Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 007 - ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Division 14 - Radiation Control and Emergency Management › Rule 007.14.20-001 - Rules Pertaining to Radiologic Technology Licensure

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
SECTION I.
AUTHORITY
These Rules pertaining to Radiologic Technology Licensure are
				duly adopted and promulgated by the Arkansas State Board of Health pursuant to
				the authority expressly conferred by the Laws of the State of Arkansas
				including, without limitation, Act 1071 of 1999, as amended, (Ark. Code Ann.
				17-106-101
				-111) and Act 96 of 1913 (Ark. Code Ann.
				20-7-101
				et seq).
SECTION II.
PURPOSE
These Rules are adopted for the purpose of regulating and
				licensing persons administering ionizing radiation to human beings to help keep
				the radiation dose to patients as low as reasonably
				achievable.
SECTION III.
DEFINITIONS
A. 'Act' means Act
			 1071 of 1999, as amended (Ark. Code Ann. §
									17-106-111
			 );
B. 'ACRRT' means the American
			 Chiropractic Registry of Radiologic Technologists;
C. 'Administering Ionizing Radiation' means
			 the application of a prescribed dose of ionizing radiation to the human body
			 for the purposes of diagnosis or treatment. Several factors determine the dose
			 received by the patient and these include, but are not limited to: the
			 positioning of the patient in a radiation field, the exposure to or
			 introduction of ionizing radiation, and the final image production. Each of
			 these factors are prime determinates in the total dose received by the
			 patient;
D. 'Advanced practice
			 nursing' means the delivery of health care services for compensation by
			 professional nurses who have gained additional knowledge and skills through
			 successful completion of an organized program of nursing education that
			 certifies nurses for advanced practice roles as advanced nurse practitioners,
			 certified nurse anesthetists, certified nurse midwives, and clinical nurse
			 specialists.
E. 'ARRT' means the
			 American Registry of Radiologic Technologists;
F. 'ASCP' means the American Society of
			 Clinical Pathologists;
G. 'Board'
			 means the Arkansas State Board of Health;
H. 'Category' means a specific area of
			 radiologic sciences, for which there is an identified license and licensing
			 requirements;
I. 'CCI', means
			 Cardiovascular Credentialing International;
J. 'Committee' means the Medical Ionizing
			 Radiation Licensure Committee;
K.
			 'Consumer' means a person who is a resident of the state of Arkansas and who is
			 not a Licensed Practitioner or Radiologic Technologist or Licensed Technologist
			 or Limited Licensed Technologist under the Act;
L. 'Continuing Education Hour' means a period
			 of instruction at least fifty to sixty minutes in length;
M. 'Contrast Media' means material
			 intentionally administered to the human body to better define a part or parts
			 radiographically;
N. 'Department'
			 means the Arkansas Department of Health;
O. 'Direct Supervision of Students' means
			 responsibility for, and control of, radiation safety, protection, and technical
			 aspects of the application of ionizing radiation to human beings for diagnostic
			 or therapeutic purposes, with the parameters that are outlined by educational
			 accreditation agencies that are recognized by the Board;
P. 'Fluoroscopy' means a radiological
			 examination that uses a fluorescent screen or image intensifier on which the
			 internal structure of the human body may be continuously viewed by transmission
			 of x-rays through the body;
Q.
			 'Formal Education' means education obtained through an approved United States
			 Department of Education Institution;
R. 'Formal Examination' means an examination
			 or evaluation specific to a profession which tests the knowledge base in all
			 three domains of learning: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor;
S. 'Ionizing Radiation' means gamma rays,
			 x-rays, alpha and beta particles, high speed electrons, protons, neutrons, and
			 other nuclear particles;
T.
			 'JRCERT' means the Joint Review Committee for Education in Radiologic
			 Technology;
U. 'Lapsed Licensee'
			 means a licensee who has let his/her Licensed Technologist
License or Limited Licensed Technologist License, Radiologic
				Technologist License, Radiation Therapy Technologist License, or Nuclear
				Medicine Technologist License expire for more than five years;
V. 'License' means a certificate
			 issued by the Committee authorizing the licensee to use radioactive materials
			 or medical equipment emitting or detecting ionizing radiation for human
			 diagnostic or therapeutic purposes in accordance with these rules
W. 'Licensed Practitioner' means a person
			 licensed to practice medicine, dentistry, podiatric medicine,
			 chiropractic
,
osteopathy or optometry in this state;
X. 'Licensed Radiologic Technologist' means a
			 person who holds a national registry with the ARRT, ACRRT, NMTCB, and/or ASCP,
			 and who is licensed in the State of Arkansas;
Y. 'Licensed Technologist' means a person
			 other than a Licensed Practitioner, who is grandfathered under the Act and can
			 perform specific radiologic procedures and exams identified by a specific
			 license and who administers radioactive substances or uses medical equipment
			 emitting or detecting ionizing radiation for human diagnostic or therapeutic
			 purposes while under the supervision of a Licensed Practitioner;
Z. 'Limited License' means an authorization
			 to perform radiologic procedures under the supervision of a Licensed
			 Practitioner and are limited to specific parts of the human body, specific
			 procedures, or both, specifically of the chest and skeletal structures
			 excluding fluoroscopy and contrast studies;
AA. 'Limited Licensed Technologist' means a
			 person, other than a Licensed Practitioner, Radiologic Technologist, or
			 Licensed Technologist, while under the supervision of a Licensed Practitioner
			 and operates medical equipment emitting ionizing radiation for diagnostic
			 purposes on human beings that are limited to specific body parts, and who has
			 successfully passed a limited scope examination deemed appropriate by the
			 Board;
BB. 'Medical Dosimetrist'
			 means a person who is certified or eligible for certification by the Medical
			 Dosimetry Certification Board;
CC.
			 'NMTCB' means Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board;
DD. 'Nuclear Medicine Technologist' means a
			 person, other than a Licensed Practitioner, who performs therapeutic, in vivo,
			 imaging, procedures, prepares radiopharmaceuticals, and administers diagnostic
			 doses of radiopharmaceuticals to human beings while under supervision of a
			 Licensed Practitioner who is licensed as required to possess and use
			 radioactive materials;
EE. 'PET/CT
			 License' means an authorization to perform radiologic procedures under the
			 supervision of a Licensed Practitioner that is limited to radiologic procedures
			 performed for PET/CT procedures;
FF. 'PET/CT Technologist' means a person
			 other than a Licensed Practitioner, who has specific qualifications, education,
			 certification and responsibilities as recognized by the Committee;
GG. 'Radiation Health/Medical Physicist'
			 means a person who is certified or eligible for certification in radiologic
			 physics by the American Board of Radiology, the American Board of
			 Health/Medical Physics or the American Board of Science in Nuclear
			 Medicine;
HH. 'Radiation
			 Practitioner' means a Licensed Practitioner that has completed a residency in
			 radiology, nuclear medicine, or radiation oncology, and is certified by the
			 American Board of Radiology, the American Osteopathic Board of Radiology, the
			 American Board of Nuclear Medicine, or its equivalent;
II. 'Radiation Therapist' means a person,
			 other than a Licensed Practitioner or Nuclear Medicine Technologist, who
			 applies radiation to humans for therapeutic purposes under the supervision of a
			 Licensed Practitioner;
JJ.
			 'Radiographer' means a person other than a Licensed Practitioner, who uses
			 medical equipment emitting ionizing radiation for human diagnostic purposes
			 under the supervision of a Licensed Practitioner and holds a national
			 certification obtained through education and examination, licensed under the
			 Act;
KK. 'Radiography' means the
			 practice of the theory and technical aspects of the use of x-rays which are
			 used in the diagnosis and treatment of disease;
LL. 'Radiologic Technologist' means a person
			 other than a Licensed Practitioner, who is identified by category and who
			 administers radioactive substances or uses medical equipment emitting or
			 detecting ionizing radiation for human diagnostic or therapeutic purposes under
			 the supervision of a Licensed Practitioner, and holds a national certification
			 obtained through education and examination, licensed under the Act;
MM. 'Radiologic Technology' is the science of
			 using a radioactive substance or medical equipment emitting or detecting
			 ionizing radiation of humans for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes;
NN. 'Radiologic Technology Student' means an
			 individual currently enrolled in and attending a school of radiologic
			 technology, radiation therapy, or nuclear medicine with recognized educational
			 accreditation who uses radioactive material on or applies ionizing radiation to
			 a human being while under the supervision of a Licensed Practitioner or a
			 Licensed Radiologic Technologist;
OO. 'RCIS' means Registered Cardiovascular
			 Invasive Specialist;
PP. 'RCIS
			 License' means an authorization to perform radiologic procedures under the
			 supervision of a Licensed Practitioner that are limited to fluoroscopic
			 radiologic procedures performed for cardiovascular interventional
			 procedures;
QQ. 'RCIS Technologist'
			 means a person other than a Licensed Practitioner, Radiologic Technologist, or
			 Licensed Technologist, while under the supervision of a Licensed Practitioner
			 and operates medical equipment emitting ionizing radiation for fluoroscopic
			 cardiovascular interventional radiologic purposes on human beings that are
			 limited to specific body parts and only for cardiovascular interventional
			 procedures, who has successfully completed educational requirements and passed
			 an examination deemed appropriate by the Committee;
RR. 'Reciprocity' means the Board may accept
			 an applicant's current certificate, registration, or license issued by another
			 state, provided that it is substantially similar and meets the requirements of
			 Section VIII of these Rules;
SS.
			 'Retired' means a license holder who notifies the Department in writing that
			 the individual will cease the practice of Radiologic Technology;
TT. 'Scaled Score' means a score that is
			 consistent from exam to exam despite differences in difficulty that may be
			 present among the exams. A scaled score takes into account any differences in
			 exam difficulty. A scaled score represents the same level of performance for
			 all exams.
UU. 'Skeletal
			 Structures' means extremities, skull, sinuses, spine, ankle, and foot of the
			 human body;
VV. 'Suspended
			 licensee' means a license holder who after sixty days of expiration date,
			 failed to pay the renewal fee and/or provide documentation of six hours of
			 continuing education credits;
WW.
			 'Temporary License' means a certificate issued by the Board, authorizing the
			 applicant to use radioactive materials or medical equipment emitting or
			 detecting ionizing radiation for human diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, when
			 licensure or relicensure is pending before the Board and when the issuance may
			 be justified by special circumstances as determined by the Board.
SECTION IV.
GENERAL
				REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS
A. No person, other than a Licensed
			 Practitioner, Radiologic Technologist, Licensed Technologist, or Limited
			 Licensed Technologist shall use radioactive materials or medical equipment
			 emitting or detecting ionizing radiation on human beings for diagnostic or
			 therapeutic purposes.
B. A person
			 holding a license under the Act or these rules shall use medical equipment
			 emitting or detecting ionizing radiation on a human being only by prescription
			 of a Licensed Practitioner or an advanced practice nurse.
C. No person shall knowingly or negligently
			 employ a person to apply ionizing radiation or administer radiopharmaceuticals
			 to a human being or otherwise engage in the practice of radiologic technology
			 unless the person possesses a valid license issued under the provisions of the
			 Act or these rules within that specific category.
D. A person shall not apply ionizing
			 radiation or administer radiopharmaceuticals to a human being or otherwise
			 engage in the practice of radiologic technology unless the person possesses a
			 valid license issued under the Act or these rules.
E. Eligibility for retired status requires
			 that the individual sign an agreement not to engage to any extent whatsoever in
			 actual patient contact in the provision of: radiologic technology, management
			 of radiologic technology, education of persons involved or seeking to become
			 involved in radiologic technology, in commercial sales, services, or
			 applications with respect to any aspect of radiologic technology or items,
			 services, or devices used in that technology.
F. Based on identified specific educational
			 requirements and/or examinations, the Board may recognize emerging modalities
			 in radiological sciences and procedures.