The ASRT Government Relations and Advocacy Department is being proactive in its response to the constant threats of deregulation and encroachment on the profession. The Society is starting a full-court press to ensure that every state and federal lawmaker and decision maker understands the critical role medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals play on the health care team.

We’re taking our cue from Chair of the Board Daniel L. Gonzales, M.S.R.S., R.T.(R), FASRT. One of the presidential initiatives for his 2022-2023 term as president was to raise public awareness of the important work technologists perform every day. To that end, ASRT is launching a nationwide campaign, which it announced at the 2023 Annual Governance and House of Delegates Meeting. The integrated communications firm, imre Health, is building that campaign.

Following Daniel’s lead, the ASRT advocacy team is also emphasizing the differences in R.T.s’ educational preparation and clinical competence compared to their colleagues in health care. The members of this profession may wear the same scrubs as other health care workers, but their education and preparation are very different.

Along with being more vigilant in our tracking and monitoring, ASRT representatives have attended professional conferences and other meetings to highlight our ongoing policy and advocacy work. As of press time, we’ve attended annual meetings for the ASRT, American College of Radiology, Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors and Women in Government Relations. Members of our department will also attend ASRT’s Radiation Therapy Conference and the 109th Radiological Society of North America Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting.

ASRT’s Voice in D.C.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Meredith Check, M.P.P., and I work for ASRT’s Government Relations and Public Policy Department. I’m based in Washington, D.C., so in addition to professional conferences, I’ve also had the honor of representing ASRT at more than a dozen meetings and receptions on Capitol Hill. Some of these meetings were held to introduce the ASRT to new members of Congress and educate staffers about medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals’ scopes of practice.

Although most of the people I met were familiar with many of the procedures performed by ASRT members, they were not aware of the education and preparation requirements for their primary practice areas, let alone for postprimary practice areas and continuing education requirements. Attending events on Capitol Hill has allowed me to develop connections with other public health care policy professionals at the state and federal levels. This network of professional policy workers is a useful tool for ASRT, especially when state lawmakers try to roll back the legal protections we’ve worked so hard to secure for patients. These connections can help us amplify our voice at the state level and explain the vested interest of patient advocacy groups, businesses and insurance companies.

What We Do

Because elected officials at each level of government are feeling the pressure to address workplace shortages across every health care setting, the ASRT Government Relations and Advocacy Department works with our affiliate societies and the Committee on R.T. Advocacy to monitor and respond when other health care workers’ responsibilities begin to creep into the radiologic sciences’ scope of practice. We’re also at work in states that still don’t have legal protections to recognize the vital nature of medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals.

ASRT is dedicated to advocating at the state and federal levels for title recognition, for minimum standards for education and clinical knowledge and experience, and for states to maintain a nationally recognized credential.

Our Professional Guidance

Our department relies on the Practice Standards for Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy, which establish general and specific criteria for professional practice. These authoritative statements are approved by the ASRT House of Delegates and allow us to represent the profession on regulatory and legislative proposals. We also rely on ASRT’s position statements, which provide additional information on the Society’s position on issues related to the profession. The Practice Standards and position statements are our guiding lights when a relevant policy proposal is introduced. They tell us whether the proposal aligns with ASRT’s core beliefs, opinions and goals, and we reference them in our responses, when warranted.

Why We Take Action

We support strong regulations to ensure the individuals performing medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures have the appropriate education and clinical expertise to do so. You or your colleagues may be credentialed through the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists or another certification agency in the radiologic sciences, but there are people practicing in the profession who haven’t earned the appropriate credential.

For example, hospitals in Tennessee can now hire medical assistants and train them internally to perform magnetic resonance and computed tomography imaging without recourse. That wasn’t the case before April 28, when Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 1191 and House Bill 1388 into law.

The new law terminated the Tennessee Radiologic Imaging and Radiation Therapy Board of Examiners, negating licensure requirements for individuals performing medical imaging or radiation therapy procedures in hospitals, outpatient diagnostic centers and other settings serving human patients. During the debate over the bill, a hospital representative said that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission requirements were sufficient. However, ASRT’s research shows that CMS does not have training requirements for reimbursement, and The Joint Commission only requires facilities to retain one nationally credentialed technologist per shift.

This turn of events not only raises serious safety concerns but could also widen the gap between the level of care in rural and urban settings. Although facilities in metropolitan areas are more likely to exclusively hire registered and certified R.T.s, facilities in rural areas might hire just enough nationally credentialed technologists to meet The Joint Commission’s minimum standards, allowing individuals who aren’t certified and registered and who lack the appropriate education and clinical knowledge to perform procedures. It’s a recipe for poor-quality exams, repeated procedures and patients being overexposed to ionizing radiation.

ASRT is committed to enhancing the quality and safety of patient care; it’s upsetting that Tennessee’s governor and some of its legislators have taken action that does the opposite.

What You Can Do

The work of the ASRT Government Relations and Advocacy Department is only as effective as the buy-in we have from our members. Medical imaging and radiation therapy is the third largest health care profession in the United States. My colleagues in D.C. consider ASRT and its 156,000 members an incredibly large organization.

There’s strength in numbers, but involvement at both the state and federal levels is critical. Joining the Committee on R.T. Advocacy is one of the main ways members take action. We need your help to track and monitor legislative and regulatory proposals across the country.

The CRTA has nine regions that cover different parts of the country. The ASRT Board of Directors appoints leaders for each region and each leader serves a three-year term. Volunteers can sign up to serve on regional subcommittees, and region leaders also invite other advocates, Online Leadership Advocacy Academy alumni, Student to Leadership Development Program participants and ASRT affiliate society leaders to subcommittee meetings. Together, they discuss policy concerns, brainstorm paths forward and have other discussions, all with the goal of improving patient care and advancing the profession. If you’re interested in participating in CRTA, look at your affiliate societies’ legislative committees. Go to asrt.org/CRTA for more information.

Another amazing opportunity for ASRT members is to apply to participate in the Online Advocacy Academy, asrt.org/OLAA. After completing this 10-week, self-paced program, you’ll have a better grasp of the policy process, strategic advocacy and volunteer succession planning, and how to work with lobbyists. Applications for this program will open in March, and the program starts the first week of July.

Our newest initiative is called Engaging New Technologists, asrt.org/EngagingNewRTs. It introduces new R.T.s and students to advocacy and public policy. We’re thankful for those who participated in our first two presentations, and the ASRT Government Relations and Advocacy Department looks forward to hosting the third iteration of the series in the spring.

There are numerous other ways for ASRT members to get involved. You can follow ASRT on social media, where we post shareable action alerts, or take action on our Advocacy Action Center, asrt.org/AdvocacyActionCenter.

Among other things, the Advocacy Action Center is where you can find out how to send a letter to your federal lawmakers in support of the Facilitating Innovative Nuclear Diagnostics Act. The FIND Act would revise Medicare’s reimbursement structure to allow patients access to imaging tools that deliver more targeted and cost-effective care for a range of conditions, from Alzheimer’s disease to prostate cancer. While you’re there, read our quarterly blog where we update you on the latest news and information.

  *Article originally appeared in the ASRT Oct/Nov 2023 Scanner Publication