Featuring Lasse Desor

“Owning my own clinic has always been a dream of mine, although I never planned to start so young. But I was lucky, and when the opportunity came, I seized it.”

For four years now, 28-year-old Lasse Desor has owned his own Sanitätshaus (medical supply store) in Bad Homburg, Germany. “Owning my own clinic has always been a dream of mine, although I never planned to start so young. But I was lucky, and when the opportunity came, I seized it.” That opportunity came in 2020, when a colleague, with whom he had been working for a year, decided to retire. “It’s hard and a lot of work, but it’s also very enjoyable. And if you really enjoy your work, you’re willing to make that sacrifice.”

Lasse and his two colleagues do almost everything you can think of for hands and feet, such as orthotic insoles, orthoses, and bandages. What sets Lasse apart from other clinics is his focus on customization. “We always strive to help each patient a bit better than standard orthopedic care. For instance, we only have qualified orthopedic technologists here, not salespeople. That’s really different from most other orthopedic clinics. This unique approach also generates word-of-mouth referrals, naturally attracting more customers.”

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Manometric

"The orthosis from Manometric is a prime example. All the patients to whom we have fitted Manometric's orthosis have been exceptionally satisfied without exception. You can tell they talk about it with others, which results in additional foot traffic."

"Our patients are particularly impressed with the material. The classic orthosis is hard and rigid because it's made of thermoplastic. With silicone, we can make the orthosis much more flexible, allowing the patient minimal hindrance in daily activities. For instance, I had a patient, an elderly lady of 82, who had a severe problem with rheumatoid arthritis. We spent three years trying to find something that would truly help her, but it was difficult to find anything effective. Then we did a scan, the orthosis arrived, and it was immediately perfect."

The collaboration with

Manometric was initiated through an orthopedic surgeon based in Bad Homburg, Dr. Vesper, who became enthusiastic about the scanner and the orthoses at a conference and wanted to collaborate with Manometric. Lasse mentioned, "We knew each other, as Bad Homburg isn't very large, but we hadn’t worked closely before. That changed with Manometric: we now benefit from his knowledge, and he from ours."

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Revolutionary

Lasse’s clinic, with a total of three employees, is small by German standards, where the norm is to have between twenty to fifty staff members. One of these is always busy in the workshop. "We do as much as we can ourselves, but we also outsource a lot," said Lasse. Not surprisingly, since on a busy day, he might see about twenty patients. Manometric is an example of this outsourcing: the clinic has a scanner, and Lasse and his colleagues do the scans themselves, send them to The Hague, and a few weeks later, the orthosis arrives in Bad Homburg. "I was quite skeptical at first about the technology and the algorithm behind it," said Lasse. But his skepticism has since dissipated: "If an orthosis doesn't fit perfectly, you specify where, and then you receive another that has been adjusted. Moreover, the algorithm learns from these adjustments. In the worst case, you get the perfect orthosis in two tries, but so far, I have not experienced that. Everything has been right on the first go. That is truly revolutionary."

Quality

"The problem with orthopedic technologists is that they all have their unique methods. If I make an orthosis, it differs from one made by a colleague, which makes it difficult to consistently measure quality. However, when you use an algorithm, you have a baseline for quality assessment (...) Yes, a significant part of quality measurement is obviously patient satisfaction. But from the perspective of an orthopedic technologist, it’s crucial whether the orthosis provides the necessary support. Sometimes you have to do something that doesn't feel comfortable in the short term but works in the long term.”

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