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The Consumer Assurance
of Radiologic Excellence (CARE) Act
Background:
Currently, there are no
uniform, national standards for personnel who perform
radiologic procedures. The Consumer-Patient Radiation
Health and Safety Act of 1981 established voluntary
guidelines for states to follow in regulating health
care personnel who perform radiologic procedures.
Unfortunately, only 35 states have adopted those
guidelines, and standards vary dramatically from state
to state. In the remaining 15 states and the District of
Columbia, tens of thousands of individuals with limited
training and no credentials are allowed to provide
medical imaging and radiation therapy care. Without
uniform national standards, patients remain unprotected
and the radiologic science profession remains open to
uncertified, inadequately educated personnel.
The American Society of Radiologic
Technologists and its affiliate societies believe it is
time to make the provisions of the Consumer-Patient
Radiation Health and Safety Act mandatory. In 1997, ASRT
launched an aggressive campaign to protect patients from
overexposure to radiation during radiologic procedures
and help reduce the cost of administering health care.
The way to achieve this goal is to introduce a bill, the
Consumer Assurance of Radiologic Excellence (CARE) Act,
before the U.S. House of Representatives during the
2000-2001 session of Congress. This bill pursues basic
educational and certification standards for health care
workers who administer radiologic procedures in every
state in the union. The bill would ensure that patients
undergoing all types of radiologic procedures have the
same assurance of competency as those receiving
mammograms under the provisions of the Mammography
Quality Standards Act.
ASRT
Position Statement:
Radiologic technologists throughout
the country support the establishment of minimum
standards by the federal government for personnel who
perform medical imaging exams and deliver radiation
therapy treatments.
By ensuring a minimum level of
education, knowledge and skill for radiologic personnel,
federal minimum standards will:
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Ensure that quality information
is presented for diagnosis and that quality
radiation therapy treatments are delivered, leading
to accurate diagnosis, treatment and cure. Poor
quality images can lead to additional testing,
delays in treatment and needless anxiety for the
patient.
-
Reduce health care costs by
lowering the number of radiologic examinations that
must be repeated due to improper positioning or
poor technique. Repeated radiologic examinations
cost the U.S. health care system millions of dollars
annually in needless medical bills.
-
Improve the safety of
radiologic procedures. Administered
properly, radiation is an invaluable tool in the
diagnosis, treatment and management of disease. But
most radiologic procedures also carry a potential
health risk, and radiation can be harmful if
miss-administered.
Supporting
Agencies:
ACR
The American College of Radiology
represents more than 30,000 diagnostic radiologists,
radiation oncologists, radiology residents and medical
physicists. According to Executive Director John Curry,
"The ACR is a strong advocate of all personnel involved
in imaging procedures being qualified by training and
experience. The radiologic technologist is a key
individual in the operation of a high quality imaging
department, and should be qualified to carry out their
role in a manner that assures quality.
ISRRT
The International Society of
Radiographers and Radiological Technologists is a
coalition of 57 national radiographer societies from 55
countries, representing more than 100,000 medical
imaging and radiation therapy professionals. "National
standards of education are an extremely important
prerequisite for high quality diagnostic and therapeutic
services," said ISRRT Secretary General T.J.D. West.
"The international community fully supports efforts to
bring the standards of practice throughout the United
States up to those that are enjoyed in many other
developed countries."
AERS
The Association of Educators in
Radiological Sciences Inc., the largest organization for
radiologic science educators in the United States, also
joined the nationwide effort to pass federal minimum
standards for medical imaging technologists and
radiation therapists.
“AERS is very pleased to provide
tangible evidence of our working relationship with
ASRT leadership on the issue of federal minimum
standards,” said Rick Carlton, M.S., R.T.(R) (CV),
FAERS, president of AERS and assistant professor of
radiologic sciences at Arkansas State University. “We
believe it is critical that all members of the
profession pull together to achieve worthwhile goals
such as this one. We urge all educators and all
members of the radiologic and imaging sciences to
support these types of initiatives because they
provide better services for the public, while
increasing recognition of our professions.”
The AERS
Board of Directors voted in late October to urge the
U.S. Congress to pass the Consumer Assurance of
Radiologic Excellence (CARE) Act in the interest of both
quality and cost efficient medical care.
The Alliance for Quality
Medical Imaging And Radiation Therapy
The
Alliance for Quality Medical Imaging and Radiation
Therapy is a coalition of health care organizations
dedicated to the provision of safe, high quality
radiologic care. We believe the personnel who perform
medical imaging examinations and plan and deliver
radiation therapy treatments should be required to
demonstrate competence in their area of practice.
Competency can be demonstrated through graduation from
an accredited educational program, certification by a
national examining organization or licensure by the
state.
The Alliance’s goals are to:
- Ensure the quality of patient care by
pursuing standards for the certification and education
of medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals.
- Educate patients about medical imaging and
radiation therapy procedures and the personnel who
perform them.
- Encourage lawmakers at the state and federal
level to recognize the vital role that qualified
personnel have in the safe, accurate delivery of radiologic procedures and the provision of quality
patient care.
- The
Alliance for Quality Medical Imaging and Radiation
Therapy supports the establishment of minimum standards
by the federal government for personnel who perform
medical imaging exams and deliver radiation therapy
treatments.
Alliance
Members
Founding
Members:
American
Society of Radiologic Technologists
Society of
Nuclear Medicine-Technologist Section
Alliance
Charter Members:
American
Association of Physicists in Medicine
American
College of Medical Physics
American
Registry of Radiologic Technologists
Association
of Educators in Radiologic Sciences
Association
of Vascular and Interventional Radiographers
Joint
Review Committee on Education in Nuclear Medicine
Technology
Joint
Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology
Nuclear
Medicine Technology Certification Board
Section for
Magnetic Resonance Technologists of ISMRM
Society for
Radiation Oncology Administrators
Current Status:
The quest for Federal
Minimum Standards continues. Representative Rick Lazio
of New York has reaffirmed his commitment to introduce
the bill, despite entering the Senate race against
Hillary Clinton. He has 15 confirmed co-sponsors in the
House and the ASRT is seeking a sponsor for the Senate
bill. ASRT has developed a Grass Roots Network and a PAC
to assist in the legislative process.
State
societies are urged to become active participants in the
legislative process. Local affiliate societies and
educational programs are being contacted to solicit
their assistance in the fight for federal minimum
standards. All radiologic science professionals are
being encouraged to write letters to their legislators
in support of the CARE Act. Without the passage of this
legislation, uncertified, inadequately educated workers
will continue to represent a risk to patients and
compromise the quality of radiologic care.
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