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HI Bernard
I too have been seriously troubled by the actions taken by AOPA,NAAOP,ABC
and the Academy.I feel I have been totally disenfranchised as a professional
by my own professional organization through poor leadership, deception and
possible conflicts of interest.
AOPA hit a grand slam for themselves . They did so by substituting
certification in place of educational standards or requirements while
our professional organization AAOP and ABC stood by and supported it . This
did two things , it took away the value of your education by not requiring
any and it verified the worthlessness of your certification by equating BOC
and ABC as being equal in the qualified provider language. Furthermore, it
identifies
PT's and OT's as the only recognized group of providers with educational
standards. By allowing AOPA to take away any possible recognition of our
educational requirements, the ABC and AAOP seriously damaged their
credibility, allowing AOPA with its low qualified provider standards to
emerge the king of O and P world.
How long will it be before PT's and OT's have their own O and P
practices? Where do your referrals come from ? This has opened the door to
huge opportunities for AOPA and the
suppliers. Someone has to provide them with insurance, business advice
coding seminars, products etc.
This legislation also establishes a national precedent regarding practitioner
qualification standards so low that it will make it more difficult for states
with licensure acts to
defend their high standards. It will be even more difficult, but not
impossible for new states
wishing to pass meaningful licensure acts in their states.
This legislation will also provide AOPA members with less expensive labor
since
practitioners with little or no investment in education are far
less expensive to hire than employees who have truly invested in their
education to
achieve excellence in patient care. However, this bill is not about
excellence in patient care.
AOPA ,NAAOP also sold Congress on the fact that this new legislation
will keep unqualified people, DME dealers, department stores etc. from
gaining access to federal Medicare dollars. However, I am sure that Congress
is not aware that under the new law these same unqualified people can become
qualified with
just one week of training and two years experience under another person
who has the same extremely limited educational background .
What a bag of goods. In two short years they will all be back and what is
worse , they will be legitimate providers.
Furthermore, ironically they have perhaps sealed the fate of the ABC,
since all new persons seeking to be qualified providers, thousands perhaps,
are going to choose
one week of education over a bachelors degree. This further dilutes the
industry allowing for more access to manufacturers and other less educated
providers. BOC stock just went up.
Additionally, this bill allows policy making decisions to be based on
politics rather
than on defined educational standards as set by CAAHEP. Since
educational standards are not referenced in the bill the secretary will
probably not be able to select one private certification company over
another. One only has to look at the decision made by the VA to accept BOC
as equals to Practitioners with CAAHEP educational standards or CARF
acceptance of BOC to realize that leaving such decisions to government
bureaucrats will lead to outrageous outcomes and poor healthcare policies
for persons with disabilities. Do you think AOPA didn't know this?
Finally, I feel our professional organizations, both ABC and AAOP,
violated the trust that we as members have placed in them . They have
betrayed the individuals we treat by not advocating for high educational
standards with regard to qualified provider language. Additionally, it
appears they planned to decieve their members by keeping this information
quiet or not allowing
public discussion or a vote to take place. The AAOP learned their lesson well
with the consolidation issue . Better to do what you want first and seek
forgiveness
later, rather than to not get what you want.
As AAOP members and ABC practitioners, we need to closely reevaluate our
current credentialing system and professional association. Is it our
certification that qualifies us or is it our education? In Florida and
six other states, it is our education and the grandfathering of qualified
practitioners. Isn't that how all other health care professions developed
their educational competencies and guidelines?
The fact is we have outgrown our current system and it is this
very system that doesn't allow our profession to develop, grow and to shift
to a new paradigm regarding qualified providers for all persons with
disabilities. Instead, the system keeps reverting back to the least common
denominator, lower
educational standards and higher profits. If you are interested in change it
is
time to act. Let your board know how you feel. They should represent you and
the interests of patient care !
This is not the first time they would hear it , last year the membership
of the FCAAOP by unanimous vote at our state meeting asked me to send the
AAOP board a letter asking them to represent the interests of persons with
disabilities and its members by opposing the Harkin bill . We asked for them
to educate their members nationally by distributing copies of the bill. This
new bill has much of the same provider language as did the Harkin bill, only
now PT's and OT's are identified as exempt from certification and qualified
providers. The AAOP board didn't even respond to my letter, nor did they care
about our Florida members' wishes regarding the Harkin bill.
If nothing else we need to immediately demand that our board of directors
be responsible and begin to operate in the open and no longer clandestinely.
They should be required to post to a membership secure web cite, fully
detailed tape recorded minutes within 24 hours of all board activities,
proposals and discussions. All tapes should be held for public record.
Members should be allowed input prior to decision making through this
process.Members also deserve a response to questions asked.
In all the years I have been in this field I have never felt this let down,
betrayed or used. In looking on the list serve I am totally surprised at
finding so few people objecting. I am just hopeful that there are others,
hopefully hundreds, still out there who are silently watching and listening.
Speak to your friends and colleagues about these issues and let's seek
solutions.
Sincerely,
Ron Gingras, LPO CPO
President of the Florida Chapter of AAOP
>
I too have been seriously troubled by the actions taken by AOPA,NAAOP,ABC
and the Academy.I feel I have been totally disenfranchised as a professional
by my own professional organization through poor leadership, deception and
possible conflicts of interest.
AOPA hit a grand slam for themselves . They did so by substituting
certification in place of educational standards or requirements while
our professional organization AAOP and ABC stood by and supported it . This
did two things , it took away the value of your education by not requiring
any and it verified the worthlessness of your certification by equating BOC
and ABC as being equal in the qualified provider language. Furthermore, it
identifies
PT's and OT's as the only recognized group of providers with educational
standards. By allowing AOPA to take away any possible recognition of our
educational requirements, the ABC and AAOP seriously damaged their
credibility, allowing AOPA with its low qualified provider standards to
emerge the king of O and P world.
How long will it be before PT's and OT's have their own O and P
practices? Where do your referrals come from ? This has opened the door to
huge opportunities for AOPA and the
suppliers. Someone has to provide them with insurance, business advice
coding seminars, products etc.
This legislation also establishes a national precedent regarding practitioner
qualification standards so low that it will make it more difficult for states
with licensure acts to
defend their high standards. It will be even more difficult, but not
impossible for new states
wishing to pass meaningful licensure acts in their states.
This legislation will also provide AOPA members with less expensive labor
since
practitioners with little or no investment in education are far
less expensive to hire than employees who have truly invested in their
education to
achieve excellence in patient care. However, this bill is not about
excellence in patient care.
AOPA ,NAAOP also sold Congress on the fact that this new legislation
will keep unqualified people, DME dealers, department stores etc. from
gaining access to federal Medicare dollars. However, I am sure that Congress
is not aware that under the new law these same unqualified people can become
qualified with
just one week of training and two years experience under another person
who has the same extremely limited educational background .
What a bag of goods. In two short years they will all be back and what is
worse , they will be legitimate providers.
Furthermore, ironically they have perhaps sealed the fate of the ABC,
since all new persons seeking to be qualified providers, thousands perhaps,
are going to choose
one week of education over a bachelors degree. This further dilutes the
industry allowing for more access to manufacturers and other less educated
providers. BOC stock just went up.
Additionally, this bill allows policy making decisions to be based on
politics rather
than on defined educational standards as set by CAAHEP. Since
educational standards are not referenced in the bill the secretary will
probably not be able to select one private certification company over
another. One only has to look at the decision made by the VA to accept BOC
as equals to Practitioners with CAAHEP educational standards or CARF
acceptance of BOC to realize that leaving such decisions to government
bureaucrats will lead to outrageous outcomes and poor healthcare policies
for persons with disabilities. Do you think AOPA didn't know this?
Finally, I feel our professional organizations, both ABC and AAOP,
violated the trust that we as members have placed in them . They have
betrayed the individuals we treat by not advocating for high educational
standards with regard to qualified provider language. Additionally, it
appears they planned to decieve their members by keeping this information
quiet or not allowing
public discussion or a vote to take place. The AAOP learned their lesson well
with the consolidation issue . Better to do what you want first and seek
forgiveness
later, rather than to not get what you want.
As AAOP members and ABC practitioners, we need to closely reevaluate our
current credentialing system and professional association. Is it our
certification that qualifies us or is it our education? In Florida and
six other states, it is our education and the grandfathering of qualified
practitioners. Isn't that how all other health care professions developed
their educational competencies and guidelines?
The fact is we have outgrown our current system and it is this
very system that doesn't allow our profession to develop, grow and to shift
to a new paradigm regarding qualified providers for all persons with
disabilities. Instead, the system keeps reverting back to the least common
denominator, lower
educational standards and higher profits. If you are interested in change it
is
time to act. Let your board know how you feel. They should represent you and
the interests of patient care !
This is not the first time they would hear it , last year the membership
of the FCAAOP by unanimous vote at our state meeting asked me to send the
AAOP board a letter asking them to represent the interests of persons with
disabilities and its members by opposing the Harkin bill . We asked for them
to educate their members nationally by distributing copies of the bill. This
new bill has much of the same provider language as did the Harkin bill, only
now PT's and OT's are identified as exempt from certification and qualified
providers. The AAOP board didn't even respond to my letter, nor did they care
about our Florida members' wishes regarding the Harkin bill.
If nothing else we need to immediately demand that our board of directors
be responsible and begin to operate in the open and no longer clandestinely.
They should be required to post to a membership secure web cite, fully
detailed tape recorded minutes within 24 hours of all board activities,
proposals and discussions. All tapes should be held for public record.
Members should be allowed input prior to decision making through this
process.Members also deserve a response to questions asked.
In all the years I have been in this field I have never felt this let down,
betrayed or used. In looking on the list serve I am totally surprised at
finding so few people objecting. I am just hopeful that there are others,
hopefully hundreds, still out there who are silently watching and listening.
Speak to your friends and colleagues about these issues and let's seek
solutions.
Sincerely,
Ron Gingras, LPO CPO
President of the Florida Chapter of AAOP
>
Citation
“No Subject,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 23, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/215734.
