EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – University Orthopedics is proud to extend a big congratulations to Dr. Zachary Bohart for his role in helping finalize Medicare’s Comprehensive Botulinum Toxin Policy—a significant step forward for both patients and providers nationwide.
This policy is more than a regulatory update; it’s a meaningful advancement in access to care for individuals living with muscle spasticity and abnormal muscle tightness. Botulinum toxin treatment can be life-changing for patients recovering from stroke, traumatic brain injury, or spinal cord injury, as well as those managing multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy. For many, this care means reduced pain, improved mobility, and greater independence in everyday life.
Ensuring consistent and appropriate coverage for this treatment removes barriers that patients often face—and that’s where Dr. Bohart’s leadership has made a real difference. Along with colleagues from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dr. Bohart collaborated with Medicare Administrative Contractors to ensure that patients who need this therapy can access it more easily, while providers have clearer guidance to deliver care confidently and effectively.
Dr. Bohart leads UOI’s Comprehensive Spasticity Management Clinic. His involvement in helping form this policy is a powerful example of how our physicians go beyond the exam room. In addition to delivering exceptional care, they actively shape the future of medicine through advocacy, expertise, and leadership. These efforts create ripple effects that extend far beyond a single practice or patient visit, influencing standards of care on a national level.
We’re incredibly proud of Dr. Bohart for helping raise the bar for patient care and for making a lasting impact across the healthcare landscape.
Well done, Dr. Bohart—and thank you for your dedication to patients everywhere.
About The Comprehensive Spasticity Management Clinic
The Comprehensive Spasticity Management Clinic at University Orthopedics offers three of today’s most effective treatments for spasticity:
- Botox injection therapy
- Phenol nerve-block injection therapy
- Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) pump placement and therapy
“When given early, before contracture sets in, injection therapy can ease symptoms and help patients better participate in physical and occupational therapy to gain strength, flexibility, and the ability to work on everyday self-care skills,” Dr. Bohart said.
While the causes vary, UOI’s Spasticity Management Clinic most often treats spasticity that is the result of:
- Stroke
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Brain Injury
- Cerebral Palsy
Additional effective, non-surgical treatment options the clinic offers include:
- Exercise programs
- Pharmacological management
- Bracing and splinting
- Therapeutic heat, cold, and electrical stimulation
When injection treatment isn’t appropriate and surgical treatment may be warranted, Dr. Bohart’s team works closely with their surgical colleagues at University Orthopedics to help find the best, least invasive solution, to maximize a patient’s comfort and functioning.
About Dr. Bohart
Zachary Bohart, MD is a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation and focuses on orthopedic electrodiagnostics (EMGs), and comprehensive spasticity management, consisting of EMG and ultrasound-guided injections with Botox, peripheral phenol nerve blocks, and intrathecal baclofen pump management. These modalities are used to treat patients with spasticity from strokes, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and brain injuries.
Dr. Bohart leads the Comprehensive Spasticity Management Clinic at University Orthopedics. He also treats this patient population at rehabilitation hospitals in the Boston area. He has been named one of Boston Magazine’s Top Doctors several years in a row and lectures residents and junior attendings around the country on the topic of comprehensive spasticity management.
Dr. Bohart works closely with physical and occupational therapists and orthotists to maximize the level of functioning of this patient population with neurologic disabilities.