Update on Status of New Mexico Medical Imaging Law

As SVU reported in the May e-Spectrum online newsletter, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson on April 6, 2009 signed into law the “Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety Act,” which will require licensure of all sonographers / technologists, and MRI technologists, in New Mexico.

The responsibility for administering the new NM medical imaging law rests with the New Mexico Environment Dept., which currently manages the radiologic technology licensure program.

The Sonography Licensure Coalition (SLC), of which SVU is a charter member, has learned about the following steps being taken by the NM Environment Department on the implementation of the new medical imaging law:

• They are “informally” soliciting resumes for the Advisory Council and hope to make recommendations soon to Governor Richardson for appointments to the Advisory Council.
• They hope to have the Governor’s appointments by the end of year.
• They are starting to “look at” drafting regulations (aka rules, administrative rules, etc.) ­ primarily mirroring/extending existing RT regulations.
• They are planning a meeting to discuss regulations (probably in Las Cruces) ­ the SLC will be invited to participate.

A public hearing with the Environmental Board will be held to hear comments on the proposed regulations (it takes about 6 months to get on the agenda).

• There have been conversations with and concerns raised by some rural NM hospitals about:
• Implementation period (it has been suggested that there be a 7 year implementation period) [the SLC suggested 4 years just like CARE bill and proposed Oregon bill]
• Creation of limited sonography exams and licenses, similar to limited x-ray technicians who are trained/licensed to do only specific exams [the SLC expressed many concerns about this approach…but at this point, this was just conversation with no specific proposals]
• Recognized exams ­ initially they mentioned ARRT, ARDMS and CCI.

They do not plan to require licensure by specialty. Basically, if you have a national certification in sonography, you would get a NM license after paying a $100 license fee for a two-year license. They would rely on hospitals/facilities to decide whether someone is qualified to perform a particular type of exam. This also relates to concerns expressed by the rural hospitals about enough qualified sonographers in the rural areas of NM, only two training programs in the state.

SVU will continue to report on additional rule-making activities in New Mexico regarding the “Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety Act” as they are identified.