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

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.