Health Care Organizations to Participate In “Virtual March” for Patient Safety Legislation – the CARE Bill

Organizations representing more than 750,000 health care workers will participate in a “virtual march” on Capitol Hill in early November to rally support for a key piece of patient safety legislation – the CARE Bill.

The SVU is a member of the 20 organizations in the Alliance for Quality Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy, and we were represented by Anne Jones at the October Alliance meeting in Las Vegas. The Alliance organizations are asking their members to call, e-mail, fax or visit their U.S. Senators and Representatives during the Alliance-declared “CARE Week” of week of Nov. 5-9 to urge passage of the Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (CARE) Bill before the end of the year.

The CARE bill would establish federal minimum standards of education and credentialing for personnel who perform medical imaging examinations and plan or deliver radiation therapy treatment. Currently, laws regulating these medical personnel vary widely from state to state, and nine states and the District of Columbia have no regulations at all.

“The lack of a federal minimum standard for medical imaging poses a danger to patients,” said Christine Lung, director of government relations for the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, an Alliance organization. During the first week of November, we will flood our federal legislators with the message that they need to act on this bill to protect American patients.”

The date of the “virtual march” on Capitol Hill coincides with National Radiologic Technology Week, an annual event that commemorates the discovery of the x-ray on Nov. 8, 1895, by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen.

Passage of the CARE bill will not only improve patient care, but also result in significant savings for the federal government, according to the Alliance. Ensuring the qualifications of personnel, Ms. Lung explained, will result in fewer examinations that must be repeated due to improper positioning or technique. “Medicare spent approximately $9.3 billion on medical imaging in 2003,” she said. “If we can reduce the number of repeated exams by just 1 percent, Medicare would save more than $90 million a year.”

The Alliance urges a strong, focused participation for the “virtual march.” It’s not just the medical imaging personnel who have a stake in this issue. Any patient who has ever undergone a medical imaging test or received a radiation therapy treatment knows how important it is that the procedures be performed by qualified, competent individuals. SVU urges patients and practitioners alike to raise their voices in support of the CARE bill the week of Nov. 5.

For more information about the CARE bill, visit www.asrt.org/care or www.svunet.org.