The American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics (ABC) has converted its annual Registry and Reference Guide to an all-online directory of its accredited facilities and certified individuals.
“The registry has continued to grow in size over the years due to ABC’s growth, topping out this year at 755 pages. We felt it was important to both meet the needs of the registry user for an up-to-date directory and be more environmentally conscientious at the same time,” said Catherine Carter, ABC’s executive director. “The best way to do that was to go completely ‘green’ and stop printing the hard copy entirely.”
ABC stated that it “encourages individuals and facilities to use the online directory for the most up-to-date information available.” Certified individuals can log in to the ABC website at www.abcop.org, to edit their contact information, including their address, telephone number, and e-mail address. Changes to an individual’s contact information will be posted on the ABC site within 24 hours. Individuals can also track their MCE statements through the online directory.
“The biggest drawback to the printed registry was the fact that it was often out of date as soon as it went to the printer. With ABC’s new website, the online directory search offers daily updates that reflect the most current information in our database,” said Roxanne Bobb-Semple, ABC’s database manager. “With certified individual’s contact information constantly changing, it is imperative that the ABC website reflect the individual’s status in a timely matter; a printed Registry could never meet that need.”
