Standards of Business Practice

The Business Practice Policy is a guideline that sets out the minimum standard by which a Canadian Certified Pedorthic Practitioner’s behaviours and actions are measured. Failure to comply with the below mentioned guidelines may result in an ethical violation.

The Certified Pedorthic Professional will engage in ethical business practices.

Client Records

Canadian Certified Pedorthic Professionals will maintain clinical records and all documentation in the management of their practices in order to:
1. Facilitate the care of the client;
2. Provide accurate records that do not mislead or misrepresent treatment provided;
3. Enhance outcomes and safety for the client;
4. Provide information to enable continuity of care for the client;
5. Ensure their accountability to clients, payers, the CPC, the profession and other health care providers;
6. Demonstrate their adherence to established CPC Code of Ethics, By-Laws, Standards of Professional Practice, Standards of Clinical Practice, Standards of Business Practice, Standards of Supervision, policies and the law;
7. Meet any other requirements mandated by the organizations they are associated with or where required by law.
Maintain confidentiality of all information in accordance with PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) and Provincial Privacy Acts.
Ensure that clients are informed of their right to view their personal records and the process to do so in accordance with PIPEDA and Provincial Privacy Acts.
Takes reasonable steps to ensure the electronic record keeping system is designed and operated such that the patient health records are:
1. Secure from loss, tampering, interfaced or unauthorized use or access;
2. Hard copies available if requested.
As part of the resignation process or cease in practice or upon the client choosing to seek services from another Certified Pedorthic Professional, the Certified Pedorthic Professional will, with regard to each client health record for which the Certified Pedorthic Professional has the primary responsibility, take reasonable steps to ensure that:
1. Reasonable efforts are made to obtain the client’s consent and the record is transferred to another Certified Pedorthic Professional;
2. The client is notified that the Certified Pedorthic Professional intends to resign and the client can obtain copies of the client’s health record;
3. If the record transferred is not the original client health record, the original record is stored in a secure location for ten (10) years following the client’s last visit, or, if the client was less than 18 years old at the time of the last visit, the day the client became or would have become 18 years old.

Advertising

Advertising refers to promotional material or activity in any medium including but not limited to websites. Advertising of retail operations, sales, promotions or other marketing campaigns must be separated from advertising for professional services.

Professional Service advertising must:
1. Be confined to the presentation of information reasonably needed by clients or colleagues in making informed decisions about the availability and appropriateness of the pedorthist’s services;
2. Make certain that any announcement or advertisement directed towards clients or colleagues is true in all respects;
3. Avoid bringing the profession into disrepute;
4. Not make comparisons with another Certified Pedorthic Professional or other healthcare professional to suggest superiority;
5. Refrain from making fraudulent or misleading statements concerning their, or the profession’s skills, knowledge or capabilities;
6. Not provide any guarantee of the success of the service provided;
7. Not advertise coupons, discounts, pricing or free assessments for pedorthic services for any reason. This includes custom made orthotics and modified devices. For example custom orthotics and a free or discounted pair of footwear.
8. Not stimulate a demand for unnecessary health care services. Certified Pedorthic Professionals must not advertise in a way that promotes the excessive or unnecessary use of pedorthic services;
9. This shall include, but not be limited to advertising which expressly or implicitly states that the purchase of multiple pedorthic products or services shall include one such product or service free of charge or at a discounted rate or otherwise represent a discount based on having purchased multiple pedorthic products or services.
Certified Pedorthic Professionals’ advertisements will be comprehensible, professionally appropriate and compliant with the Standards of Practice and the profession.
Certified Pedorthic Professionals will take all reasonable steps to ensure that advertisements placed by others (e.g. employers, facility operators etc.) about their services meet these standards.
Professional service advertising must not contain any information that could be interpreted as a testimonial through any member-controlled medium, such as advertisements in clinics, posted to clinic or personal websites or social media platforms or in other types of print or digital media utilized by a Certified Pedorthic Professional. A testimonial is the provision by a Certified Pedorthic Professional of a subjective statement from a client or other individual expressing an opinion about the nature or quality of the Certified Pedorthic Professional’s services or the Pedorthic Professional generally. In contrast, a truthful and independently verifiable statement that refers to the benefits of pedorthics generally without referring to a specific Certified Pedorthic Professional or clinic and that contains information regarding the pedorthic profession that comes from a source with sufficient expertise* to make the statement will not be considered a testimonial.

*Examples of sources with sufficient expertise include, but are not limited to, a physician or allied health care professional that has the training required to comment on the benefits of pedorthic treatment and an academic research paper that reports the outcomes of a study assessing the benefits of pedorthic treatment.

Invoicing/Billing Practices

Certified Pedorthic Professionals must advise the client in advance as to the provision of services and any relevant billings, specifically:
1. The total cost of the service;
2. That a service may be uninsured;
3. The specific terms and conditions relevant to payment;
4. Any penalties for non-attendance or non-payment;
5. If payment will be required in advance of a requested service;
6. If invoices/receipts are provided by someone other than the Certified Pedorthic Professional, the invoices/receipts should be reviewed regularly to ensure appropriate invoicing/billing.
It is unethical for the Pedorthic Registrant to conceal or to confuse the ultimate cost of the service that they undertake to furnish;
The invoice must reflect and not misrepresent the pedorthic service or product provided;
All records, invoices, receipts, statements, etc. must contain accurate information with respect to names, dates, products and pedorthic service provided;
The amount which a client is invoiced for non-insured products must not be based on whether the patient purchases insured products.

Conduct

The Certified Pedorthic Professional may not offer free or deeply discounted products in exchange for the purchase of multiple pedorthic products or services or otherwise engage in any practice which has the effect of stimulating a demand for unnecessary or excessive use of pedorthic services.
The Certified Pedorthic Professional shall not be employed by or otherwise associated with a clinic or business providing pedorthic services that engage in conduct deemed to be contrary to the CPC Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice, by-laws, Scope of Practice, and Policies.
The Certified Pedorthic Professional employed or associated with a clinic or business acting in a manner that is contrary to the Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice, by-laws, Scope of Practice and Policies will be considered to be in violation of the College of Pedorthics of Canada.