I have watched with some dismay, and quite frankly if it was not a matter
with such consequence would be laughing my @#%#’@ off.
Don’t we get it yet. There are two pathways to certification. NCCA has
recognized each credential as a valid pathway to certification. CMS and
other insurers do not distinguish between the two certifications, and
have in fact both have been written into the law as accepted
certifications. Those physicians who are not misinformed by some of the
out and out lies I have personally heard ABC practitioners tell about the
BOC requirements don’t care either. The physicians I know just want the
job done, and done well.
The truth is that those looking in from the outside have witnessed that
among us are a bunch of arrogant, self promoting people, who’s concern is
not for the betterment of the population they are entrusted to care for,
but only for their own self interest and self promotion. This
exclusionary self promotion does not serve this profession, it only
diminishes it. It was this arrogant attitude on the part of some, that
resulted in the NegReg results that we are now going to have to live
with. This profession had the opportunity to advance itself here…it
failed to do so because of exactly the same kind of fury and blind
self-centered ambitions and self promotion I have seen come across this
list on this merger issue. To put the value of the certification you
hold in terms only of the $’s you spent shows a clear misunderstanding of
what value truly is. The cost cannot always be measured in terms of
$’s. Sometimes the true value needs to measured not only in terms of
$’s, but also in terms of the work it took to get there. I live in a home
I could never afford to purchase, because I spent a year pounding the
nails, hanging the doors and windows etc…etc… Guess what…it’s $
value is still the same as if I had purchased it outright!!!! Truth be
know, it is the minority of those who scream the loudest that actually
hold the very level of “prerequisite” requirements they demand…many
were grand fathered into these requirements.
There is a wind of change coming. If we are not prepared to do what is
necessary to be in position to capitalize on those changes, we as a
profession will be left behind. Whether those of you who fail to
recognize it or not, want to accept it or not, BOC is seen by Federal,
State and private payors as having an equal status with ABC. This will
not change. And quite frankly the licensure laws that are so blindly
promoted, do not protect the public any better than the national
certification, and quite frankly may actually harm patients because it
does not provide the $ resources to act on any of the complaints it may
receive, and actually will produce a short fall of practitioners to serve
the public, while at the same time raising the $’s it costs to maintain
the license. ABC and BOC are granted equal status through that process as
well. Will we revert back to the days of Johnny-off-the-street treating
patients under someone else’s credential/license, while opening the flood
gate to people providing services under peripheral credentials outside
O&P, without any O&P credential requirement? Graduating less than 150
people a year under the present educational pathway system will not
answer that need.
Lets get our act together Ladies and Gentleman. Lets drop the hype and
move this profession in a direction that will benefit those we are here
to serve. Lets get down to taking the best that each certification
process has to offer, and lets make a better system. One that will move
us into the position of meeting the future, not being run over by it.
Let’s not find ourselves in the position that the infamous gladiator did.
It wasn’t until he had both his arms and legs cut off that he realized
that not only was he disarmed, he was also defeated!!!
Michael Madden, BOCPO (and proud of it !!!)
22 years in the profession, a facility owner, and loving this profession
despite this current mess
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