Ottobock virtual symposium for healthcare professionals.
The value of microprocessor controlled knees! Insights into function and health economic considerations.
Join us for an insightful online symposium exploring new clinical evidence, highlighting the impact of microprocessor-controlled knee prostheses (MPKs) on health economics, safety and biomechanical factors in individuals with lower limb amputations.
The “The value of microprocessor controlled knees! Insights into function and health economic considerations.” symposium will cover the following key topics by renowed experts:
Insights on MPK safety and performance: Gain valuable perspectives on biomechanical limitations after amputation, explore the technical and functional capabilities of MPKs across various gait and movement scenarios, and discover why they offer the potential for the highest level of safety.
Insights on health economic comparisons for Netherlands, Germany and Sweden: Discover how study duration, country specific price levels and health-related quality of life impact the cost effectiveness of MPKs.
Insights on economic value of MPK in a K2 population: Gain valuable insights on the impact of Medicare providing coverage for MPKs vs. NMPKs for K2 amputees, measured by Medicare expenditure, and patient falls.
Don't miss this opportunity to stay at the forefront of clinical and health economic research to support evidence-based decision-making, strengthen reimbursement and ultimately achieve the best possible outcomes. Together we can encourage a meaningful shift in prosthetic care – from selective use to reimbursed patient access.
Virtual Symposium.
Tuesday 21st, April 2026, 16:00 – 17:30 CET
16.00 | Welcome and Introduction. Prof.Dr.med Dipl.oec. Bernhard Greitemann Specialist in Orthopedics, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Pain Medicine, and Technical Orthopedics Former Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon, Rehabilitation Hospital Münsterland, Bad Rothenfelde |
16:05 | Prosthetic Knee Joints – Safe and Reliable Function as Basis for successful Rehabilitation of lower Leg Amputees. Prof. Dr. Malte Bellmann Director of Clinical Research & Services Germany – Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA |
16:25 | Cost-effectiveness of Microprocessor-controlled Prosthetic Knees: A Comparative Modelling Study on the Impact of Study Durations, Price Levels and Health-related Quality of Life. Prof. Dr. Alexander Kuhlmann Professor for Health Economics and Head of Health Economic Research Unit at the University of Lübeck (Germany)
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16:45 | Determining the Economic Value of Providing Microprocessor Knees to the Medicare K2 Population. Steven E. Heath Senior Data Manager at Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC (USA) |
17:05 | Panel Discussion. |
17:30 | Wrap up and Closing. |
Registration for this virtual symposium.
After successfully completing the registration process, the link to register for the symposium will be promptly sent to the email address provided during registration.
Prof.Dr.med Dipl.oec. Bernhard Greitemann
Specialist in Orthopedics, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Pain Medicine, and Technical Orthopedics
Former Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon, Rehabilitation Hospital Münsterland, Bad Rothenfelde
Professor Dr. Bernhard Greitemann is a highly respected specialist in orthopaedic surgery, physical and rehabilitative medicine, and prosthetics and orthotics (P&O). With more than four decades of clinical, academic, and organizational leadership, he is internationally recognized for his expertise in rehabilitation medicine and amputee care.
From 1995 to 2025, Prof. Greitemann served as Medical Director and Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Münsterland Rehabilitation Hospital in Bad Rothenfelde, a center specialized in orthopaedic‑traumatologic rehabilitation. He holds professorships at the University of Münster and the University of Witten/Herdecke and has made significant contributions to clinical guideline development, interprofessional rehabilitation and innovation in P&O in Germany. Further he has served as a contributor and chair of numerous national guideline committees addressing amputation, chronic back pain, and musculoskeletal rehabilitation.
His achievements have been recognized with several prestigious awards including the Heine Award, the Carl Rabl Award, the Heine‑Hessing Award, and the Eltze Award. As a moderator of the lower limb symposium 2026, Professor Greitemann brings profound clinical insight, decades of interdisciplinary experience, and a strong commitment to advancing, modern, evidence-based rehabilitation.
Prof. Dr. Malte Bellmann
Director of Clinical Research & Services Germany – Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA
Prosthetic Knee Joints – Safe and Reliable Function as Basis for successful Rehabilitation of lower Leg Amputees.
Malte Bellmann, PhD, CPO, is the Director of Clinical Research & Services Germany within the global CR&S department of Ottobock. His expertise comprises biomechanical research as well as product development in prosthetics and orthotics for over more than two decades. Malte participated and published particularly regarding aspects of comparative analysis of microprocessor-controlled exo-prosthetic knee joints. He received his PhD from the Technical University in Berlin for investigating the force transfer principles in trans femoral sockets in different gait situations. He is author and co-author of several peer-reviewed publications and is presenting at international O&P congresses about various topics. In addition, Malte is Professor for biomechanics in the field of prosthetics within the study program “Orthobionics” at the HAWK University of applied sciences and arts in Goettingen.
Prof. Dr. Alexander Kuhlmann
Professor for Health Economics and Head of Health Economic Research Unit at the University of Lübeck (Germany)
Cost-effectiveness of Microprocessor-controlled Prosthetic Knees: A Comparative Modelling Study on the Impact of Study Durations, Price Levels and Health-related Quality of Life.
Alexander Kuhlmann is Professor of Health Economics and head of the health economic research unit at the University of Lübeck. After studying economics and completing his PhD, he was postdoc at Leibniz University Hannover. From 2021-2024, he was Assistant Professor of Health Economics at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, leading the research groups Health Economic Evaluation and Mathematical Modelling in Medical Sciences. He coordinated the Modeling Network for Severe Infectious Diseases (MONID) from 2022-2025.
Alexander Kuhlmann is an internationally renowned expert in health economics and health economic evaluations. He is the principal investigator of several studies that aim to estimate the cost-effectiveness of medical interventions / public health programs in infectious and non-infectious diseases by means of mathematical modeling or individual-based simulations. Dr. Kuhlmann has conducted epidemiological and health economic modelling studies for the German Standing Vaccination Committee (STIKO), the Flemish Agency for Care and Health and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). He has contributed to methodological improvements in health economic evaluations and cost calculations in the German healthcare sector. For his health economic analysis on microprocessor-controlled knee prostheses, he was awarded the Forchheimer Prize.
Steven E. Heath, M.P.A.
Senior Data Manager at Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC (USA)
Determining the Economic Value of Providing Microprocessor Knees to the Medicare K2 Population.
Steven Heath, M.P.A., is a Senior Data Manager at Dobson | DaVanzo where he has worked for almost twenty years. He specializes in developing quantitative models to estimate the effect of legislative iniatives and proposed new services on the Medicare program. His work has been published in peer‑reviewed journals.
Mr. Heath has developed financial projection models in style of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to estimate the budgetary impact of proposed policy changes. He also leads projects focused on validating Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) payment calculations and projects the fincancial impact of these changes to providers – including advising health care providers on how Medicare reimbursement is shaped by internal charge structures and cost reporting practices.
In addition, he has extensive experience in providing analytical support – including data interpretation, research etc. – for legal cases, involving among others improper billing of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurer as well as insurer underpayments to hospitals. Mr. Heath holds a Master of Public Administration from Appalachian State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History from the University of Central Florida.
