Good News! Bill Seals Fluoroscopy Exemption in Maryland

May 13 Bill Signing - Fluoroscopy Exemption

ACVP Advocacy Wins Fluoroscopy Exemption in Maryland

On Monday, May 13, Maryland House Bill 924 was signed into law, carving out an exemption in existing state law such that RCIS professionals can continue assisting in the performance of fluoroscopy procedures in Maryland cath labs.

This bill was the end result of a collaborative work group convened by the Maryland Board of Physicians, in which the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals took part, that was tasked with finding a solution to the manpower shortage currently being experienced by Maryland hospitals and cath labs.

The bill made significant inroads to ensuring multidisciplinary teams can deliver high quality care in Maryland cath labs, by vesting supervising physicians with the power to delegate duties to qualified RNs, RTs or RCIS professionals during the performance of procedures involving fluoroscopy. Previous interpretations of Maryland state law had prohibited RCIS professionals from assisting in procedures for which they'd been educated and trained.

ACVP Fights for Team-based Care Around the U.S.

The legislative sessions of many States, those without year-round sessions, have now closed or are approaching adjournment in June. You can find the status of all state legislatures, here. During this period, ACVP closely monitored or was directly involved in legislation in Minnesota and Maryland, and regulatory rule-making in New Hampshire, all resulting in advocacy wins on behalf of team-based care.

In Minnesota, bills HF 819 and SF 966 were amended to create a similar exemption for RCIS credentialed professionals assisting in x-ray machine operation. In New Hampshire, ACVP was involved in rule-making which ultimately protected the scope of practice of the RCIS.

You can find more information about our advocacy involvement and legislation we are tracking on our pending legislation page. We also invite you to use the form on that page to make us aware of any legislation or rule-making in your State which may affect any cardiovascular professionals.

ACVP thanks all of its members for continuing to support our efforts to ensure that multidisciplinary teams are allowed to deliver the highest quality cardiovascular care in all U.S. states. Our members' hard work and commitment to patients and fellow professionals is truly inspiring and greatly appreciated.

If you're not an ACVP member, consider joining the Alliance, today, to support our ongoing efforts on behalf of all cardiovascular professionals' right to work. The Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals is the only professional organization catering specifically to and supporting non-physician professionals in cardiac care.

Join the Alliance »

California Regulations to Relax on Fluoroscopy

In February, the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals updated members regarding progress made to remove a regulatory burden preventing provision of team-based care in California cardiac cath labs during procedures involving fluoroscopy.

In October, 2015, the Radiologic Technology Certification Committee in California unanimously passed a motion allowing an individual under the direct and immediate supervision of the S&O to use an assistant in the real time movement of the patient under fluoroscopy... (A Step Forward for CVTs in California, ACVP Advocacy)

On April 13th, 2016, the Radiologic Technology Certification Committee (RTCC) of California met with an agenda item to clarify this motion. The amended motion reads:

Continue reading California Regulations to Relax on Fluoroscopy

Cath Lab Team Building @ RMH

In part one of our profile of Sentara Rockingham Memorial Hospital's cardiac team, we discussed how team members stepped up to to continue activating STEMI from the field and reduce the rate of false calls by educating local EMS. In this post, we'll look at Sentara RMH as an example of excellent cath lab team building from a management perspective.

How do you go about cath lab team building? You could start by getting the team out of the lab, as cardiac operations manager Linwood Williams argues.

Continue reading Cath Lab Team Building @ RMH

Interprofessional Cardiovascular Education – Essential Characteristic #4

Is your team a learning community? Try interprofessional cardiovascular education.

interprofessional cardiovascular education

We're still counting our five essential characteristics for highly effective cardiac care teams. Number four? Interprofessional cardiovascular education.

ACVP Blog recently discussed the ACC's Health Policy Statement advocating for team-based care.

In that statement, the authors also detailed the importance of interprofessional cardiovascular education in facilitating team-based care and communication, another one of our essential characteristics for highly effective cardiovascular teams.

Continue reading Interprofessional Cardiovascular Education – Essential Characteristic #4