Possible Oregon State Licensure Bill for Medical Imaging, including Vascular Technology

Last year a bill (SB 144) was introduced into the Oregon State Legislature that would have required vascular technologists and sonographers to be licensed in Oregon. This particular bill had some components that could have adversely affected vascular technologists/sonographers in terms of potential oversight and educational issues. Through a grassroots effort, SDMS, SVU, ASE, CCI and ARDMS were successful in narrowly averting the passage of this bill. The bill was delayed for further consideration until the next time the Oregon Legislature was scheduled to meet in January 2009.

However, the Oregon Board of Radiologic Technology (OBRT), which has taken the lead on getting a new medical imaging licensure bill passed in Oregon, began holding OBRT Legislative Update Board hearings in Portland, OR, in November and December 2007 and January 2008 on a new Medical Imaging Licensure Bill for the 2009 Oregon Legislature.

Over the years several licensure bills regarding medical imaging professionals have arisen in various states. These were usually directed at imaging modalities other than ultrasound. The proposed Oregon licensure bill would affect all medical imaging professionals working in Oregon, including those practicing vascular ultrasound. Currently, no state in the U.S. requires licensure for vascular technologists/sonographers. However, licensure is a common requirement in other allied health professions such as Nuclear Medicine Technology, Physical Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, and Radiology Technology, among others.

Licensure can be defined as permission, granted by a designated authority, to act or engage in an activity. It is formalized permission to practice within a specified scope of services. Licensure often establishes professional legitimacy and sets the minimum competency standards for the field. The process is typically designed to protect a profession from encroachment on their services by another profession and to ensure persons practicing in that profession are capable of demonstrating minimum competencies and standards.

SVU this year is participating in a medical imaging coalition that is again addressing efforts by the OBRT to get a medical imaging licensure bill passed next year in Oregon. In addition to SVU, other members of this medical imaging coalition are: ARDMS, American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI) Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS) and Society of Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals (SICP). SDMS, on behalf of this medical imaging coalition, recently sent a letter that SVU co-signed, to the Executive Director of the OBRT regarding their ongoing efforts this year to draft a new medical imaging licensure bill in Oregon. SVU has 63 members in Oregon; SDMS has 317 Oregon sonography members; and ASE has 107 echocardiography members in Oregon.

The coalition believes that any licensure of vascular technologists/sonographers should address, at a minimum, the following issues:

• Establishment of mandatory national credentialing
• Establishment of minimum educational standards
• Establishment of a new Oregon Board of Medical Imaging, to replace the OBRT, with representation from the various sonography ultrasound specialties.
• Establishment of a requirement for criminal background checks.

There are currently two bills in Congress (H.R. 583 and S. 1042), known as the CARE Bills (Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy) that would require the establishment of the first two quality standards listed above. The letter offers that the sonography community would like to provide the OBRT with thoughtful and informed input for the proposed Oregon Medical Imaging Licensure Bill. The coalition is fully committed to working with the OBRT to craft legislative language for Oregon that will serve as a standard of quality patient care for the citizens of Oregon and potentially serve as a model for the rest of the states across the country.

SVU will continue to keep its members informed as to the status of the medical imaging licensure bill in Oregon.