K-levels in Practice: The Impact on Patient Care
Maria St. Louis-Sanchez
March 1, 2026
As someone with bilateral transtibial amputations, Jeffrey Cain, MD, knows firsthand what’s at stake when his prosthetist assigns him a single-digit number. His K-level, or mobility predictor score, plays a big role in determining what prosthetic devices his insurer will pay for, which could affect his future health outcomes. It’s a rating that many patients with lower-limb amputations aren’t aware of even though it plays an outsized role in their future, he says. “Most patients, when they are first injured, they don’t even know what a prosthetic foot is, let alone a K-level,” says Cain, a family physician and past chair of the Amputee Coalition board of directors. “I think the general population doesn’t get this at all.”
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