Radiologist Assistant Included in CMS Proposed Rule
July 20,2018
The Radiology Physician Extender community just passed a huge milestone in our quest to become a recognized midlevel radiology provider. On July 12th the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the unpublished 2019 proposed rules. The proposed rule is the result of a “request for information” developed by Society of Radiology Physician Extenders (SRPE), American College of Radiology (ACR), American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT), and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) for the “radiologist assistant (RA)” which includes the Registered Radiologist Assistant (RRA) and Radiology Practitioner Assistant (RPA). It’s also important to know that we recognized both the RPA and the RRA equally. The proposed rule will be officially published in the Federal Register on July 27, 2018 and entered a 60-day public comment period.
“It is important to know that I, along with reps from the ACR, ARRT, and ASRT have been working on this since 2008 and this is the culmination of ongoing discussions with CMS since that first meeting.” said Jason Barrett, SRPE Board Chair. “It is extremely important that members of our community support this effort. This message should come from a united voice, ie. SRPE, ASRT, ACR, Certification Board for Radiology Practitioner Assistants (CBRPA), and ARRT.”
“We are extremely excited and thankful to CMS to have this opportunity to comment on this rule,” said Vicki Sanders, President of the SRPE. “Through our discussions with CMS, we have hopefully communicated that the current supervision levels for procedures performed by RAs are burdensome to radiologists and creates inefficiencies in medical imaging practices. We applaud CMS for recognizing and attempting to reduce these unnecessary hardships to healthcare providers.”
“It is our hope that in the final rule posting in November, CMS would assign a unique modifier that radiologists would use when they bill for procedures performed by RAs. This modifier would ideally apply across the RA’s state defined scope of practice and reduce the supervision levels from “personal” to “direct” in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule” Jason said.
Jason also stated, “This could be a banner year for the RA profession, but it will still take a lot of buy-in from every member of this profession to accomplish the end-goal. Be very proud of our recent accomplishments.”
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Veteran Affairs Recognition of the RA
The VA is almost complete with the process to recognize the RA in the VA Health System. The qualifications and standards are in the process of being approved. Once approved, the standards and qualifications will be made public and the individual health facilities can then hire the RA. The SRPE will notify the community when the documents are made public and then RAs would then need to approach the radiologists and the facility to start the job posting process.
19th Annual SRPE Conference is a SUCCESS!
The 19th Annual SRPE Conference was a resounding success and the SRPE Board is very pleased with the energy, cooperation, and attendance at the conference.
There were 14 dynamic speakers presenting a total of 29 ASRT approved A+ CEUs, ACLS recertification, CBRPA Recertification given to over 150 attendees.
Leadership from the CBRPA, ARRT, ASRT, and SRPE gave updates regarding the profession. RAs enjoyed the evening social where ideas and friendships were shared.
All presentations were submitted to the ARRT for consideration for Continuing Qualifications Requirements (CQR) and all were approved. If RAs were prescribed CQR, please login to the ARRT website and check the CQR record for updates.
Please join us for the 20th Annual SRPE Educational Conference on APRIL 24-28th, 2019 at Harrah's Resort and Casino in fabulous LAS VEGAS!
The Board once again would like to thank the Conference Committee members and our sponsors for their support of our conference.
Merit Medical
PFM Medical
Weber State University
Siemens
Argon
Surgical Specialties
MedComp
CE verification forms have been processed. Please check your email for the forms. It is the attendee’s responsibility to submit forms to the appropriate organizations. For more information contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.