Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 216 - Department of health › Chapter 40 - Professional licensing and facility regulation › Subchapter 05 - Professional Licensing › Part 9 - Licensing of Podiatrists (216-RICR-40-05-9) › Section 216-RICR-40-05-9.2 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Wherever used in these rules and
				  regulations the terms listed below shall be construed in the following manner:
1. "Act" means R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 5-29,
				  entitled "Podiatrists."
2. "Board"
				  means the Board of Examiners in Podiatry established in accordance with the
				  provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws §
											5-26-2.
3. "Department" means the Rhode Island
				  Department of Health.
4. "Director"
				  means the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health.
5. "Division" means the Division of Customer
				  Service, Rhode Island Department of Health.
6. "Foot" means the pedal extremity of the
				  human body and its articulations, and shall include the soft tissue structures
				  of the lower leg only as they shall be involved in the condition of the
				  foot.
7. "Health care facility"
				  means any institutional health service provider licensed pursuant to the
				  provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 23-17.
8. "Health maintenance organization" means a
				  public or private organization licensed pursuant to the provisions of R.I. Gen.
				  Laws Chapter 27-41.
9. "Limited
				  registrant" means a person holding a limited registration certificate pursuant
				  to the provisions of the Act.
10.
				  "Nonprofit medical services corporation" or "nonprofit hospital service
				  corporation" or "nonprofit podiatry/medical service corporation" means any
				  corporation organized pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws Chapters 27-19 or 27-20 for
				  the purpose of establishing, maintaining and operating a nonprofit medical
				  hospital.
11. "Peer Review Board"
				  means any committee of a state or local podiatry association or society, or a
				  committee or any licensed health care facility, or the podiatry staff thereof,
				  or any committee of a podiatric care foundation or health maintenance
				  organization, or any staff committee or consultant of a hospital, medical, or
				  podiatric service corporation, the function of which, is to evaluate and
				  improve the quality of podiatric care rendered by providers of podiatric care
				  service or to determine that podiatric care services rendered were
				  professionally indicated or were performed in compliance with the applicable
				  standard of care or that the cost for podiatric care rendered was considered
				  reasonable by the providers of professional podiatric care services in the area
				  and shall include a committee functioning as a utilization review committee
				  under the provisions of the health insurance for the aged act (Medicare) or as
				  a professional standards review organization or statewide professional
				  standards review council under the provisions of Public Law 92-603 and
				   42 U.S.C. §
												1301  et seq. (professional
				  standards review organizations) or a similar committee or a committee of
				  similar purpose, to evaluate or review the diagnosis or treatment of the
				  performance or rendition of podiatric services which are performed under public
				  podiatric programs of either state or federal design.
12. "Person" means any individual,
				  partnership, firm, corporation, association, trust or estate, state or
				  political subdivision or instrumentality of a state.
13. "Podiatric residency" means post doctoral
				  training sponsored by and primarily conducted in an institution approved by the
				  Council of Podiatric Medical Education of the American Podiatric Medical
				  Association.
14. "Podiatrist" means
				  a person with a license to practice podiatric medicine and surgery in this
				  state under the provisions of the Act. "Podiatrist," a person licensed as
				  described in the Act, shall be considered a physician and surgeon of the foot
				  and ankle. For the purposes of reimbursement by and for subscriber
				  benefits/participation agreements with health maintenance organizations,
				  nonprofit medical service corporations, for-profit medical service
				  corporations, and third party insurers, it shall be unlawful to discriminate
				  against podiatrists.
15. "Podiatric
				  Medicine" means that profession of the health sciences concerned with the
				  diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the human foot and ankle, and
				  their governing and related structures, including the local manifestations of
				  systemic conditions, by all appropriate systems and means.
16. "Practice of podiatry" means any person
				  shall be said to be practicing podiatry within the meaning of the Act who uses
				  or permits to be used, directly or indirectly, for profit or otherwise, for
				  himself or for any other person, in connection with his name, the word
				  "podiatrist" or "podiatric physician and surgeon," or the title DPM, or any
				  other words, letters, titles, or descriptive matter, personal or not, which
				  directly or indirectly implies the practice of podiatry, or who owns, leases,
				  maintains, or operates a podiatry business in any office or other room or rooms
				  where podiatry operations are performed, or directly or indirectly is manager,
				  proprietor or conductor of the same; or who directly or indirectly informs the
				  public in any language, orally, in writing, or by drawings, demonstrations,
				  specimens, signs, or pictures that he/she can perform or will attempt to
				  perform foot operations of any kind; or who undertakes, by any means or method,
				  gratuitously or for a salary, fee, money or other reward paid or granted
				  directly or indirectly to himself or to any other person, to diagnose or
				  profess to diagnose, or to treat or profess to treat, or to prescribe for or
				  profess to prescribe for any of the lesions, diseases, disorders, or
				  deficiencies of the pedal extremity. The foot is defined to be the pedal
				  extremity of the human body and its articulations, and shall include the
				  tendons and muscles of the lower leg only as they shall be involved in the
				  condition of the foot.
17.
				  "Recognized college or university" means an institution of higher learning
				  approved by the Office of Higher Education of any given state.
18. "R.I. Gen. Laws" means Rhode Island
				  General Law, as amended.