After a year-long search, BOC has hired Gregory M. Safko as its new president. Safko comes to O&P with a background in non-profit management and government.

In his previous job, Safko served as deputy secretary of Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, where he was responsible for administration of all licensing and related regulatory and enforcement activity for the state. Safko also has 15 years of experience with the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association. 

The O&P Almanac sat down to talk with Safko and the chair of BOC’s Board of Directors, Teresa Alpert-Leibman, BOCO, C.Ped., about what he brings to the job and where BOC is headed. 

Almanac: What’s the biggest similarity between your former job as head of labor & licensing and being the head of BOC? 

Safko: Having a large impact on the health, safety and welfare of the public. That is the bottom line, and that’s the end result of what we’re doing here [at BOC] and what I was doing with the state of Maryland.

I think another large similarity is really bridging the gap between educators and businesses and government as well. There have to be open lines of communication. 

What we did with the state of Maryland and again, the biggest initiative here, is that we need to have all the constituents at the table. Whether they be educators, whether they be practitioners, whether they be the employers, or the businesses, it’s important to have that dialogue. 

Almanac: Where do you think your biggest learning curve will be?

Safko: Obviously, I do have the learning curve of understanding the dynamics of all the parties in play, in the industry and profession, and learning the vernacular as well as some of the more critical issue and trends.

One of the first phone calls I received on the job my first week was from Peter Rosenstein, from the American Academy for Orthotics and Prosthetics. It was a very nice gesture. My background [is not] from within the profession, but from the non-profit arena, [and] that was his entry to the field as well. [He said] that we’ll learn to pronounce the words correctly together. 

Of course, he already has by now, he’s been in his seat for two years. So give me two years and I’ll pronounce them correctly. 

Almanac: How does BOC plan to proceed with the lawsuit ABC has filed against it?

Alpert-Leibman: We’re continuing our conversations with our lawyers and [planning] our strategy around this alleged trademark issue. 

Before I jumped off the diving board around this pedorthic program, I actually called ABC to have the conversation “Should we use ‘accredited pedorthist’? Should we use ‘certified pedorthist’?” 

A physical therapist is a PT. An occupational therapist is an OT. So the nomenclature of a C.Ped. is common within our O&P industry. So a C.Ped. is a certified pedorthist. It just so happens that BOC would be the credentialing agency for that certified pedorthist. 

[I think we should] have consistency in how the public views what a certified pedorthist is. We should have consistency in the industry, so that the skill set and the tasks of these pedorthists are in fact the same across the board. 

Almanac: ABC and BOC have considered merging in the past. Would BOC consider doing so in the future?

Alpert-Leibman: I never say never. I also was not privy to all the negotiations that went on with that conversation around the merger. Mergers and acquisitions are happening all the time. 

I think that having more than one credentialing agency [creates] friendly competition. Why is Harvard better than Yale? Why is UPenn better than Franklin & Marshall? I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have two credentialing agencies. [But] would we ever [roll up] to be one unified organization for OP&P? It’s very possible that we may see that. 

Almanac: You’ve said that organizations need “guideposts rather than hitching posts.” What would be an example of a guidepost for BOC?

Safko: What I mean by guideposts is being able to embrace change, based on circumstances. There are organizations that create strategic plans that are hitching posts. There’s no forward momentum; there’s no accommodation of change.

I think it’s important that any device or framework that an organization uses for setting strategic direction should be viewed as a guidepost. 

For example, our board will be together in several weeks to do some strategic planning. A strategic plan is something that doesn’t sit on a shelf, that you dust off every couple of years and take a look at. A plan needs to be dynamic and accommodate changes in the profession. 

Almanac: What is BOC’s position on the number of organizations authorized by CMS to accredit facilities for DMEPOS?

Alpert-Leibman: I don’t know the numbers off the top of my head, but if Medicare does in fact require that all of the facilities that have provider numbers be accredited, you’re talking about a huge [number] of businesses. Now, can 10 agencies divide that pie? Probably so.

I think there needs to be some communication and transparency between the agencies so that if someone applies to one, and they don’t meet the bar, they just don’t shop around and go to another agency and think they’re going to get [in] under the radar. 

Safko: I think the number of organizations is an adequate and effective number and that BOC is poised to operate very well in the facility accreditation process. The process we’ve employed to conduct these currently is effective, [and] it’s customer-friendly. 

We’re looking at enhancing our efficiencies as the number of MSAs [Metropolitan Statistical Areas] increase, so that we have online processes—facilities can submit applications, but they can check status as well, so that it becomes more of a virtual process through automation. 

I think that’s going to be important because as Teresa cited, the volume is very large—170,000 or somewhere in that neighborhood—I think it’s going to be important that all of the accrediting organizations be efficient. 

Almanac: With the focus on facility accreditation, do you think certification will take a back seat?

Alpert-Leibman: No, actually, just the contrary, I think it’s going to go up, because in order to be an accredited facility you have to have a certified practitioner. So I think it raises the level of care and awareness. 

Almanac: What do you think BOC offers to O&P?

Safko: BOC offers the pathways for individuals who come in on the ground floor as fitters, orthotic fitters, and who seek to become certified orthotists. They do have that opportunity available to them when they don’t have the opportunity to meet other, more stringent requirements. But we also assure their competency and their qualifications through our written, clinical simulation and video practical examination credentialing process. 

Interview conducted by Rebecca St. Andrie.