State radiological society earns $20,000 grant to help fight ‘harmful’ scope-of-practice bills

The Oklahoma State Radiological Society has earned a $20,000 grant to help it fight efforts to expand nonphysicians’ abilities to operate autonomously.

The American College of Radiology Association announced the news on Friday, with the money coming from its Scope of Practice fund established in 2021.

“It’s tied to the handful of scope-of-practice bills in Oklahoma and the grant is intended for OSRS to advocate against harmful nonphysician scope-of-practice legislation,” Dillon Harp, ACR’s senior state government relations specialist, told Radiology Business Friday.

Senators in the Sooner State recently proposed SB 458, which would allow experienced advanced-practice registered nurses to apply for the authority to prescribe and order exams without doc supervision. ACR recently highlighted this measure in a March 17 news update, and detailed multiple other in-the-works Oklahoma bills here.

The association first launched the fund two years ago with an initial pot of $225,000 available to state radiological societies. Initial winners announced in December 2021 included Kansas, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“Nonphysician provider societies, specifically for advanced practice RNs and physician assistants, have ramped up their fight to increase their members’ [scope of practice] and gain independent practice—particularly at the state level,” according to the webpage for the grant program, which also has details on how to apply. “State and national agencies have encouraged use of these physician extenders—especially during the COVID-19 public health emergency. This must be countered.”