Inside This Issue:

Message from the Chairperson

Clear 2002 Conference Report

Renewing & Updating Provisional: LDN Licenses-Clarification

Websites to Explore

Citizen Advocacy Center Meeting

Medicare Coverage for Medical Nutrition Therapy

Impaired Professional Program

Open Book Examinations

Renewal Schedule

What is a Diet Tech

Name & Address Changes

Who's new since last newsletter

LDNs Renew on Line

Board Meeting Dates

Greetings from all of the LBEDN members! All of us appreciate the opportunity to serve on your behalf and continue to become more “board savvy” through discussion with each other and opportunities to observe and interact with other licensing entities. Our licensing board continues to evolve and mature, enhancing services to licensees by offering on-line renewal, exhibiting at the annual LDA meeting and sending board members to speak to dietetic students and interns across the state.

In addition to its outreach to licensed dietitians and nutritionists, the board continues to look for new ways to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, the purpose for which LBEDN was established. Be sure to read the “Impaired Professional Program” article included in this newsletter. In developing this program and including pertinent questions regarding addiction in the initial license and renewal forms, LBEDN has followed the lead of other licensure boards to ensure that our profession serves the public with effective and competent practitioners.

In addition to performing its ongoing duties, the board continues to deal with strategic issues. One of these is board vacancies. Positions remain unfilled for a public member and licensed physician. Pat Lewis has filled the RN member position admirably for multiple terms and she will step down when the Governor appoints her replacement. Repeated requests have been made to the specified state agencies to submit applicants for these positions to the Governor. These requests have not been answered and LBEDN continues to be “understaffed”. In an effort to resolve this issue, Virginia Pelegrin, LDA President, is working closely with LDA’s lobbyist and LBEDN to explore solutions to this issue. Multiple options are being evaluated and updates on the subject will be made on the website and future newsletters. If you know a qualified applicant who wants to be considered for a vacancy, please contact one of the board members or the LBEDN office.

In closing, remember that the board members represent all of you and, in addition to the LDEDN staff, led so capably by Suzanne Pevey, we all welcome your comments and questions. Feel free to contact any of us.

CLEAR 2002 CONFERENCE

The 2002 CLEAR Conference was held in Las Vegas, Nevada and was attended by board member Jacinda Bonvillain. The acronym CLEAR represents The Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation. The title for this year’s conference was “The Regulatory Jackpot – The Odds Favor Unity” and a variety of regulatory boards were represented.

The speakers and program sessions were extremely informative and Jacinda also attended a special board member training session. At this training session she was able to network with board members from other states and learn about similar regulatory agencies. For example, she learned how lucky we are to have laws that regulate the use of the terms dietitian and nutritionist. Many other states only protect the title of dietitian, not nutritionist. Thus, people with no education or training in the area of nutrition are allowed to call themselves nutritionists.

Many of the program speakers were truly dynamic. One in particular was Arch Lustberg of Arch Lustberg Communications. He discussed methods of communication particularly when dealing with the public and the media. Arch used several past U.S. Presidents as examples in his speech and stated that the American public wants a person who can be more compassionate than business-like.

Another program that was truly interesting was entitled, “Fraudulent Credentials” and was presented by Deborah Alber and Sidney Rocke. Ms. Alber is a forensic scientist with the New York State Police Department and Mr. Rocke is the director of the Medical Fraud Control Unit in Washington, DC. They illus- trated ways that criminals were able to produce fraudulent medical credentials. The information presented was very eye-opening.

A third program attended was entitled “Good People: How to Get them-How to Keep Them”. A few suggestions given by speakers included offering financial compensation to employees who find other good employees. Attendees were also told to remember the acronym WASTE, which represents: Will, Accountability, Skill, Time, And Expectations. This term can be used to explain why employees only hold jobs for brief periods. Employees do not have the WILL to be good producers and are not motivated. They are also not held ACCOUNTABLE for their actions. Employees will not know how to do a job if training isn’t adequate and therefore, SKILLS are not developed. In addition, a person who is given too many tasks to do at once may feel overwhelmed when TIME is not adequate. This can lead to decreased productivity. Finally, when employees are not given EXPECTATIONS they may feel rather confused and not sure of what to do. Thus, proper guidance must be provided.

Jacinda found the conference to be extremely informative and she picked up a lot of great ideas. She feels fortunate for having the opportunity to attend and has been keeping in touch with the dietitians that she met from other states. Jacinda believes that through the combined efforts of state licensure boards the public can be more adequately protected.

Policy Clarification !!
Renewing or Upgrading PROVISIONAL LICENSES

Over the past few months, the Board has received a number of questions about renewing or upgrading provisional licenses. We would like to take this opportunity to clarify the policies. First of all, application for a provisional license must be made within the first 30 days of employment as a dietitian or nutritionist. The initial provisional license is issued for a period not to exceed one year and may be renewed from year to year for a period not to exceed five years. Licenses expire on June 30 of every year.

Provisional licensees who successfully complete the RD exam can apply for an upgrade at any time. To upgrade the license, the applicant must provide documentation from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) at ADA that he/she has passed the RD exam. The fee for the upgrade is $ 25.00. Once the license has been upgraded, the licensee will receive annual renewal notices as a regular licensee. Renewal notices are distributed on April 15, and the licensee has until June 30 to renew.

Provisional licensees who do not notify the Board that they have taken or passed the RD exam and do not apply for an upgrade to a regular license prior to April 30 will receive a provisional license renewal notice. Whereas renewal of a regular license requires only that the licensee submit a current CDR card, provisional licensees wishing to renew must provide documentation of 15 hours of continuing education in the area of nutrition within the licensing year.

During the most recent licensing period, two separate issues related to provisional licensure were addressed by the Board. In the first, a provisional licensee did not upgrade prior to the time of renewal and did not submit documentation of 15 hours of continuing education when renewing. The licensee had, however, passed the RD exam, and wanted to renew as a regular licensee. The problem was that since the applicant had never had the initial license upgraded, she did not have a regular license to renew. Therefore, the applicant was required to (a) renew as a provisional licensee, submitting documentation of 15 hours of continuing education; AND (b) apply for an upgrade, paying the appropriate fees for both processes.

The second issue addressed by the Board was related to the approved categories for continuing education. The provisional licensee, because he/she has not passed the RD exam, is required to complete the annual 15 hours of continuing education in the area of nutrition and dietetics. The cases presented to the Board this year involved applicants who had completed more than 15 hours of continuing education, but the education was not in the area of nutrition and dietetics, a specific requirement as defined in the LBEDN rules and regulations. Therefore, the license could not be renewed. In each of the cases described above, the Board worked with the applicants to solve the problems. We recognize that new licensees have questions about the policies. The Board encourages all licensees to read carefully the Law and the Policies and Procedures at the time of application and again prior to renewal. We encourage you to contact the Board if you have questions or concerns. Both the Board members and the LBEDN staff are here to serve you.

WEB SITES TO INVESTIGATE

www.lbedn.org Board Web address

www.eatright.org American Dietetic Association

www.eatrightlda.org Louisiana Chapter of the ADA

www.cdrnet.org Commission on Dietetic Registration

www.dmaonline.org Dietary Managers Association

Citizen Advocacy Center
2002 Annual Meeting

The annual conference of CAC was held in San Francisco, California on November 13, through 15, 2002 and was attended by representatives of five professional boards from Louisiana. The event was co-sponsored by the California Department of Consumer Affairs and was well attended. The focus of the conference was Collaboration for Better Consumer Protection and attendees were encouraged to collaborate with each other (both within the state and within the profession) in this time of dwindling resources to better protect the public.

Professional boards were cited for:

Board members were challenged to:

submit a positive story about their Board to a local newspaper, share resources with other boards, value public participation at meetings and in the hearing process, educate the public about good practice work collaboratively with other boards to solve problems.

CAC leadership predicted that professional boards will see state power/regulations diminish with the growth of the Internet and that there will be more regulation at the federal level. There will be an increase in crimes violating an individual's privacy and confidentiality.

Continuing Education

Boards should consider having licensees develop a continuing education plan much like supervision plans that are required for various professions across the country. Many boards are beginning to use selfassessment exams to determine what a licensees knows and where they need help. Boards should remember that professional associations are interested in continuing education as a money maker and not for competency!

Boards should consider:

online database to allow a licensee to determine what they need for continuing education,

practice exam, questionnaire or self-assessment document to determine if an individuals knows the basics of his/her profession,

what role they have with university programs; consider working collaboratively to "create" better professionals.

Several speakers expressed fear that Boards are mandating too many areas of continuing education and not allowing practitioners to determine what is necessary to improve their competence.

Disciplinary Matters

A suggestion was made that Boards should use arbitration to resolve some complaints. This method would allow the licensee to get the assistance they need without disciplining their professional license and still protect the public. The complainant should be made aware of the process and its value. Arbitration cannot be used in all cases.

Boards should look at a practitioners "pattern" of practice rather an one action.

California has ten (10) boards that have a majority of public members and have developed training specific for public members. CAC predicts that an increase in public members on professional boards will become a trend across the nation.

Boards should consider "public hearings" around their state to hear from the public and to determine what is working and what is not.

Transparency is an issue with state legislators and many feel that Boards should be totally transparent, only client/patient information should remain confidential.

Round Table Discussion for Small Boards

Everyone agreed that all Boards need to do a better job of public awareness and education but there were no new ideas.

Mural Graphic Dyslexia - Loss of the ability to read the handwriting on the wall!

Elizabeth Guinn, LDN, Board Member, LBEDN
Suzanne Pevey, Administrator

MEDICARE PROVIDES COVERAGE FOR MEDICAL NUTRITION THERAPY

Effective January 2002, Medicare began to provide coverage for Medical Nutrition Therapy services when furnished by a registered dietitian or nutrition professional meeting certain requirements. The benefit is available for beneficiaries with diabetes or renal disease, when referral is made by a physician. This provision allows registered dietitians and nutrition professionals to receive direct Medicare reimbursement for the first time. For Additional Information: Contact your local Medicare office or log on to www.medicare.com.

IMPAIRED PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM

The Rules for Professional Conduct (Rule No. 113. H. ) promulgated by the Board in July 1988, mandate that:

The licensee shall not be addicted to or dependent upon alcohol or other habit-forming drugs or be a habitual user of narcotics, barbiturates, amphetamines, hallucinogenics, or other drugs having similar effects upon the competency of the licensee. When such substances are prescribed by a physician, the licensee will not practice if the medications adversely affects his mental competency.

National statistics indicate that 10% of the professional population is addicted to either alcohol, drugs or both. The license board has a legal and ethical obligation to discover whether applicants for licensure, as well as those seeking license renewal, have alcohol and drug problems which may interfere with the individual's ability to practice. How will the Board respond when an applicant or licensee admits to an addiction? The Board has developed an Impaired Professional Program, based on programs for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and social workers, to name just a few.

In an effort to safeguard the public health, safety and welfare and to protect the public from incompetent and unprofessional conduct by dietitian/nutritionist, LBEDN added the following questions to the renewal application, and similar questions were added to the initial application for licensure:

1. Have you ever possessed a professional license or certificate issued by another state(s)?
2. Has any state rejected your application or revoked or suspended your professional license or certificate?
3. Have you ever been charged or convicted of any crime or unprofessional conduct?
4. To an extent that it impairs your functioning as a dietitian or nutritionist, have your ever used or are you currently using drugs, chemical substances (including controlled substances obtained either with or without a valid prescription), or intoxicating liquors.
5. Have you been a participant in an alcohol or drug treatment or rehabilitation program in which you were monitored or supervised relative to your use of drugs or alcohol?
6. Have you ever been adjudged mentally incompetent?

If an individual answers yes to one of the above questions, s/he is required to attach a notarized statement. If the use of alcohol and/or controlled substances or the treatment for an addiction are recent (within the last five years), the Board will deny the license or renewal and ask the individual to appear before the Board for a Compliance Hearing.

Depending on the information and testimony at the Compliance Hearing, the Board may offer the individual an opportunity to enter the Board’s Impaired Professional Program in order to receive or renew their professional license.

Briefly, the Impaired Professional Program will consist of requirements such as:

The requirements will be set by the Board based on individual circumstances. You may request a copy of the basic components of the Board's program by contacting the Board office at 225-756-3490.

The licensee or applicant will bear the financial burden of the program and it should present no fiscal impact to the Board's budget. Board members and staff have developed this program to enable the Board to meet the legal requirements for public protection and allow professionals to continue to work and receive the treatment that they need.

Open Book Examinations

The Individuals listed below practiced more than thirty (30) days in the State of Louisiana without applying for a license in accordance with La. R.S. 37:3091. By Board rules, these individuals were required to take and pass an Open Book Examination on the Practice Act and the Rules and Regulations to include the Rules of Professional Conduct, in order to receive their license.

Kelli Abboud

Meisca Moore

Wendy C. Anderson

Blythe T. Peters

Joann Connell

Xavier R. Wilson

Allyson Hyatt

2003 RENEWAL SCHEDULE

April 15: Renewals Sent to All Licensees

June 30: Renewals Due with Annual Fee

July 1- August 31: Renewals can be made with annual and late fee

September 1 : ALL NON-RENEWED LICENSES LAPSE

WHAT IS A DIET TECH?

The Board office often gets calls about becoming a Diet Tech. However, we had little available information on the program. Thanks to Donna M. Pace, MBA, LDN,RD and Associate Professor at Delgado Community College for the following information.

There is a credential for a "Dietetic Technician". It is DTR (Dietetic Technician, Registered) and can only be used if an Individual has completed an accredited Dietetic Technician Program and passed the national exam for DR's offered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration of the ADA.

An accredited program must be an Associate of Science Degree which includes didactic classes, and a supervised practice experience (like an internship) of a minimum of 450 clock hours. An alternate route is for a person who completes a BS accredited Dietetics Program and then completes the 450 clock hours of an accredited Dietetic Technician Program and then takes the exam.

An accredited program includes curriculum in Clinical Nutrition, Food Service Management and Community Nutrition, but usually graduates will practice in only one area.

It is common to find that many individuals call themselves "Diet techs" or "DT's" but they are not credentialled DTRs. Usually they are individuals who have completed a BS program but have not competed a supervised experience and are therefore not eligible to take the registration exam.

For information regarding the Knowledge, Skills and Competencies required of the DTR curriculum, go the following web site: http://www.eatright.com/cade/standards.html. Look for Accreditation Manual, Section V. Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies for Dietetic Technicians.

WHO’S NEW SINCE LAST NEWSLETTER

LDNs RENEW ON LINE

FAST SERVICE — CONVENIENT

LDN Licensees have the option of renewing on-line at www.lbedn.org using a credit card for payment or by sending their renewal, current CDR card and check or money order to the Board office.

20% of all LDNs renewed on line in 2002

Your new license card will be received within a few days IF you renew at our web site.
Allow 4-6 weeks if you submit your renewal form and payment by mail

BOARD MEETING DATES—2003

April 24, July 18 and October 10, 2003