The board of directors of the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics (ABC) has voted to eliminate the practice of privileging noncredentialed caregivers. It also created a new definition of support personnel that allows ABC credential holders to delegate certain noncritical patient care tasks to noncredentialed individuals. Changes were also made to the definitions of direct supervision and supervision and privileging of a credential caregiver along with the addition of a new category for support personnel.
These scope of practice changes take effect January 1, 2019, and do not affect the privileging of certified individuals.
The new description of support personnel is as follows:
An ABC credential holder may delegate certain tasks in the provision of any custom fabricated or custom fitted orthosis, prosthesis, or pedorthic device to noncredentialed support personnel. Those delegated tasks must be within the ABC credential holder’s scope of practice. These tasks must not include patient assessment, formulation of the treatment plan, final fitting and delivery, and any follow-up care that modifies the function of the device as originally prescribed. Any tasks delegated to Support Personnel must be supervised under Direct Supervision.
