The American College of Radiology and its constituents have affirmed their support for a key nonphysician member of the imaging team.
ACR Council members recently voted to endorse the role of the registered radiologist assistant—a master’s degree level allied health professional operating solely in the specialty. The college has advocated against expanding scope of practice for physician assistants and nurse practitioners, but it is emphasizing the importance of these professionals.
“The [registered radiologist assistant] supports the goals for optimal access to radiology services for all patients and for alleviating increasing workloads,” the American College of Radiology said in an April 18 news update.
ACR said it also supports member practices who use assistants “to their education, clinical training and certification.” It emphasized the importance of RRAs meeting all certification requirements and standards of ethics, developed in concert with the American Society of Radiologic Technologists and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.
The college has worked with the latter to determine proper scope of practice and required competencies for registered radiologist assistants. A representative radiologist from the ACR has attended all American Registry of Radiologic Technologists committee meetings related to RRA practice as part of this process, according to the news update.
To become a radiologist assistant, individuals will need to have worked with radiologists since starting their training as a radiographer. Clinical RRA education typically is completed under the preceptorship of a member of the specialty, ACR noted.
The issue of RRA practice has previously divided some members of the specialty. In 2021, Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Penn., introduced the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act, which would grant Medicare coverage for radiology assistants’ services in all healthcare settings. ACR remained neutral on the bill (which never passed), with some radiologists arguing it should have advocated against the bill.
The college was a founding organization that created the RRA profession in 2003 to address increasing patient demand and radiologists shortages at the time, council members noted in an April 26 blog post.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.