| (a) A practitioner may advertise. A practitioner shall
not use or participate in the use of any publication, including advertisements,
news stories, press releases, and periodical articles, that contains
a false, misleading, or deceptive statement.
(b) A practitioner may not include any of the following
types of statements in any advertisements or press releases:
(1) a misrepresentation of fact, or claims as fact
something that has not been generally accepted among the podiatric
community or by the department as having been proven or established
as fact;
(2) a statement that is likely to mislead or deceive
or entice or persuade a reasonable person because it fails to make
full disclosure of relevant facts whether regarding fees, modes of
treatment, conditions or techniques of surgery, post-operative conditions
such as degree of pain, length of time of recovery, mobility and strength
during recovery, and the like;
(3) a statement that is intended or likely to create
in an ordinary reasonable person false or unjustified expectations
of favorable results;
(4) a laudatory statement, or other statement or implication
that the practitioner's services are of exceptional quality;
(5) a statistical data or information that reflects
or is intended to reflect quality or degree of success of past performance,
or prediction of future success;
(6) a representation that podiatric services can or
will be completely performed for a stated fee amount when this is
not the case, or makes representations with respect to fees that do
not disclose all variables affecting the fees, or makes representations
that might reasonable cause an ordinary prudent person to misunderstand
or be deceived about the fee amount;
(7) a representation that health care insurance deductibles
or co-payments may be waived or are not applicable to health care
services to be provided if the deductibles or co-payments are required;
or
(8) a representation that the benefits of a health
benefit plan will be accepted as full payment when deductibles or
co-payments are required.
(c) Information contained in a public communication
by a practitioner may include, but is not limited to the following:
(1) name, address, telephone numbers, office hours,
and telephone-answering hours;
(2) biographical and educational background;
(3) professional memberships and attainments and certifications,
subject, however, to the provisions of subsection (e);
(4) description of services offered, subject, however
to the provisions of subsection (f);
(5) foreign language ability;
(6) acceptable credit arrangements, subject, however,
to the provisions of subsection (b)(2) and (b)(6);
(7) the limitation of practice to certain areas of
podiatric medicine;
(8) the opening or change in location of any office
and change in personnel;
(9) fees charged for the initial consultation, provided
that if the time for the consultation is to be limited, any such limitation
on the time shall be stated;
(10) fixed fees for specific podiatric treatments and
services, subject, however, to the provisions of subsection (b)(2)
and (b)(6); and
(11) a statement that a schedule of fees or an estimate
of fees to be charged for specific treatments or services will be
available on request.
(d) All practitioners shall retain recordings, transcripts,
or copies of all public communications by date of publication for
a period of at least two years after such communication was made.
(e) A practitioner may advertise or publish the name
of any board of certification under which the practitioner has fully
and validly become certified provided that the full name of the certifying
board is included in the publication: except as provided by this subsection,
practitioners may not list in any type of advertisement or public
communication any certifying board that is not approved or recognized
by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education of the American Podiatric
Medical Association.
(f) Each certifying board that is not recognized by
the Council on Podiatric Medical Education of the American Podiatric
Medical Association must meet each of the following requirements:
(1) the certifying board requires all practitioners
who are seeking certification to successfully pass a written or an
oral examination or both, which tests the applicant's knowledge and
skills in the specialty or subspecialty area of podiatric medicine.
All or part of the examination may be delegated to a testing organization.
All examinations require a psychometric evaluation for validation;
(2) the certifying board has written proof of a determination
by the Internal Revenue Service that the certifying board is tax exempt
under the Internal Revenue Code pursuant to §501(c);
(3) the certifying board has a permanent headquarters
and staff;
(4) the certifying board has at least 100 duly licensed
certificants from at least one-third of the states; and
(5) the certifying board requires all practitioners
who are seeking certification to have satisfactorily completed identifiable
and substantial training in the specialty or subspecialty area of
podiatric medicine in which the practitioner is seeking certification,
and the certifying organization utilizes appropriate peer review.
This identifiable training shall be deemed acceptable unless determined
by the department, with the advice of the advisory board, to be inadequate
in scope, content, and duration in that specialty or subspecialty
area of podiatric medicine in order to protect the public health and
safety.
(g) The terms "board eligible", "board qualified",
or any similar words or phrase calculated to convey the same meaning
may not be used in advertising.
(h) If a publication by or for a practitioner includes
mention of a particular surgical technique or device, the publication
must also include a specific and true statement that reveals to an
ordinary reasonable person the limits and scope and specific purpose
of the technique so as not to mislead an ordinary reasonable person
regarding the difficulty, pain or discomfort, length of time for surgery
or recuperation, or possibility of complications.
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