The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) submitted a letter to the Veterans Administration (VA) in response to the agency’s National Standards of Practice listening sessions. The VA intends to “create national standards of practice for health care occupations, which will allow the VA to utilize widely accepted best practices across the VA system irrespective of state requirements or restrictions.”
The College warned of possible dangers with potential scope of practice expansion of non-physician providers (NPP) in the proposed standards and urges the VA to maintain a physician-led approach. ACR believes patients are best served when medical imaging is provided only under a physician's supervision and when radiologist physicians interpret medical imaging studies. After the listening sessions, the VA will post their proposed national standards of practice on the federal register for a comment period.
If you have any questions about ACR’s advocacy efforts regarding scope of practice, contact Dillon Harp, ACR Senior State Government Relations Specialist.