Carl Granger, M.D., Receives Lifetime Achievement Award As Western New York "Health Care Hero"

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Carl Granger, M.D., professor and chair-emeritus of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University at Buffalo, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the third Annual Health Care Heroes Breakfast on April 18 sponsored by Business First.

Granger was honored for his role in developing the Functional Independence Measure, or FIM(tm), an easy-to-use rehabilitation assessment tool that allows trained personnel to assign a numerical value -- the FIM rating -- to a patient's ability to function, based on performance of 18 physical and mental tasks that represent a basic daily routine of personal-care activities.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), formerly called the Health Care Financing Administration, recently selected the FIM(tm) as the assessment instrument to be used by rehabilitation hospitals to document requests for prospective payment for rehabilitation treatment.

The FIM(tm) now is used by 1,400 facilities in 50 states and the District of Columbia and has been translated into several languages.

In conjunction with the FIM(tm), Granger established a non-profit business, the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation, or UDSMR, to provide reports and store the data for their FIM(tm) users. That database now holds information on more than 4 million patients, comprising the largest database of medical rehabilitation treatment outcomes in the world. UDSMR is a part of UB Foundation Activities, Inc.

Granger is recognized internationally as an authority in the field of rehabilitation medicine. He and his wife live in the Parkside area of Buffalo.