2013 Rhode Island General Laws
Title 5 - Businesses and Professions
Chapter 5-59.1 - Rhode Island Orthotics and Prosthetics Practices
Section 5-59.1-3 - Definitions.

§ 5-59.1-3 Definitions. – As used in this chapter:

(1) "ABC" means the American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics or its successor agency.

(2) "BOC" means the Board for Orthotist/Prosthetist Certification or its successor agency.

(3) "Custom fabricated orthotics" or "custom made orthotics" means devices designed and fabricated, in turn, from raw materials for a specific patient and require the generation of an image, form, or mold that replicates the patient's body or body segment and, in turn, involves the rectification of an image.

(4) "Department" means the Rhode Island department of health.

(5) "Director" means the director of the department of health.

(6) "Direct-formed orthoses" means devices formed or shaped during the molding process directly on the patient's body or body segment.

(7) "Licensed Orthotist" means a person licensed under this chapter to practice orthotics.

(8) "Licensed Prosthetist" means a person licensed under this chapter to practice prosthetics.

(9) "Off-the-shelf orthosis" means devices manufactured by companies registered with the Federal Food and Drug Administration other than devices designed for a particular person based on that particular person's condition.

(10) "Orthosis" means a custom fabricated brace or support that is designed based on medical necessity. Orthosis does not include prefabricated or direct-formed orthotic devices, as defined in this section, or any of the following assistive technology devices: commercially available knee orthoses used following injury or surgery; spastic muscle-tone inhibiting orthoses; upper extremity adaptive equipment; finger splints; hand splints; wrist gauntlets; face masks used following burns; wheelchair seating that is an integral part of the wheelchair and not worn by the patient independent of the wheelchair; fabric or elastic supports; corsets; low-temperature formed plastic splints; trusses; elastic hose; canes; crutches; cervical collars; dental appliances; and other similar devises as determined by the director, such as those commonly carried in stock by a pharmacy, department store, corset shop, or surgical supply facility.

(11) "Orthotics" means the science and practice of evaluating, measuring, designing, fabricating, assembling, fitting, adjusting or, servicing, as well as providing the initial training necessary to accomplish the fitting of, an orthosis for the support, correction, or alleviation of neuromuscular or musculoskeletal dysfunction, disease, injury or deformity. The practice of orthotics encompasses evaluation, treatment, and consultation; with basic observational gait and postural analysis, orthotists assess and design orthoses to maximize function and provide not only the support but the alignment necessary to either prevent or correct deformity or to improve the safety and efficiency of mobility or locomotion, or both. Orthotic practice includes providing continuing patient care in order to assess its effect on the patient's tissues and to assure proper fit and function of the orthotic device by periodic evaluation.

(12) "Orthotist" means an allied health professional who is specifically trained and educated to provide or manage the provision of a custom-designed, fabricated, modified and fitted external orthosis to an orthotic patient, based on a clinical assessment and a physician's prescription, to restore physiological function and/or cosmesis, and certified by ABC or BOC.

(13) "Physician" means a doctor of allopathic medicine (M.D.), osteopathic medicine (D.O.), podiatric medicine (D.P.M.), and chiropractic medicine (D.C.).

(14) "Prefabricated orthoses" or "off-shelf orthoses" means devices that are manufactured as commercially available stock items for no specific patient.

(15) "Prosthesis" means an artificial limb that is alignable or, in lower extremity applications, capable of weight bearing. Prosthesis also means an artificial medical device that is not surgically implanted and that is used to replace a missing limb, appendage, or other external human body part including an artificial limb, hand, or foot. The term does not include artificial eyes, ears, noses, dental appliances, osotmy products, or devices such as eyelashes or wigs or artificial breasts.

(16) "Prosthetics" means the science and practice of evaluation, measuring, designing, fabricating, assembling, fitting, aligning, adjusting or servicing, as well as providing the initial training necessary to accomplish the fitting of, a prosthesis through the replacement of external parts of a human body, lost due to amputation or congenital deformities or absences. The practice of prosthetics also includes the generation of an image, form, or mold that replicates the patient's body or body segment and that requires rectification of dimensions, contours and volumes for use in the design and fabrication of a socket to accept a residual anatomic limb to, in turn, create an artificial appendage that is designed either to support body weight or to improve or restore function or cosmesis, or both. Involved in the practice of prosthetics is observational gait analysis and clinical assessment of the requirements necessary to refine and mechanically fix the relative position of various parts of the prosthesis to maximize function, stability, and safety of the patient. The practice of prosthetics includes providing and continuing patient care in order to assess the prosthetic device's effect on the patient's tissues and to assure proper fit and function of the prosthetic device by periodic evaluation.

(17) "Prosthetist" means a practitioner, certified by the ABC or BOC, who provides care to patients with partial or total absence of a limb by designing, fabricating, and fitting devices, known as prostheses. At the request of and in consultation with physicians, the prosthetist assists in formulation of prescriptions for prostheses, and examines and evaluates patients' prosthetic needs in relation to their disease entity and functional loss. In providing the prostheses, he or she is responsible for formulating its design, including selection of materials and components; making all necessary costs, measurements and model modifications; performing fittings including static and dynamic alignments; evaluating the prosthesis on the patient; instructing the patient in its use, and maintaining adequate patient records; all in conformity with the prescription.

History of Section.
(P.L. 2006, ch. 129, § 2; P.L. 2006, ch. 170, § 2; P.L. 2009, ch. 310, § 38.)