The process of law making is, by design, a competition among interests. Elected officials need the assistance of many who are familiar about an issue to assist them in making the decisions that benefit the public interest. That is why it is important for foot and ankle surgeons to fully understand and utilize the ACFAS Model Legislation to Amend the Podiatric Scope of Practice Act. Currently, there are no two states with identical scope of practice acts and this lack of standardization has created a market basket approach that is highly problematic to the profession.

This Model Legislation (click here), developed by the ACFAS Professional Relations Committee, is a generic open-structure template, specially crafted to avoid complicated language and legalisms. It is designed to assist state governments and can be used and altered to fit the profile of any local jurisdiction or state. Model Legislation enables local and state organizations to take and enhance “boilerplate” language to fit their local scenario and bring it forth to State Legislators for introduction. This model is a minimum standard and is endorsed by the ACFAS Board of Directors as the minimum acceptable state scope of practice for foot and ankle surgeons. It is not the College’s intention to narrow the scope of any state that may be currently broader than the model, but rather ensure that any state considering a change in its scope use the enclosed model language as a starting point.

There are many strategies on how to effectively use this model document and move it forward into signed law. Clearly the first step is to find a local lawmaker who understands the local podiatry community. Use model legislation to help them to draft a Bill with the language that needs to be there and help them to understand that language. Every step of the life of a scope of practice Bill requires consistent and steady support.