On April 14, 2018 Darya Shahrokhi, CPO posed multiple questions about who can provide custom O&P care in the US and about supervision and privileging of non-credentialed caregivers. This message will attempt to answer some of their questions.
Let me begin by stating that this is not legal advice. For legal advice one should consult with a healthcare attorney. The following is ABC’s perspective on these questions. To answer the question, “who can provide custom made O&P services” requires a location. In the US, since there is no Federal law that specifies who can legally practice O&P, each state has the authority to establish those rules. Currently 15 states have some form of licensing requirement with a few more having some type of certification or accreditation requirement. Here is the link to the Licensure Map on ABC’s website: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.abcop.org_State-2DLicensure_Pages_state-2Dlicensure.aspx&d=DwIFAg&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=pVyaAUHOR6gxxThvjGI9X7hrz_ONYByMAadML4fTENI&m=E741ju1f7wgFV-uJA2aYxwSZKYFHeAwFI-49cWbG9xo&s=mFBOefD2hSfeP6AgjoipuDAsRBy4VM3wFr23Y996PwY&e=
Other healthcare providers (OTs, PTs, etc…) are governed by their own practice act or licensure statute. If their practice act states that they can provide O&P, they are permitted to do so. In the 15 states that have O&P licensure, the typical statutory language states that the O&P law does not prevent other licensed healthcare professionals from providing care within their own practice act.
The second question related to privileging of non-credentialed caregivers. ABC’s current Scope of Practice rules allows for privileging of non-certified staff. In September 2017 the ABC board of directors revised the Scope of Practice by eliminating the ability to privilege non-credentialed caregivers. This change takes effect January 1, 2019. You can read about the specific changes here: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.abcop.org_maintain-2Dcertification_Documents_Scope-2520of-2520Practice.pdf-23page-3D6&d=DwIFAg&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=pVyaAUHOR6gxxThvjGI9X7hrz_ONYByMAadML4fTENI&m=E741ju1f7wgFV-uJA2aYxwSZKYFHeAwFI-49cWbG9xo&s=k7_VetLdRvQeBsB5VBO7m-l215_Tm8aKmMQAu5ZeO9E&e=
Scroll down to pages 24-26 to see the Addendum detailing the upcoming changes.
I hope this is helpful.
Steve Fletcher, CPO, LPO
Director, Clinical Resources
American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics
330 John Carlyle Street, Suite 210
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-836-7114, ext. 216
703-836-0838 fax
[email protected]
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