Joe Dwan, MS Ed, RRT-NPS-SDS, PACT Chair
Tony Garberg RRT, co-chair & OSRC President
Tim Hutchison, BA, RRT, HOD
Cathy Melero, BSRT RRT, Past President
Renee Angstrom RRT, Central Regional Director
Special Thanks to Cheryl West
Conflict of Interest
 Kettering National Seminars
 Sleep Exam Review seminar
Drivers of PSG Licensure
Patient Safety
 Protecting the Public
Quality of Care
Drivers of PSG Licensure
 Violation of RT Licensure Act
 Patient was violated in sleep lab
 Healthcare community driven
 Sleep or RT initiated
Legislative Options
Sleep techs Licensed under
 Separate Sleep Licensing Board
 General Licensing Board (eg Board of Health, BME)
 Sleep & RT combined into one Board
 Registration
Problems
 Legislative barriers
 Opposition
 Ntl Sleep organizations BPRT & AASM
 Sleep Techs & RTs
 Politicians opposing regulation on business
 MD Sleep Lab Owners
 Independent labs poorly staffed with
unqualified/minimally qualified PSG staff
 Fly-by-Night labs
Joe’s Irish Pub and Sleep Lab
Sleep it Off here…
AASM Opposition
 Promoting Physician owned sleep labs
 Registered Sleep Technician exam by AASM
 Registered Sleep Tech (RST)
 Expect them to fly a rep to your state to attend
meetings
 Expect them to bring local AASM physicians to attend
all meetings
 Public Comments
Board of Registered
Polysomnographic Technologists
(BPRT)
 Turf issues
 Initial distrust of RT community & RT motivation
 BPRT will support PSG licensure, in theory
Your State Sleep tech
Organization(s)
 Initial distrust of RT community
 No Turf war
 Develop trust through communication and inclusion
Hot Issues
 Mechanical ventilation
 ABGs by sleep techs
 drawing and running ABGs
 BiPAP with rates
 CEUs
 Match RTs CEU number/year
 Rural Sleep services
 Formal Sleep training: are schools available
 Will your state RT programs offer PSG certification
programs
 On-line accredited programs
Hotter Issues
Physician owned
vs hospital sleep labs
vs private company
 Money & Business of $leep
 Labor costs
 Recruitment costs
 Impact on profits
 Will increased costs close labs?
RT Exemption to PSG License
 Licensed RTs working in sleep should NOT have to
obtain a second PSG license
 Licensed RTs should be able to supervise sleep labs,
sleep techs and sleep tech students without a PSG
license (CRT-SDS or RRT-SDS in Oregon)
 Write the RT exemption with specifics into your
state law!
Rural Sleep Opposition
 Pts won’t drive great distances to PSG labs
 Recruitment
 Wages
 OJTs training to become RPSGT or SDS
 MDs, RNs, RTs, HCWs do not have exemptions for less
qualified practitioners in Rural areas
Licensure Act & Admin Rules
Think like a Lawyer
 Definitions
 Every Word, Every Line
 Scope of Practice
 RT Exemption: dual licensure
 Supervision of sleep techs/students
 Allow RT supervisors
 Remote supervision
Licensure Act & Admin Rules
Think like a Lawyer
 Credentials: RPSGT, SDS, CPSGT, RST
 Pathways
 Grandfathering
 Temporary license
Licensure Act & Admin Rules
Think like a Lawyer
 Site of Service
 Cost of Licensure
 CEUs
 Medical Direction
 MDs, DOs, PA/NPs, Dentists
Devil in the Details:
Administrative Rules
 Be at the table!
 Have a knowledgeable resource attend
 Respond to every “Comment Period”
 Show of Force
 Act like a Lawyer
 Every Public Comment Period
PSG Licensure Coming
 Licensed PSG: NM, ND, ID, DC, LA, NJ, MD, OR, TN,
VA, DL
 Registration: CA, GA, NC
 Drafted Language: KY, CN, CA
 Not If, but When
will PSG licensure come to your state
[email protected]