The Diabetic Shoppe provides Medicare approved footwear.  The Medicare law provides for the payment of footwear and inserts to prevent diabetic disease of the foot.  We have certified pedorthists – people who know everything there is to know about shoes and how to fit them to protect the feet.  In Mississippi there are no licensure laws for pedorthists.  The federal laws says that in order to fit shoes that person must be a pedorthists or otherwise trained. There are about 20 pedorthist in Mississippi and we have four of them working for us.   So there are many people out there in the Diabetic Shoe business that don’t know what they are doing.  Our people have been through extensive training and hold licenses in states where licenses are required such as Arkansas.  We also have trained shoe fitters who work under the direct supervision of the pedorthists.  If you would like to have your patients see you to have their feet assessed, there is a code you can use to charge for this assessment.  Then you can refer them to us for the fitting of shoes and the preparation of the inserts.  Our pedorthists are certified to do this assessment but we do not charge for the assessment.

The shoes that we have are manufactured by companies that are Medicare approved.  The shoes meet Medicare standards.  All the shoes we sell have some kind of method for securing them on the feet: laces, Velcro, zipper, – no slip-ons.  We have 2000 styles of footwear from which the patient may choose.  They are deeper than regular shoes so that the custom molded inserts fit inside the shoes and the patient still has plenty of room.  We cannot mail these shoes to the patient – they must be fitted on the person.  The pedorthist assesses the patient’s feet.   The pedorthist takes an impression of the patient’s feet in a foam box. The Diabetic Shoppe has vans loaded with about 300 pairs of shoes.  We travel to doctors’ offices or community centers for what we call Diabetic Days but we also go to the homes of individuals when we get prescriptions.   Unless the shoes have to be special ordered, the patient who has a signed prescription get their shoes when they are fitted.  Molds of the patient’s feet are made in our laboratory in Charleston.  Inserts are cut to fit the shoe that the patient has selected.  The insert is heated and placed on the mold.  Then the mold and the insert are placed in a vacuum machine.  The inserts come out of the machine in the exact shape that is needed to support the patient’s foot.  If the patient needs support in a particular area or if there has been some amputation, the insert is built up to accommodate these changes.  Each patient may receive one pair of footwear and three pair of custom made inserts per year paid by Medicare.   We believe we are the only company in Mississippi that does this process in this way.  We are very proud of the process we have developed to service the needs of our regional community

*The author of this blog is not a medical professional and this article does not contain professional medical advice. This blog is not intended to substitute for medical advice, treatment, or diagnosis. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of the contents of this article. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call 911 immediately.