OWINGS MILLS, Maryland (Feb. 11, 2015)—The Board of Certification/Accreditation (BOC) recently earned NCCA reaccreditation for its Pedorthist certification program for another five-year period. BOC first received NCCA accreditation for the BOCPD certification program in 2008. Approximately 275 professionals are currently certified as BOC Pedorthists (BOCPDs).
Founded in 1984, BOC is a professional credentialing organization acting in the public interest by establishing and enforcing education, examination, experience, and ethics requirements for six professional certification programs. BOC is deemed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to award accreditation to DMEPOS facilities that demonstrate commitment to patient care and sound business practices.
BOC earned renewal of the NCCA accreditation by submitting an application demonstrating the Pedorthist program’s compliance with the NCCA’s Standards for the Accreditation of Certification Programs. NCCA then reviewed the program’s policies and procedures, skills set, assessment methods, and statistical procedures for validating results.
As part of its commitment to continuous improvement and providing high-quality credentials, BOC evaluates its certification programs every five to seven years. Last year, BOC’s chief credentialing Oofficer, Wendy Miller, BOCO, CDME, along with testing professionals from Applied Measurement Professionals Inc. (AMP), BOC’s testing vendor, convened a group of subject matter experts in Kansas City, MO, to collaborate on the BOC Pedorthist Job Task Analysis. A Job Task Analysis (JTA) is a detailed study of the job activities of a specified profession. JTAs provide the basis for the valid development of certification examinations.
Since 1977, NCCA has been accrediting certifying programs that meet or exceed their standards, to ensure the health and safety of the general public. Accreditation also assures certification candidates that a certification program is sound and competent. There are 254 NCCA-accredited programs that certify individuals in a wide range of professions and occupations including nurses, financial professionals, respiratory therapists, counselors, emergency technicians, crane operators and more.
“Just as BOC requires DMEPOS facilities to be evaluated for adherence to standards before earning BOC facility accreditation, our certification programs also are held to stringent compliance requirements. NCCA’s reaccreditation of our Pedorthist program is a significant assurance of our certificants’ competency.” noted Miller.
