients. “They know they can get in touch with us whenever they need to.”

One of the most important aspects of the Friedmans’ work is taking the time to listen to their patients. “During a 20- to 30-minute appointment, some patients—especially parents who are dealing with serious issues with their children—just have to vent. We let them talk, and if it takes more time, we make it work,” says

Jason Friedman, CPO, works with a pediatric limb loss patient.

J&J Artificial Limb and Brace

Jason Friedman, CPO, and Esperanza Friedman, CO

Rancho Bernardo, Oceanside, and Mission Viejo, California

HISTORY: 20 years

Esperanza Friedman, CO, and Jason Friedman, CPO Jason. “I appreciate that my staff is compassionate and understanding with every patient.”

J&J does most of its fabrication in house and uses 3D scanning and 3D printing when appropriate. The facility offers a wide range of patterns, graphics, and colors that are custom made by Jason and some of his staff for children’s devices, all of which can be seen on the J&J website.

Before the pandemic, the Friedmans and some staff members visited a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, every four months to treat children without access to O&P services. “We would bring braces or refurbish them, modifying them to make them work for each child,” Jason says. “We hope we can go back soon.”

As a successful Latina businesswoman, Esperanza has received significant media attention. She was the subject of a “Good Morning America” segment on October 14 this year and was featured in 2019 in both Forbes magazine and in an article and video by Wells Fargo, “The State of LatinoOwned Businesses in the U.S.” She also was a finalist for the 2019 Woman of the Year Award presented by the Orthotic and Prosthetic Group of America.

The company relies heavily on word of mouth to market its services. “Our workmanship— which is guaranteed for a full year—has done the marketing for us,” Jason says. “If a physician calls for an articulating brace, for example, and the therapist sees it’s not working, we will remake that device. No one makes a perfect decision the first time. By offering a good quality product and a good warranty, we have kept our business growing.”

Deborah Conn is a contributing writer to O&P Almanac. Reach her at deborahconn@verizon.net.

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