ARLINGTON, Va.--With just a little over a year before implementation, the Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America is cranking up its efforts to meet a credentialing mandate from CMS.

Beginning April 1, 2008, CMS will require that the specialty evaluation for certain power wheelchairs be performed by a RESNA-certified Assistive Technology Practitioner (ATP) specializing in wheelchairs or a physician who is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

The agency will also require that the wheelchair come from a supplier employing a RESNA-certified Assistive Technology Supplier (ATS) "who is directly involved in the wheelchair selection for the patient."

The RESNA-certified ATP or the physician cannot have a financial connection to the supplier.

The specialty evaluation refers to patients receiving a Group 2 single- or multiple-power option power wheelchair, any Group 3 or Group 4 power wheelchair or a push-rim activated power assist device for a manual wheelchair.

"We are, as an organization, trying to prepare for the increased interest in two credentials that CMS has so far adopted--the ATP and the ATS," said Glenn Hedman, president of RESNA and director of the Assistive Technology Unit at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

A decade ago, RESNA devised the ATP credential for service providers involved in the analysis of a consumer's needs and training in the use of a particular device. The ATS is for those who are involved with the sale and service of rehab equipment, assistive technology and commercially available products or devices.

RESNA also offers a Rehabilitation Engineering Technologist credential for those "who apply engineering principles to the design, modification, customization and/or fabrication of assistive technology for persons with disabilities."

The purpose of credentialing is two-fold, according to RESNA: to ensure consumer safeguards and to ensure consumer satisfaction.

Currently, the organization has certified 2,700 people, according to Thomas Gorski, executive director. "We are geared up to increase those numbers significantly, if not double them, in short order," he said. "We have increased the number of exams in 2007, and we are seeing enlarged numbers of people seeking information about the exam."

Hedman said RESNA will offer the credentialing exam at least 25 times this year. "That's the baseline. We may offer it more. We're trying to make it available to people who are really interested."

The ATP or ATS exam, which is generally taken by those who have backgrounds as rehabilitation engineers, occupational or physical therapists, speech and hearing pathologists or suppliers, costs $500. Candidates must answer 200 questions, 150 of which are general questions about assistive technology, said Gorski, with another 50 questions specific to a supplier or a practitioner.

Meanwhile, RESNA is also exploring the possibility of creating another specialty credential, this one in seating and mobility. Hedman said RESNA has had preliminary talks with the National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers about such a credential.

"We are interested in working with NRRTS on further demonstration of skills and expertise in the seating and mobility area," said Hedman. "I think the potential is really there to work together to identify an increased level in seating and mobility. Each of these concepts would be built upon the skills that someone has as an ATP."

Hedman said that implementation of the new credential could be "conceptually possible this year."

The seating and mobility credential would be a natural extension of the relationship between RESNA and NRRTS. The latter lists 800 registrants on its rolls; only NRRTS registrants who have passed RESNA's ATS exam can carry the Certified Rehabilitation Technology Supplier designation.

To view RESNA's exam schedule for 2007, visit www.resna.org.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Rehabilitation Science & Technology is planning review courses for those who wish to prepare for the ATP and ATS exams. For more details, contact Pitt faculty member Mark Schmeler at schmeler@pitt.edu, or visit www.rstce.pitt.edu.