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Health Care Professionals to Participate in 'Virtual March' for Patient Safety Legislation

Posted on: Friday, 26 October 2007, 12:00 CDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 20 organizations that make up the Alliance for Quality Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy have asked their members to call, e-mail, fax or visit senators and representatives Nov. 4-10 to urge passage of the Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (CARE) bill (H.R. 583 and S. 1042) before the end of the year.

The CARE bill would establish federal minimum standards of education and certification 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.

"In some states, a person can go from operating a forklift one day to operating a CT scanner the next, with no training in between," said Christine Lung, director of government relations for the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, an Alliance organization. "The lack of a federal minimum standard poses a danger to patients. 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.

"The discovery of the x-ray led to a revolution in medicine, resulting in the development of some of the most complex equipment in the medical field, including MRI units, CT scanners and gamma cameras," said David Gilmore, M.S., CNMT, NCT, R.T.(R)(N), president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine Technologist Section, another Alliance organization. "However, this amazing technology is ineffective in the wrong hands. That's because the quality of any medical image is directly linked to the skill and competence of the person performing the exam. Accurate medical imaging leads to an accurate diagnosis, which leads to a better outcome for the patient."

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."

Mr. Gilmore predicted a strong turnout for the virtual march. "It's not just the personnel who have a stake in this issue," he said. "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. We urge patients and practitioners alike to raise their voices in support of the CARE bill the week of Nov. 4."

For more information about the CARE bill or to participate in the virtual march, visit http://www.asrt.org/care.

Alliance for Quality Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy

CONTACT: Christine Lung of the Alliance for Quality Medical Imaging andRadiation Therapy, +1-800-444-2778, Ext. 1308

Web Site: http://www.asrt.org/care

Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire

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