For more information regarding Georgia State Licensure including application, click here.

Read the Georgia Licensure Bill

GEORGIA O&P LICENSURE UPDATE

Date: October 27, 2005
To: GSOP Members
From: Dan Zenas, CP

Licenses will be available July 1, 2006. It will be required to have a license to practice by July 1, 2007. It will be illegal to practice orthotics and/or prosthetics without a license after July 1 2007.

On May 16, 2002, Governor Sonny Perdue signed into law House Bill #828 which requires that individuals providing Orthotics and Prosthetics obtain and maintain a license to legally practice. Prior to the passing of this law, anyone could hang out a shingle and provide these orthopedic appliances, regardless of his or her competence or training.

The Composite State Board of Medical Examiners is the governing body which will administer the law, accept applications, award licenses, investigate complaints, and deliver disciplinary action. While the law was passed in 2002, one contingency to enacting the law was that the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate were required to appropriate funds to cover the start up costs that would be incurred by the Board prior to the collection of any license fees. Georgia legislators, like those in many other states, have been facing budget balancing challenges over the past few years, and the needed funds have not been available. Due to unexpected increases in tax revenues in 2004, Georgia found itself with a budget surplus, and the funds were appropriated in the fall legislative session.

Because of the appropriation, as of July 1, 2006, any person practicing Orthotics and/or Prosthetics will be required by law to possess a license in each discipline he or she is engaged in.

The Board has appointed a 4 person Advisory Committee, all of whom are active practitioners, to assist the Board. Their names are Todd Clay, CPO; Jim Hughes, CP; Marc Kaufman, CPO; and Dan Zenas, CP. Presently the Board, with the help of the Committee, is developing the application and generating a mailing list. The applications will be mailed to all known active practitioners in the state. The list will come from a combination of the GSOP mailing list, the ABC and BOC directories, and Board will also obtain a list of individuals billing Georgia Medicaid. The Board will review the returned applications and award the licenses.

Any practitioner who has maintained voluntary certification through either the American Board for Certification for Orthotics and Prosthetics (ABC) or the Board for Orthotic Certification (BOC) will automatically be granted a license upon completeion of the application and payment of the fee. Also, any practitioner who can demonstrate that he or she has been providing patient care for not less than 7 years will also be eligible for a license, even if he or she does not otherwise meet the education and training requirements set forth in the new law.

After July 1, 2006, anyone wishing to obtain a license must meet the education and training requirements, and there are 2 pathways possible. The first is to possess a bachelor’s degree, complete formal training as set forth by the board, complete an approved residency, and pass the exam(s). The second pathway is the same, except that an associate’s degree will be allowed provided that the applicant can also demonstrate a minimum of 5 years of work experience in the field.

The board will choose the formal training, most likely from the available accredited programs available around the country. The board will also approve the residency programs and appropriate exams.

This law will not apply to certain “soft goods” and “off the shelf” orthotic devices. A person will not be required to have a license in order to provide “fabric or elastic supports, corsets, arch supports, low temperature plastic splints, trusses, elastic hoses, canes, crutches, soft cervical collars, dental appliances, or other similar devices that are carried in stock and sold as over the counter items by a drug store, department store, corset shop, or surgical supply facility.”

There are 9 other states that now require Orthotic and Prosthetic practitioners to be licensed. They are Alabama, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington.

Effective October 1, 2005, Medicare will no longer pay individuals in these states for providing prosthetic and some custom orthotic devices unless they are licensed.

Orthotic and Prosthetic practitioners have the ability to profoundly impact the quality of life of the patients they serve, both for the good, and potentially for the bad. Requiring a license cannot guarantee every practitioner be totally competent, just as a license won’t guarantee every hair stylist will give you a good haircut. Requiring a license will, however, provide the residents of the state of Georgia with recourse if they are harmed by an irresponsibly or incompetently fitted prosthesis other than a filing a civil lawsuit.

The law as it was signed can be viewed online at www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2001_02/fulltext/hb828.htm .