Forming friendships and relationships with your district's state or federal representatives helps radiology in Wisconsin. WRS encourages you to get to know your representatives. If you have a relationship with one, please let Jane Svinicki know for our database should important legislation arise, Jane@svinicki.com.
Action Alert!
Call Your Legislators Today
Ask Support of Radiologic Technologist Licensure Bill
The Wisconsin Society of Radiographic Technologists (WSRT) could use your help!
The WSRT has been meeting with state legislators to regulate the practice of radiography. The result is a bill, currently being circulated by Representative J.A. “Doc” Hines (R-Oxford) and Senator John Lehman (D-Racine), that would set minimum certification standards that an individual or technologist must meet in order to obtain a technologists’ license to practice radiography, according to their scope of practice. This bill is modeled after the pending federal CARE Bill and the regulations that over 30 states have already put in place to protect their patients.
As you know, currently, anyone is allowed to take x-rays. Only CT scanners, radiation therapists and mammographers must be registered radiologic technologists in the State of Wisconsin.
It was a unanimous decision of The Wisconsin Radiological Society at their October Board meeting to support this legislation. This bill has been painstakingly and carefully drafted with the assistance of technologists appointed by the WSRT Board of Directors, legal advisors and state legislators. It is in accordance with current state law and administrative code already in place regarding other areas of medicine that have roles in medical radiation administration.
With this legislation, a seven-member Radiography Examining Board would be established, which would include a Radiologist. The standards created by the Radiography Examining Board will ensure the safety of all patients in all radiographic settings.
A copy of the bill draft is attached, and the memo from Representative Hines and Senator Lehman requesting that other legislators sign-on as cosponsors is pasted below. Please call your Representative and Senator today and request that he or she agree to cosponsor the bill!
WHAT YOU CAN TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE OR SENATOR:
* Unqualified operators of equipment emitting medical radiation can increase the patient’s exposure to radiation, increasing the possibility of cancer, chromosomal mutations, and damage to developing fetuses in pregnant women. It is currently estimated that nearly 1% of cancer cases in people up to age 75 can be attributed to ionizing radiation from diagnostic x-rays (Oxford University). This legislation would help to reduce the incidence of this disease through proper administration of medical radiation.
* When unqualified personnel perform radiographic examinations there is a greater chance of loss of diagnostic information from poor image quality. When improperly performed medical imaging exams and poor quality films are submitted, the loss of accurate diagnostic information could lead to an undiagnosed or misdiagnosed disease or trauma, resulting in undue suffering and possible death of the patient.
* As the costs of health care continue to rise, the lower repeat examination rates attributed to educated and licensed radiologic technologists become more important.
* 38 states currently have licensure or certification requirements for radiography.
* In the upper-Midwest, licensure or certification requirements for radiography exist in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS
BY PHONE: Call the legislative hotline toll-free at 1-800-362-WISC (9472) (266-9960 in the Madison area) to leave a message for a legislator. This hotline can also tell you who your State Representative and/or State Senator are. You can also visit http://www.legis.state.wi.us/ and click on "Who Represents Me?"
BY E-MAIL: If you send e-mail, include your name and mailing address in the body of the message, or your concerns may not be recorded. Generally, legislators' e-mail addresses use the following format:
Rep.Lastname@legis.state.wi.us (example: Rep.Jones@legis.state.wi.us)
Sen.Lastname@legis.state.wi.us (example: Sen.Smith@legis.state.wi.us)
You can double-check your legislator's e-mail address by visiting
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/.
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To: All Legislators
From: Representative J.A. “Doc” Hines
Senator John Lehman
Date: October 24, 2007
Re: Co-sponsorship of LRB-2463/7, relating to: licenses and limited X-ray operator permits to engage in the practice of radiography and creating a radiography examining board
At the request of the Wisconsin Society of Radiologic Technologists, we are introducing legislation that will regulate the practice of radiography in the state of Wisconsin and will establish a seven member Radiography Examining Board.
The bill sets minimum standards an individual must meet in order to obtain a license to practice radiography and creates a limited X-ray machine operator permit for those who are not fully licensed. Wisconsin would join 38 other states that currently have licensure or certification requirements for radiography.
Patients will be better protected from inappropriate and harmful exposure to radiation by preventing unqualified people from taking X-rays. The bill does not change current law with regard to professions that are involved in radiography and are currently regulated by the state, including chiropractors and dentists.
If you wish to co-sponsor this bill, please call Rep. Hines’ office at 6-7746, by 4 p.m. Tuesday, November 20 (deadline extended). The LRB analysis is printed below.
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Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill regulates the practice of radiography, defined in the bill as the imaging of anatomical structures by application of X-rays to the human body using knowledge in certain technical fields for the purpose of medical diagnosis. Under the bill, no person may practice radiography except a person who holds a license or who holds a limited X-ray machine operator permit (limited permit). A limited permit authorizes the holder to perform radiography of one or more of four portions of the body specified in the bill. A license or limited permit is granted by a seven member Radiography Examining Board (board), created in the bill. The license or limited permit requirement does not apply to a physician, chiropractor, dentist, or dental hygienist, or to a person who is directly supervised by a dentist or who is directly supervised by a chiropractor and who has completed a training program approved by the Chiropractic Examining Board. The bill prohibits the use of diagnostic X-ray equipment on humans for diagnostic purposes without a prescription or order by a physician, dentist, podiatrist, chiropractor, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or physician assistant.
Under the bill, the board may grant a license or limited permit to a person who is at least 18 years of age, holds a high school diploma or equivalent, pays a fee, passes an examination, and completes specified educational requirements. To obtain a license, a person must complete an approved course of study in radiography. To obtain a limited permit, a person must complete an appropriate course of study.
The bill directs the board to promulgate rules that establish standards for courses of study, for examinations, and for continuing education. The board may promulgate a code of ethics for licensees and limited permit holders, and may deny, limit, revoke, or suspend a license or limited permit held by persons who commit specified infractions. The bill also provides for licensure or issuance of a limited permit to a person currently practicing radiography who passes an examination administered by the board. For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
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