12/07/2013    Jeffrey Kass, DPM

Ankle Privileges in New York Elliot Udell, DPM)

Dr. Udell brings up one of many SERIOUS problems
with this new scope bill.

1) Not many of the practicing podiatrists even
know what the new law is.
2) The law as written will increase scope for less
than 1% of the current practicing podiatrists.
3) There is absolutely no alternate pathway for
one to achieve an increased scope without going
back and completing a 3-year residency that is
rearfoot and ankle certified.
4) Last I looked, there were two main boards: ABPS
and ABPM. If a podiatrist has a non surgical
practice why should they not be able to advance
their scope by practicing podiatric medicine above
the ankle? Why does one need "surgical training"
to increase their scope?
5) There is a lot of ambiguous wording in the law
that was originally presented. This ambiguity only
creates more problems.
6) What is the job of leadership of a profession?
Is it to serve "the majority of the profession?",
is it to do "what's right for the profession"? Who
decides whats right?
7) "In an action for podiatric medical
malpractice, a physician may be called as an
expert witness at trial" - a provision from the
scope bill. Why is this here? Did we just allow
physicians to be allowed to act as expert
witness's against us but not visa-versa? Why was
this provision added? What does it have to do with
scope?
8) Does this new scope in any way affect the
possibility of premium hikes to the 99% that it
doesn't raise the scope for?

[to be fair, the scope will be more than 1% when
dealing with an ulcer below the ankle that is
contiguous with the leg. Let's not use that as an
excuse though to inflate the numbers.]

One has to seriously question whether or not the
goal should have been to increase the scope for
all licensed podiatrists in the state of New York
for skin and soft tissue to the knee leaving the
issue of bone of the ankle for another day. In
this way, ALL podiatrists would of been served and
not less than 1% of the current practicing
profession, and we would of united the profession
rather than dividing it further.

Jeffrey Kass, DPM, Forest Hills, NY,
jeffckass@aol.com

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