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CARE bill to seek certification of radiologic technologists

Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga. Congressman introduced The Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence (CARE) in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy bill (HR 3652) in the House of Representatives last week. The bill seeks to set certification standards in the Medicare program for personnel providing, planning and delivering any medical imaging exam or radiation therapy. The bill would ensure that patients undergoing all types of radiologic procedures have the same assurance of quality as those receiving mammograms under the provisions of the Mammography Quality Standards Act.

“The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), which passed in 2008, was a great first step toward ensuring that medical imaging is performed by qualified personnel,” said Diane Mayo, RT, president of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT). Since the 1999 Congressional session, ASRT has introduced House and Senate bills that pursue basic educational and certification standards for health care workers who administer radiologic procedures in every state in the union. 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.

MIPPA requires any facility performing CT, MRI, PET or nuclear medicine services for Medicare  patients to be accredited by an organization that meets standards set by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in order to be eligible for the technical component of reimbursement. On the other hand, MIPPA only covers 30 percent of the medical imaging procedures completed in the United States.

“We believe that the CARE bill completes MIPPA’s goal of setting quality standards for all medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals,” said Christine J. Lung, vice president of government relations and public policy for the ASRT. “The CARE bill will cover the other 70 percent of medical imaging procedures conducted in the United States, which are x-ray, fluoroscopy and ultrasound. The bill would make sure they are performed by qualified and certified medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals.” Christine added.

Source: American Society of Radiologic Technologists

You can discuss more about the CARE Bill in our Radiation Group