Pending Legislation Affecting CV Professionals
… in Maryland: HB0924 & SB0733 | Authorizing a licensed physician, under certain circumstances and in accordance with certain regulations, to delegate certain duties to a registered cardiovascular invasive specialist assisting in the physician's performance of a fluoroscopy. | These bills would create an exemption in existing Maryland state law for RCIS who, under current interpretations of the law, are prohibited from assisting an attending cardiologist/physician in the performance of Cath Lab duties related to fluoroscopy.
If the Maryland house and senate subcommittees return a positive report on the bills, and they are accepted and passed, the exemption will go into effect on October 1, 2019.
In tandem with these bills, the Maryland Health Care Commission will also conduct an ongoing review of cardiac Cath Labs throughout the state from October 1, 2019 – October 1, 2023, which will review radiation injuries, the civil penalties imposed on hospitals, and the number of RCIS employed by hospitals as well as vacant positions. This information will be used to evaluate further extension of the bill, whose sunset date is September 30, 2024, five years from the effective start date.
… in Minnesota: HF0819 & SF0966 | Authorizing the x-ray practice of cardiovascular technologists who meet certain education requirements. | These bills as originally written set out to define “limited x-ray machine operator practice,” and would have effectively prevented RCIS & RCES from assisting in fluoroscopy procedures in the Cath Lab.
As of February 25, 2019, the bills have since been amended to carve out exemptions for cardiovascular technologists who maintain their RCIS and/or RCES maintaining their credentials through CCI, as well as meet “fluoroscopy, safety education and training requirements.”
The bill codifies the Cath Lab practice of cardiovascular technologists assisting with the operation of fluoroscopy equipment under the supervision of, and in the physical presence of a qualified practitioner for diagnosing or treating cardiovascular patients with fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures.
… in New Hampshire: Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (MIRT) Regulations – Chapters 300 & 500 | Defining requirements for licensure, ethical standards, and scopes of practice for RT, RCIS, and RCES. | These regulations, as initially written would have required that RCIS and RCES meet additional requirements, or acquire an additional license before being allowed to assist in the performance of fluoroscopy procedures.
Writing to MIRT, ACVP appealed these regulations, arguing that the RCIS/RCES credential, education, and training was sufficient to qualify these professionals for assisting an attending cardiologist in fluoroscopy, making the attainment of an additional license or meeting additional qualifications an unnecessary, cumbersome requirement.
MIRT accepted ACVP’s appeal, and ultimately voted to approve the new regulations regarding professional assistance in fluoroscopy procedures, which exempted RCIS and RCES who had maintained up-to-date credentials from the need to attain an additional license or meet additional requirements, thereby recognizing the full scope of practice for these invasive specialists.
...in Washington: HB 1732 | Addressing meal and rest breaks and mandatory overtime for certain health care employees. | This bill extends the Washington state prohibition on mandatory overtime in health care facilities to a number of providers including nurses, nursing assistants, surgical technologists, diagnostic radiologic technologists, cardiovascular invasive specialists, and respiratory care practitioners.
The bill would prohibit an employer from using prescheduled on-call time to fill foreseeable staff shortages or schedule non-emergency procedures in a way that would require overtime. It would also provide that these employees must be allowed to take uninterrupted meal and rest periods while limiting the circumstances under which those periods may be interrupted to emergencies.
If you live in Washington, you can express your support for this bill online. Interested in ACVP support? Contact us using the form below.
...in Tennessee: HB 1817 | As introduced, requires the board of medical examiners to issue cardiovascular invasive specialist licenses to qualified individuals; requires the board of medical examiners to promulgate rules governing cardiovascular invasive specialist licenses and the scope of practice of licensed cardiovascular invasive specialists.
This bill would promulgate new rules governing cardiovascular invasive specialist licensure, assigning the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners to establish and define cardiovascular invasive specialist licenses, scope of practice, and requirements. The bill stipulates that scope of practice rules shall be consistent with the scope of practice guidelines adopted by the Society of Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals in 2010.
...in Massachusetts: H 1965 | An Act relative to sonographers and vascular technologists. | This bill would require sonographers and vascular technologists providing technical components of diagnostic ultrasound service in Massachusetts to be credentialed in the appropriate modality by the American Registry for Diagnositc Medical Sonography or by Cardiovascular Credentialing International.