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Not Enough Sleep Techs? AASM Thinks So
BRPT President Janice East Open Letter to BRPT Credential Holders Dated today, January 19, 2011:
To my fellow BRPT credential holders:
We have been notified that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has decided to develop a certification exam for sleep technologists, and I believe that decision will concern you as much as it concerns me. AASM has been very clear: a primary goal is to produce a test that will be easier to pass.
The RPSGT credential earned from the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) is not only a confirmation of hard work and commitment to our profession. The RPSGT exam, accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), represents the gold standard in our profession and supports and sustains the professional standing we enjoy with state and federal regulators, under reimbursement guidelines for Medicare and Medicaid, and within the broader allied health community. More than 17,000 sleep technologists have earned the RPSGT credential since the RPSGT exam was introduced 32 years ago.
We have been working closely over the past three years with AASM to address AASM’s concern that too few technologists are passing the RPSGT exam, resulting in an unmet demand for new certified technologists. In fact, we invested over $100,000 to launch the Certified Polysomnographic Technician (CPSGT) exam last year in response to a direct request from the AASM leadership. The CPSGT exam was developed in close collaboration with representatives of both AASM and the American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST) and was positioned as the first step in a tiered credentialing program for sleep professionals leading to the RPSGT credential.
On December 17, 2010 -- barely nine months after the CPSGT exam was introduced -- we received a letter from the American Board of Sleep Medicine (ABSM) informing us that the AASM Board had voted to develop its own certification exam for sleep technologists to be administered through the ABSM . The letter reiterated the AASM concern that the RPSGT passing score is set too high. The letter went on to make two disturbing claims that reflect poorly on RPSGTs, noting that “sleep physicians who are medical directors of sleep centers have expressed concern that certification by the BRPT does not ensure professional readiness” and that “the BRPT examination does not test the basic knowledge necessary to perform sleep studies.” We have asked specifically for data to support these assertions.
I am reaching out to you today because we fear the development of a new certification exam for sleep technologists, developed under the direction of a physician-led organization and with a stated goal of producing a high pass rate, will lead to two very different levels of professional credentialing in sleep technology. That development will be viewed by other medical and allied health professionals and state and federal regulators as reducing the high standards that have helped advance our profession.
I want to know your feelings about the development of a new certification exam for sleep technologists. I am asking you to reach out to BRPT with your thoughts. This link (embed link) will take you directly to the BRPT credential holders message board on www.brpt.org. Click on this link (embed link) to review the letter forwarded to BRPT by the ABSM and to read the BRPT response. I urge you to join this conversation and be heard on this critical issue.
Sincerely,
Janice East, RPSGT, R. EEG T.
President
Views: 1472
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by straw berri on
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"Why in the world would you negate all the people who are already credentialed and why would you make an opening for Respiratory Therapy to come back again and say see we know what we are doing and there is all this infighting in the field let us handle it."
I agree with you Amy!!! I really do dread the coming months :(
Amy said:Okay I know i am joining this late but my lab is busy and patients always come first. Why do I think the AASM is doing this. To prove they are in control and because they need a test that more closely follows the A-Step program they designed. My techs have taken the A-Step and to be honest they will tell you that it does not respresent the test well. However if the test more closely resembles the program then they wioll be able to keep control of a field that is being attacked on all sides.
Remember this is coming out after the competitive bid came out and Medicare basically said that Sleep is not a specialty. What better way to prove that they are still relevent and a specialty then to say look we control the eduction and testing of everyone in the field.
I personally thing that it is a strange move on their part to do this. Why in the world would you negate all the people who are already credentialed and why would you make an opening for Respiratory Therapy to come back again and say see we know what we are doing and there is all this infighting in the field let us handle it.
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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on
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The way I see it sleep has no clear leadership right now. The BRPT is run by an outside managing company. I will say that I do like how Janice has handled everything that was left to her. The AASM is run by the bigwig docs. From what I have seen both are only in it for the revenue.
I have also been noticing the varias sleep boards throughout the country at state and national levels. These boards are made up of a wide variety of sleep and patient representitives. The majority of the sleep ambassadores on these boards represent the managment or lab end of sleep.(Straw Berri is an exception) This means that most of the decisions made for sleep at this moment at any level come from a revenue standpoint. This is bad!
Now at the state level we can vote these administrators out. Without state licensure this board would be powerless though. We have no control over the board for the BRPT, AST, or the AASM. I have talked to many over the last couple of days and no one even understands how the BRPT board members are picked. This is supposed to be our governing body.
Now in a time of emergency the BRPT wants our help.
Many years ago the BRPT made a promise to many of our 20+ year techs. This promise was a lifetime credential for those that met the requirements. They then went back on their word. For this reason many techs will not support them. I don't agree with the lifetime credential as it would not have been fair to all. I do however understand the trust issues and lack of support. The BRPT also just told us in a national meeting that we would be doing more work for less money. They talked of running 3 patients and working longer hours. This proved to many of us newer techs that they were not representing us or the any of you.
From binary
http://www.binarysleep.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=9026&postdays...
"This has to be corrected .
No, he certainly is not alone! We all are united in wanting better from our licensing administrators.
We do not want and easy test- we want a fair test
We do not want quick fixes and broken promises- we want well thought out plans that will work this year, next year, and in the future. We want folks that are committed to standing by their word and standing by us.
We do not want "revenue first " thinking, we want "ME AND YOU" thinking.
We,- Rock, myself, and several others, want representation and a voice in these decisions.
We do not want to be called upon only for emergencies like this or when our annual fees are due.
We wnat to be a part of the solution, not a pawn piece in a big scheme, not the frayed rope in a corporate tug of war!"
Labman2I strongly agree with the Irishmen.
Rock
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Permalink Reply by randy townsend on
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Good luck to the BRPT.
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Randy,
I agree that sleep lacks leadership. That leadership is supposed to come from the BRPT, AASM, and the AAST. I can't say much about the AAST as I have very limited experience with them. They did solicit me for a $100 membership fee not long after I received my registry. The BRPT has also only contacted me to solicit money. I highly doubt that the AASM knows that myself or any other tech exist.
You say that the BRPT represents me. How? Short of the check I sent them and the congratulatory letter I have had no contact from them. I have no say in who gets elected. Not one board member represents the working class tech. To my knowledge they have never supported state licensure in any state. In the so called "leadership" meeting they made it clear to amny of us that they represented the revenue or management side of sleep.No one from the BRPT came to help me with my resume, or even negotiate my compensation. To my knowledge the none of the above mentioned acronyms have done anything to even ensure pay or benefits in this industry. Other than pay an outside management company to do their job what exactly does the BRPT do? $450 a test is alot of money Randy.
What have they done for me or my peers? Please tell me. The response letter from the BRPT to the AASM made it very clear who they have been working for during the last year. It was not me or you.
Please give me a reason to support them.
randy townsend said:Good luck to the BRPT.
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Permalink Reply by Rooster on
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I will not take time to carefully read what has been posted in this thread and will leave my opinion unformed. However, on the surface it looks like some competition for BRPT. And is competition not a good thing for the consumer?
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Perhaps this is another sign of socialized medicine. I'm originally from Canada and if you like waiting the health care there is great. My mother smashed her knee in October, and the first available appointment with a Orthopedic Surgeon is August 12th. Lots of Tylenol and pain until then.
When I started Respiratory Therapy, my on the job training (they call it clinicals) I didn't get paid. When I started in Polysomnography, I was paid while I trained. Perhaps the AASM wants free labor! They'll call it clinicals.
Doctors should stick with doctoring, and left Professionals deal with business and management.
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Rooster,
How is watering down the education better for the consumer?
Rooster said:I will not take time to carefully read what has been posted in this thread and will leave my opinion unformed. However, on the surface it looks like some competition for BRPT. And is competition not a good thing for the consumer?
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Rock Hinkle said:Rooster,
How is watering down the education better for the consumer?
Rooster said:I will not take time to carefully read what has been posted in this thread and will leave my opinion unformed. However, on the surface it looks like some competition for BRPT. And is competition not a good thing for the consumer?You only need some basic education to do the job of a sleep tech. Get the patient hooked up to the devices properly. Make sure the equipment is working and recording properly. Turn the pressure up until respiratory disturbances are under control. Have a decent bedside manner that helps put the patient at ease.
Someone else is going to read the reports, interpret them, and write the prescription.
For a sleep tech I would look for someone who is reliable, consistent, has the personality to perform a boring job, likes working with patients, will show up for work every night, and will not cause problems when not fully occupied; and someone who does not imagine he is an important doctor. The personality and motivation of the sleep tech is most important along with some basic training in the equipment use and bedside manner.
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Permalink Reply by D. W. Conn on
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I would have to say that as a managing Director I had problems with some ill equipped RPSGTs.
Techs that could not discern slow wave sleep from REM. Too many of the recent credentialed Techs had to study and test on issues that really do not come into play in their roles as a Sleep Tech.
Looking at a few of the questions from an exam 2 years back there were questions regarding archival of studies. Most of us realize that archival processes can and do differ from program to program. Too many of the questions are written by what has become the uneducated-Narcissistic self named Gurus. The RPSGT needs to reflect the acquisition and scoring of polysomnograms end of story.
You would be hard pressed to find a tech these days that could explain Time Constance, notch filters etc.
That being said I do not feel that the AASM has the patient’s best interest in mind. Instead of fixing an issue the AASM wants to negate the current credential. As my granddaughter would say “that’s not nice”.
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It's funny to hear someone that claims to have gotten subpar treatment talk of a need for basic knowledge. It seems to me that you would want more out of your sleep tech.
I also do not believe that you know much about who is actually reading and interpreting your study. Unless you are reading more into the canned MD report then I am.
Rooster said:
Rock Hinkle said:Rooster,
How is watering down the education better for the consumer?
Rooster said:I will not take time to carefully read what has been posted in this thread and will leave my opinion unformed. However, on the surface it looks like some competition for BRPT. And is competition not a good thing for the consumer?You only need some basic education to do the job of a sleep tech. Get the patient hooked up to the devices properly. Make sure the equipment is working and recording properly. Turn the pressure up until respiratory disturbances are under control. Have a decent bedside manner that helps put the patient at ease.
Someone else is going to read the reports, interpret them, and write the prescription.
For a sleep tech I would look for someone who is reliable, consistent, has the personality to perform a boring job, likes working with patients, will show up for work every night, and will not cause problems when not fully occupied; and someone who does not imagine he is an important doctor. The personality and motivation of the sleep tech is most important along with some basic training in the equipment use and bedside manner.
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Dr. Conn I agree that the test definitely could be better. I don't agree with lowering the standards so that we have a less respected credential. As a sleep lab manager, I have been amazed to interview RPSGTs who just don't know enough. There was a very similar situation with the nerve conduction technologist credential. I dont know all the details but like the RPSGT the RNCST exam is administered by a technologist board. The AANEM, a physician board, just created a competing credential. Although I cannot speak to content of the exam, it is a very good sign to me that the elibility requirements for the physician administered exam are higher than for the tech administered one. That would seem to indicate that the physicians are making the standards higher so that techs are more prepared for the exam. What concerns me with the AASM is that I believe the physicians want to create a test almost anyone can pass. That just gives us more techs that arent good enough. This is also a way to create a workforce of lower skilled employees thereby lowering pay across the board. I believe this is primarily about money.
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Permalink Reply by Banyon on
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D. W. Conn said, "The RPSGT needs to reflect the acquisition and scoring of polysomnograms end of story."
That is so true for sleep techs. "Get the patient hooked up properly to the equipment. Make sure the data is being recorded and archived. Then let the doctors do the medical practice." An intensitive certification process is not needed for this.
The certification should be easy then the medical practice should select candidates based on personality and motivation to do this particular job. Then they need some training in standard operating procedures of the lab they go to work for.
The sleep labs hiring these certified individuals need to realize that the certifications do not correlate well with competency in the sleep lab. Personality and motivation factors now have to be evaluated before hiring and then reevaluated on the job.
This is true in all licensed and certified professions - lawyers, doctors, certified six sigma, APICS. The performance level of people holding these licenses and certifications ranges from excellent all the way down to totally incompetent quack.
If you run a sleep lab don't depend on anyone's certification to bring you a dependable competent employee.
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