C U R R E N T PEDORTHICS March/April 2008 It All Starts with One Step talking About My Generation Fit to a tee Behind the Buzz Words: What does Green really Mean? Pedorthic Footwear Association (PFA), 2025 M St., NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036 www.pedorthics.org C U R R E N T PEDORTHICS J A N U AM r YA/rF Ce h Br / AUPArri Yl 2 0 0 8 FeAtUreS 6 It All Starts with One Step By Mel Cheskin, MBS., C. Ped 16 Talking About My Generation 20 Fit to a Tee 24 By Garrison Wynn By Mel Cheskin, MBS., C. Ped Behind the Buzz Words: What Does Green Really Mean? By Lisa S. Zebovitz 28 dePArtMeNtS 4 Letter to the Editor 32 Association News 38 Industry News 44 Pedorthic Industry Events 46 Pedorthic Educators Directory 48 Resource Center 50 Pedorthic Marketplace 52 Product Reference Guide Member Profile: Joshua Allison By Berry Craig CURRENT PEDORTHICS • March/April 2008 1 C U R R E N T PEDORTHICS Pedorthic Footwear Association Board of directors Randy Stevens, C. Ped., BOCped., CFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . President Dane LaFontsee, C. Ped. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vice President Kristi Hayes, C. Ped. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Secretary/Treasurer Mike Forgrave, C. Ped., C. Ped. (C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Immediate Past President Jamie Dick, PT, C. Ped. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Arthur Smuckler, C. Ped. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Michael D. Veder, C. Ped., CO, BOCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Faith Ballard, C. Ped., CO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Alan Barthold, C. Ped. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Harlon Compton, C. Ped., CO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Liz Chiles, C. Ped. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director John Hooper, C.Ped. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Stuart L. Pressman, C. Ped., CO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Stephen O’Hare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vendor/ManufacturerLliaison Allan J. Weiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Legal Counsel Craig Young, MD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical Advisor Raymond L. Fritz, DPM, C. Ped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical Advisor Allan B. Grossman, DPM, FACFAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical Advisor editorial Staff Jay Strother. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Publisher and Editor William Wargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Art Director Steve Biernacki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design/Production Advertising & Services Erin McGill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Membership Tracey Aaron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Current Pedorthics Monica Kurlemann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PFA Symposium Current Pedorthics (ISSN 1552-8111) is published bimonthly by the Pedorthic Footwear Association (PFA), 2025 M St., NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036. Telephone: 202-367-1145 or 800-673-8447, Fax: 202-367-2145, Web site: www.pedorthics.org, E-mail: info@pedorthics.org. Copyright© 2008, PFA. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without written permission. Letters to the Editor and other unsolicited material are assumed intended for publication and are subject to editing. Articles in CP do not necessarily reflect the opinion of PFA, its Board of Directors or its employees. CP’s use of trademarked names is done in an editorial fashion intended to benefit the trademark owner, with no intention of trademark infringement. Subscriptions are available for $45 per year in the United States ($65 outside USA). Back copies, if available, may be purchased for $5.00 U.S. If you have any questions regarding display advertising or classified ads, please e-mail Tracey Aaron at taaron@arlpub.com. Please send all product- and industry-related press releases to CPeditorial@pedorthics.org. 2 CURRENT PEDORTHICS • March/April 2008 headquarters Staff executive director Brian K. Lagana Association Coordinator Ben Petok Membership Services Coordinator Erin L. McGill director of education Al Baggett education Associate Lauren Kemp director of Meetings and Conventions John Rubsamen exhibits and Sponsorship Coordinator Wayne Horton director of Marketing Gregory Akroyd Marketing Associate Nikita Wilson Pedorthist Preferences Our customer service reps told us we should change our pedorthic ad to tell practitioners about the products that they get requests for day after day. Some of these have been around for awhile and are proven winners. And some of them are new products that everyone seems excited about. But all of them are worth taking a look at if you haven’t tried them before. So call your friendly, knowledgeable PEL customer service rep today and order an old friend — or a new favorite. Waterhouse Leather Leather Hides Silipos® Achilles Heel Pad™ Darco Wound Care Shoe System UCO International Plaster Sculpting Tool Kit SoleTech® Advance™ Orthopedic Footwear Becker Orthopedic Tamarack Shearban® Sheets Anatomical Concepts PRAFO® Bauerfeind® GloboPed® Heel Relief Shoe Aetrex® PEL Focus Styles Keeping Pace Pediatric Brown Casual Shoe Acor Orthopedic Comfort Street Footwear with Tandem Closure Renia Colle de Cologne All Purpose Cement ® Experience the Power of One. One warehouse. One order. One shipment. One invoice. One less thing to worry about. Phone: 800-321-1264 Fax: 800-222-6176 E-mail: customerservice@pelsupply.com Web: www.pelsupply.com letter to the editor To the Editor I heard of licensure in Kentucky and read a copy of proposed legislation in December 2006. Initially it seemed all inclusive, yet the more I digested the language of the bill and compared it to standards set forth by the federal government, I began to see serious problems not just for practitioners but also – and significantly – for patients. My first reaction was to dig into other states’ licensure regulations or proposed legislation to see what had happened and what was being proposed. The details of all of these bills initially seemed similar and most people would look over them and say, “OK they are a lot alike,” but their eyes would begin to glaze over when you started to get into the details of the fine print and the legal ramifications. One of the problems is that people in our profession are mostly craftspeople, not lawyers. It’s been my experience that most of them are for some type of legislation that protects the patient and elevates the profession. But we must not be like the pioneers who were so thirsty they were willing to drink poison water. There is a very real danger to the pedorthic profession, and the assertion that “Oh, you’ll be grandfathered in and your individual practice or business is safe,” is no reason to turn a blind eye and let the profession dry up or be shoved under the bus. Anyone who has been around long enough knows that, historically, the scope of practice is developed first by role delineation surveys – what practitioners are actually doing in their place of business. This information sets the scope and is used to develop the educational requirements to support the profession to patients and to the people who pay us. The Board for Certification in Pedorthics (BCP) did these surveys every five years and it is my understanding that when everything was surrendered to the American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics (ABC), these were part of the package. However just like the vote count on the BCPABC merger, the results of the most recent role delineation survey are never to be seen again. If everything is in the pedorthists’ best interest and all is open and honest, let’s see the results and discuss what is wrong; let’s do another role delineation survey; or, let’s do anything besides just write up what ABC THINKS the scope of practice should be. It took more than 100 years to wipe out most of the guilds of the 18th century, but it is clear that 4 CURRENT PEDORTHICS • March/April 2008 at least one has survived. With closed executive meetings, a self-appointed board and everything hidden behind confidentiality agreements, you can see why I am at least skeptical about ABC’s intentions. One need only to go to the Ohio OP&P Web site http://opp.ohio.gov/new.stm and read the letter from their chairman of the board to ABC’s executive director so see the scary scenario playing itself out in Ohio. Now if all you want to do is dispense diabetic shoes, then you and the pedorthic representation to ABC are on the same page and you should be okay. But if you are a pedorthist that embraces your full scope of practice as defined by the Board for Orthotist/Prosthetist Certification (BOC), which is developed by traditional standards and is transparent for all to see, then you had better step up to the plate and make yourself known to your state to legislators before something happens similar to what is happening in Kentucky – mostly, because the one thing ABC has more of than pedorthists is money. And when it comes to a state general assembly, lobbyists are very successful at misinforming legislators and it can take a lot of time to undo misinformation. Especially when they use mutilated vets and disabled children to make their case. Now, ABC claims to have no “position” in any state practice act; however, with one of its board of directors spearheading the state licensure movement in Kentucky, there is at least reasonable doubt to suspect otherwise. If you see horse manure in the road, you know there has to be a horse up there somewhere. I think the case needs to be made that all of the OP&P community is better served by BOC, especially pedorthists. They have the exact same credentials as ABC, but all of their actions are transparent. They have a democratically elected board; their facility accreditation is cheaper; and their leadership and staff are working diligently to give practitioners (customers) what they pay for. Their founder, Dr. Don Fedder, has taken a beating for more than 30 years defending qualified practitioners’ right to practice and serve a growing population of mobility challenged people. continued on page 51