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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



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Citation

“No Subject,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/215734.