A Podiatrist Speaks Against Podiatrists Supervising Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

A leading podiatric physician and regular Podiatry Today blogger last week spoke up against Doctors of Podiatric Medicine (DPMs) monitoring patients receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Citing state law in his home Indiana and discussions with his Healogics wound center colleagues, DeHeer concludes:

Despite being a proud member of the podiatric profession, I feel that until we have a combined MD-DPM degree, it is in our patients’ best interest to have our allopathic and osteopathic colleagues monitor HBOT patients.

In other words, as so often we have commented here and on HyperbaricLink:

Hyperbaric oxygen is serious medicine that should always be prescribed by a physician. Treatments should always be supervised by a qualified hyperbaric specialist (MD or DO) assisted by a certified hyperbaric technician (CHT).

Podiatric physicians play a vital and sometimes leading role in the care of people with diabetic ulcers and other wounds and injuries of the foot. Hats off to Dr DeHeer for working to clarify his profession's role in hyperbaric medicine.

Now we're curious. How does your hyperbaric treatment center involve podiatrists in patient care?

[Image: Podiatry Today DPM Blogs]