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November 2, 2006

ULM radiologic technology recognizes NRTW and educates public about CARE bill

In honor of National Radiologic Technology Week (NRTW®), the ULM Department of Radiologic Technology would like to recognize the state’s imaging professionals and inform the public about some important issues surrounding radiologic technology and patient care.

NRTW commemorates German physicist Wilhelm Röentgen, who discovered X-rays at the University of Würzburg on Nov. 8, 1895.

n addition to celebrating the technology advancements of the past, ULM’s department of radiologic technology is focused on patient care issues of the future.

The Consumer Assurance of Radiologic Excellence Bill (HR 1426) (CARE) would establish basic educational and certification standards for health care personnel who perform the nation’s medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures.

The CARE Bill and its companion in the Senate, the RadCARE Bill (S.2322), would provide a means for enforcing the Consumer-Patient Radiation Health and Safety Act of 1981, which made it discretionary for each state to mandate the minimum education and certification standards of individuals who plan and deliver radiation therapy treatments and perform medical imaging examinations.

As a result of this discretion, only 41 states voluntarily license, regulate, or register radiographers, 30 states license radiation therapists, and 25 states license nuclear medicine technologists. Louisiana has required imaging professionals in hospital settings to be licensed, registered, and regulated by the Louisiana State Radiologic Technology Board of Examiners since 1984. Private radiographers, those working in privately-owned physician offices and clinics, must be registered and licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.

For more information on the CARE Bill or the RadCARE Bill or any legislative bill, searches can be performed at the United States House of Representatives website, www.house.gov, the United States Senate website, www.senate.gov , the Library of Congress website, www.thomas.loc.gov, or the American Society of Radiologic Technologists website, www.asrt.org.

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