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Sleep legislation in DC. State licensure for sleep techs July 20, 2009
Dear Colleagues:
With the increase in public awareness relating to sleep disorders, the demand for qualified sleep personnel has increased significantly. To date, there are more than 14,000 Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (RPSGT) worldwide. At the 2008 National SLEEP Conference in June, it was noted that 19 state sleep societies have been developed as a key step in promoting the profession of Sleep Medicine.
Recently, the Washington D.C. City Council introduced legislation that, if enacted, will define and regulate the practice of polysomnography in the District of Columbia. Under this legislation, the D.C. City Council will place the responsibility for regulating our profession under the Board of Respiratory Care. This could ultimately restrict the application of CPAP and Bi-level devices to Certified Respiratory Therapists or Registered Respiratory Therapists.
A public hearing regarding the D.C. bill has been scheduled by the Health Committee of the District of Columbia City Council on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.
The introduction of this legislation has prompted the need to initiate the development of a Washington, D.C. Sleep Society. The purpose of the society would be to provide Polysomnographic Technologists and Sleep Specialists with a unified, clear, and strong voice for our patients and our profession. The Society would promote the highest level of clinical standards as set forth by the AASM, and act as an advocate society for patients and the Sleep Profession.
A D.C. Sleep Society Organizational Formation Meeting Conference Call will be held on Monday, October 6th at 11:00 a.m. during National Sleep Technologist Appreciation Week. We encourage all Sleep Professionals that are interested to join in on the call. We greatly desire your support and input in the formation of this society.
If you plan to join the call please e-mail Nick Cekosh at ncekosh@aasmnet.org to receive an agenda, the call-in number & pass code for the teleconference.
Sincerely,
Tim Ruse, M.Ed, RPSGT
Monique L. Williams, RPSGT
Incidentally,
The DC bill as it currently reads allows anyone who has completed a CAAHEP Respiratory, EEG, or Sleep program to apply for local licensure as a "Polysomnographic Technologist", as well as anyone who has passed the BRPT exam. While I think regulation is good, this is obviously concerning.
The primary source of worry here is that the power of oversight is given to the local respiratory care board as opposed to the DC board of medicine. That is not the right path for us. The current bill does not say anything about who can titrate CPAP, etc. but obviously we all have seen the kind of precedents that have been set in other states when respiratory care boards have taken over sleep.
A video of the hearing was posted online.
http://www.oct.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel13/february20...
If anyone takes the time to watch it, dont watch the whole thing, just skip aheads to the parts talking about sleep at the following times:
38:10-45:50-DCSS panel
52:50-56:15-DC-RCB statement
1:10:05-1:12:35-Response by the city council chair.
The bill passed a Committee of the Whole meeting last week. The bill will go through two Council readings before being signed into law by the Mayor, which could be as early as April. I'm attaching the committee report which has all of the testimonies by MDs, RTs, RPSGTs, ETCs. Kind of interesting reading. Looking at this as a whole, the RTs made a pretty crappy case. Anyhow, if you're going through the legislative process in your state, study up on this.
Our Bill passed its congressional hearing period and will become law on July 20th!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuI2oa5Stk
With the increase in public awareness relating to sleep disorders, the demand for qualified sleep personnel has increased significantly. To date, there are more than 14,000 Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (RPSGT) worldwide. At the 2008 National SLEEP Conference in June, it was noted that 19 state sleep societies have been developed as a key step in promoting the profession of Sleep Medicine.
Recently, the Washington D.C. City Council introduced legislation that, if enacted, will define and regulate the practice of polysomnography in the District of Columbia. Under this legislation, the D.C. City Council will place the responsibility for regulating our profession under the Board of Respiratory Care. This could ultimately restrict the application of CPAP and Bi-level devices to Certified Respiratory Therapists or Registered Respiratory Therapists.
A public hearing regarding the D.C. bill has been scheduled by the Health Committee of the District of Columbia City Council on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.
The introduction of this legislation has prompted the need to initiate the development of a Washington, D.C. Sleep Society. The purpose of the society would be to provide Polysomnographic Technologists and Sleep Specialists with a unified, clear, and strong voice for our patients and our profession. The Society would promote the highest level of clinical standards as set forth by the AASM, and act as an advocate society for patients and the Sleep Profession.
A D.C. Sleep Society Organizational Formation Meeting Conference Call will be held on Monday, October 6th at 11:00 a.m. during National Sleep Technologist Appreciation Week. We encourage all Sleep Professionals that are interested to join in on the call. We greatly desire your support and input in the formation of this society.
If you plan to join the call please e-mail Nick Cekosh at ncekosh@aasmnet.org to receive an agenda, the call-in number & pass code for the teleconference.
Sincerely,
Tim Ruse, M.Ed, RPSGT
Monique L. Williams, RPSGT
Incidentally,
The DC bill as it currently reads allows anyone who has completed a CAAHEP Respiratory, EEG, or Sleep program to apply for local licensure as a "Polysomnographic Technologist", as well as anyone who has passed the BRPT exam. While I think regulation is good, this is obviously concerning.
The primary source of worry here is that the power of oversight is given to the local respiratory care board as opposed to the DC board of medicine. That is not the right path for us. The current bill does not say anything about who can titrate CPAP, etc. but obviously we all have seen the kind of precedents that have been set in other states when respiratory care boards have taken over sleep.
A video of the hearing was posted online.
http://www.oct.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel13/february20...
If anyone takes the time to watch it, dont watch the whole thing, just skip aheads to the parts talking about sleep at the following times:
38:10-45:50-DCSS panel
52:50-56:15-DC-RCB statement
1:10:05-1:12:35-Response by the city council chair.
The bill passed a Committee of the Whole meeting last week. The bill will go through two Council readings before being signed into law by the Mayor, which could be as early as April. I'm attaching the committee report which has all of the testimonies by MDs, RTs, RPSGTs, ETCs. Kind of interesting reading. Looking at this as a whole, the RTs made a pretty crappy case. Anyhow, if you're going through the legislative process in your state, study up on this.
Our Bill passed its congressional hearing period and will become law on July 20th!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuI2oa5Stk
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