Legislative Update

July 20, 2017

Hello fellow imaging professionals,

I wanted to share some wonderful news with you. As you probably remember, ARRT has financially sponsored our lobbyist, Mike Grote of Columbia Missouri for the last two legislative sessions. He has been instrumental in furthering our initiative of state licensure for anyone in Missouri who utilizes ionizing radiation. Our goal is to provide all Missouri patients with educationally prepared and clinically competent individuals performing all Radiology procedures. We absolutely need to have minimal educational standards in place to ensure radiation and patient safety for everyone.

I am thrilled to share ARRT will again sponsor Mike for another legislative session. Mike and I will again begin negotiations with our opposition in hopes of presenting a bill to our Senate sponsor. Once the legislative session begins in January 2018, I will ask each of you to renew your advocacy efforts for Missouri patients.

I will keep you all informed as we continue this drive. Look for updates on mosrt.org as we continue on this vital march. I look forward to joining with each of you as we continue this vital march toward quality Radiology care for everyone in Missouri.

Thank you,

Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) ARRT
MoSRT Legislative Activities Chair

Legislative Update

June 13, 2017

Hello fellow imaging professionals,

I want to provide a quick update regarding our legislative issues. As you know, the legislative session ended last month. We had a Senate and two-House bills. The Senate bill received a unanimous vote to get it out of committee. Once voted out of committee, the bill did not move any further.

The House bills did not move out of committee during this session.

Now, you may be as disappointed as I am, however we made a tremendous amount of progress this year. We are again very appreciative of Representative Galen Higdon, who has been our
faithful sponsor for several years. We also picked up another House sponsor in Representative
Kathy Swan. She was able to present our bill during a very late night at the capitol. We are
extremely grateful for both sponsors.

Our Senate sponsor, Senator Jeannie Riddle, was absolutely fabulous!! She took the additional
time to understand the bill and presented it to the committee in a knowledgeable manner. I
believe she will be our sponsor for the next legislative session, which begins in January 2018.

Our lobbyist, Mike Grote, was of great help again for this session. He is wonderful to work with
and I hope he will continue to be my ‘partner in crime’. As you probably remember, ARRT has
sponsored Mike for the last two legislative sessions. I have asked them to continue their
sponsorship and will let you know of their decision as soon as I know.

Work will begin this summer with a meeting with our opposition. Mike is trying to arrange that
and it will be held at the capitol. Senator Riddle wants all groups to come together to work on
acceptable language. I am looking forward to working with these groups so we can present a bill
to Senator Riddle.

As always, look for additional news as changes are occurring, I will pass that along to you. As I
mentioned, even though the end is not the way I had hoped, we will continue to fight for medical
imaging professionals who are educationally prepared and clinically competent to care for
Missouri patients. It is my honor to continue with this goal, it is the right thing to do for our
patients.

Sincerely,
Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) ARRT
Legislative Activities Chair
Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologists (MoSRT)

May 18, 2017

A Message from the President 

Hello all, and thank you for the honor of choosing me to serve as your president and chairman of the board of the MoSRT for the next year to come. We have just finished a very successful “landmark” 85th Annual MoSRT Conference! Carla Allen, our new President-elect and newly awarded MoSRT Life Member, has done another spectacular job pulling it all together and ensuring everything ran smoothly. I’d like to extend a huge “thank you” and “congratulations” to you Carla. And one more to Janet Akers-Montgomery, this year’s MoSRT Award of Excellence recipient, who wears so many hats for this organization it is hard to count them … but they are all cute and they match. Janet has single-handedly taken on finding us ways to comply with the new tracking requirements for “Evidence of Continuing Education” (ECE) recently updated by the ASRT. This is no easy feat yet she continues to improve and fine-tune this process each year. Janet exemplifies, in my mind, true volunteerism and dedication. Our next annual MoSRT Conference will be held again at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia, MO on April 4th-6th, 2018 and I hope to see you all there.

I want to thank all of you on the board for serving as such great mentors to me on this journey. My District 1 “sisters” Diane Hutton and MJ Lewis Thompson are like a family to me, and I would not be here without their continued kindness and support. Together MJ, Diane and myself have had the pleasure of serving as the Executive Committee of this body for the past year, but it was my involvement at the district level that really drew me back into this organization, and showed me a path to get to where I am today. I am so proud of what we have been able to achieve on a local level in our area and hope to continue bringing some of that experience, knowledge and success back to the entire state. I urge us all, as technologists, to continue this type of mentoring, for anyone who is passionate about our shared professions and wants to be, or stay, involved with the MoSRT; or who simply wants to be an advocate for our profession. As many of you know, I am fascinated with personalities and lecture on them quite often. I would often describe myself as a peacemaker, one usually able to see all sides and points of view effortlessly and able to mediate conflicts between individuals by finding a common thread to build on. One of the most important lessons I have learned in just the past few years is that being peaceful and being a peacemaker are two completely different things. To truly “making peace” is not accomplished by avoiding conflicts or being peaceful and complacent. With this, or any other organization that I lead, total transparency is what I strive to provide. We can no longer rest on our laurels, chalking things up to “that’s how we have always done things” if we expect this organization to continue to flourish as it has done in the past. Hard questions have to be asked and processes in place should constantly be analyzed and evaluated so that we can maximize success and continue to thrive. We also have a new generation of technologists entering the workforce, and what engages them and draws them into involvement with their professional society is our next big bridge to cross. The groundwork laid by board members in this state over the past 40-50-85 years has been extraordinary, and without that hard work and dedication we would never be where we are today; we really do have so much to be proud of. 

This is definitely an exciting time in the field of medical imaging. With our profession’s movement into the digital age, we are increasingly seeing the need for our society to move in that direction as well. As many of you know, our long seated Executive Treasurer, Donita Shipman, resigned this past year. Her years of service and dedication to this organization are truly remarkable and unforgettable. Just as we all thought we might be lost for sure; our very own Janet Akers-Montgomery, a MoSRT past-president and long time board member, has graciously moved into that role and is doing a fabulous job filling some very big shoes. 

And for our great nation as a whole, this has been a very fascinating past few years (and months.) As our own culture becomes increasingly diverse, it pleases me to see that our own board continues to blossom with diversity as well. Our immediate past-president, MJ Lewis Thompson, was this organization’s first Female African American President and chairman of the board. Janet and myself are both happen to be newly-weds this past year, something I think both of us may have thought, at one point or another, might never be possible in our lifetimes. My (now) husband Mason was here with me at conference for the first time last year, and was also a speaker for our MoSRT District 1/Kansas Society of Radiologic Technologists joint conference this past fall giving a lecture on Lesbian, Gay and Transgender Patient Experience. The warmth and support that has been shown to me, Mason, and the two of us as a couple was, and continues to be, amazing and will never be forgotten. We as technologists serve an ever increasingly diverse population of patients, technologists or students (depending on the area of medical imaging we work in) and it lifts my spirits to know that our professional societies, local, state, and national all embrace and value diversity. 

Thank you again for this opportunity to serve and I am looking forward to the year to come. 

Best Regards, 

Dustin Ward R.T.(R)(CT)(MR), (ARRT) 

MoSRT President 

March 10, 2017

News-Press Now out of St. Joseph, Missouri wrote an article about our Legislative efforts in Jefferson City.  Click the button below to read the article!  Do you have an article that was published in your area that you'd like to share with us?  If so, e-mail our Legislative Chairperson the link or a copy of the article and she'll see that it gets published on our site as well as our Facebook page.

The article can be found HERE.

February 21, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Diane Hutton, Legislative Activities Chair
816-261-8987
Diane.Hutton@mosrt.org
 
Proposed Bill Aims to Ensure Safer Radiologic Practices in Missouri
 
Missouri Representative Introduces Bill to Require All Radiologic Imaging be Carried Out by Licensed Technologists
 
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (February 21, 2017) – Several new bills recently introduced in Jefferson City would help to regulate medical imaging in Missouri. Representative Galen Higdon of St. Joseph, Mo. introduced HB 601. Another house bill was recently introduced by Representative Kathy Swan, HB 789. The purpose of the bills are to require proper training and education for those who operate equipment for imaging procedures like X-rays and CT scans. Currently, anyone can administer these procedures which can result in the patient receiving unnecessary doses of radiation. These bills would help to minimize the risk of cancer that can occur because of overexposure to radiation. In addition to these house bills is a companion Senate bill, SB 407 introduced by Senator Jeanie Riddle.
 
As the Missouri House of Representatives prepares to come together to vote on a variety of proposed bills affecting the state, these bills stand out from the rest. While 44 states require proper licensure for radiologic technologists, Missouri does not. The need for legislation on this matter should be taken seriously as it is in the best interest of Missouri residents.
 
“People don’t understand the complexities involved in taking radiologic images,” said Carla Allen, Conference coordinator for the Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologists. “Each procedure has to be completely customized for each patient to absolutely minimize the risks. When you manage the equipment, you alone are responsible for the dose of radiation that the patient receives. These bills will help to ensure that Missouri patients receive care from educated and competent individuals.”
 
While there is currently no licensure required for individuals administering radiologic imaging in Missouri, there are degree programs for radiologic technologists across the state. The fact remains that some people performing medical imaging of Missouri citizens have never been properly taught how to do so.
 
The Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologists is working to ensure that all patients who need radiology imaging studies in Missouri are assured of quality images by trained professionals. This idea fits within the mission of the Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologists which states that patient safety is their foremost goal.  
 
“I sponsored this idea because I truly believe it will enhance the lives of Missouri residents,” said Higdon. “Everyone deserves to feel safe especially in a medical setting. I hope that the people of Missouri let their officials know that they are serious about getting this bill passed.”
 
The bill will be voted on during the 2017 legislative session. Missouri residents can contact their representatives to ensure that their interests are represented when this bill is voted on.
 
For more information, visit www.mosrt.net or contact Diane Hutton via telephone at 816-261-8987 or via email at Diane.Hutton@mosrt.org.
 
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ABOUT MISSOURI SOCIETY OF RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGISTS: The Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologists work to ensure all radiologic practices within the state of Missouri are as safe as possible. They act in the interest of the public by advocating for mandatory certification for anyone handling radiation equipment. The goal of the society is to create a culture of educationally prepared and clinically competent radiologic technologists. 

R.T. in JC - Follow-up

February 10, 2017

Diane Hutton BA RT(R) ARRT
Legislative Activities Chair
MoSRT
February 9, 2017

Medical imaging professionals and students,

I want to express my sincere appreciation to each of you. We had an extremely successful RT in JC event on Wednesday February 8, 2017 with 102 Radiographers, educators, and students attending our event. That is our largest attendance ever and I believe it shows our dedication to securing state licensure in Missouri. It was an honor to be able to host this event, we made quite an impression on the legislators. 

We were able to contact most Representatives and Senators at the Capitol. Most of the legisltors were very receptive and volunteered their assistance as the bill continues to travel through the Capitol. It was a very successful event.

Mike Grote and I collected names from constituents who visited with their legislators and will follow up with each of them.

We have two bills in the House, HB 601 and HB 789. Posted today is Senate bill SB 407. We are not finished! We have laid the groundwork by having our advocacy day this week to have that personal conversation with your legislator but this will take more than one time! Please continue to stay in touch with your legislator; ask him/her for support of the bill, ask them where the bill is, be a resource for them if they have technical questions. 

Thank you, we will continue the fight. I will keep in touch, please let me know if you have any questions, D.

Diane.hutton@mosrt.org

Send those photos from R.T. in JC to webmaster@mosrt.org and we'll create an album for the website!

Legislative Update - R.T. in JC Registration

January 14, 2017

Diane Hutton BA RT(R) ARRT
MoSRT Senior Board Member
Legislative Activities Chair
January 13, 2017

My fellow MoSRT members,

GOOD NEWS!!!!

We have opened up registration for R.T. in JC!   Click HERE

Representative Higdon has introduced our next push toward state licensure. HB 601 has been filed; please begin your campaign to contact your legislators to ask for their support and or sponsorship of this bill. Mike Grote, our lobbyist and myself will begin shopping the bill around to all legislators in Jefferson City.

The fundamental ideas that we as professionals have had for many years; those of ALARA, radiation safety, proper positioning skills and the need to provide quality Radiology studies for our patients are not enforced throughout the state government. We are one of only four states who do not have any type of oversight. Anyone in Missouri can walk in today for a job in our rural areas, get hired on as a receptionist and also be shown how to take an x-ray. Yes, it is as simple as that. Our legislators find that hard to believe but we know all too well, it is the truth.

Our state advocacy day is quickly approaching. I invite you to come to the capitol and personally speak with your legislator. I will tell you, the theme of having another ‘state license’ is not appealing to our legislators. Legislators feel we have way too many already and this is true. But we need to stress to our legislators that this is about public safety and having educationally prepared and clinically competent individuals performing medical imaging. Stress to your legislators that the amount of radiation our patients receive is totally dependent on the amount of education the operator possesses. 

RT in JC will be February 8, 2017 in HR 2 @ 0900, we will begin our day with a lecture that will provide you with some needed information. I will have the usual talking points and other literature which will help you with your visits. Look for a survey monkey registration form to be emailed soon. Make sure you know your representative and senator before you get to the capitol. Make your appointment prior to our day, tell your legislator of your visit, your purpose of coming, and schedule a tentative time that they want you to come by. Remember, even if you make a specific appointment time, your legislator could get pulled away by a committee. Be sure to tell them you are their constituent, as you probably remember that word carries a lot of weight in their minds. 

Everyone jump on board for this next campaign. We have done the prior footwork, now it is time for you to join in this march for patient safety within Missouri. I look forward to continuing so we can complete this mission. Please feel free to email me with any questions or suggestions. 

Thank you, D.

Legislative Update

October 11, 2016

Missouri Technologists,

I am writing to update you on the next steps that the Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologist is taking regarding our legislative efforts.  We will again be presenting a bill for consideration for the 2017 legislative session in Jefferson City. 

ARRT, ASRT, Mike Grote, our lobbyists and I began work several months ago designing the next bill's language. We have invited several interested medical organizations to provide their suggestions and feedback for the bill. We are currently conducting weekly calls to refine the bill.

Okay, so what? What can you do to help in this endeavor? We ask that you participate by contacting your legislators, pure and simple. In order to assure our Missouri population of safe medical imaging studies; we need to show them we have educationally prepared and clinically competent individuals to perform their medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures. This assurance comes from state licensure. 

I invite you to contact your legislators; however, these contacts should not end after one phone call or a single visit to your legislator. Contact your legislators on a regular basis. An email is the easiest method of contact but it may not be the most effective. Consider a phone call to the office or a personal visit. Make yourself available to your legislator by becoming familiar with our issues and be able to speak to it. Look for our next RT in JC advocacy event, which is planned for February 8, 2017 in Hearing Room (HR) 2 at the state capital. This is a great opportunity to have time to speak with your legislators and ask if they have questions. Remember, they work for us! For you! Present information they need, be available to answer questions, leave behind information they can refer to if needed. Ask them what concerns, if any, they have regarding the bill. Ask them to co-sponsor the bill.

Follow up with your legislator to make sure they are in favor of the bill and will vote for it. First and foremost, express to your legislators that patient safety is our primary mission. We need to assure quality medical imaging studies within our state. Ask them who they want taking their families imaging studies; an untrained person or someone who has had training. Even in the rural areas, which has been a concern in the past, we will have a limited x-ray machine operators (LXMO) certification that will provide training for these individuals in the rural settings or in physicians’ offices.  This assurance, should it come up, is why you need to be familiar with the bill and the intent of the bill. Patient safety and public safety is at the center of the bill and should be important to all of us. Inform them that the radiation they or their family is exposed to is totally dependent on the training of the individual running the equipment. The equipment is certainly high tech but the person using the equipment is in charge and must know what they are doing. 

Make sure to watch our state affiliate website, mosrt.org and the ASRT website at asrt.org for continued updates. As our next mission begins, I challenge each of you to be prepared and ready to address our issues with your legislators. As always, should you have questions, please feel free to email me at diane.hutton@mosrt.org. It will be my pleasure to address your questions to your satisfaction. I look forward to this next step in assuring our patients of quality Radiology procedures in Missouri.

Join me, it is the right thing to do for the profession we love, D.

Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) 
Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologist
Legislative Activities Chair
MoSRT District 1 President

Now Accepting Student Intern Applications 2017 Student Intern

September 2, 2016

Our Student Intern page has been updated with the guidelines and link to submit your application for the 2107 MoSRT Student Intern.  Click HERE to check it out!

President's Welcome

August 23, 2016

Dear MoSRT members,

It is my honor and pleasure to serve as the President to the members of the Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologists, MoSRT, thank you for selecting me.  This is an exciting time for the MoSRT. As you may have heard, we will be celebrating our 85 th annual conference; which is a Jubilee year- Sapphires and Silver! It’s hard to believe that we have been active for such a long time! Wow! That says a lot about Missouri…

I am so excited about our conference it is going to be fabulous. We have such an amazing Program Chair – Kristi Littleton and Conference Coordinator Carla Allen. These ladies will not let us down they have been planning an exciting conference for the members. The theme will be: “Treasured Past Unlimited Future” Our conference will be held in Columbia, Missouri at the Holiday Inn Executive Center.

I want to extend and send out well wishes to two of our members: Norman Hente and Martin Henson. Norman is our Radiographer Chair and Martin is our Photographer & Historian. Please keep them in your prayers; they are a huge part of this organization and its history.

Now, if you are reading this message, you are viewing our newly updated Radiographer Newsletter, which has been designed by Jessica Dines – Radiographer Co- Chair. The Radiographer is designed to keep you the members up-to- date on the business at hand: current legislative issues from our LAC Chair Diane Hutton, student events and activities from our Student Intern Chair Casey Feigly and Student Activities Chair Janet Akers and meeting information, etc. Please check out our wonderful web page and site which has been designed by Joe Oller – Webmaster. Joe keeps the site up to date with great information and opportunities – such as Student Bowl, Student Scholarship, Student Essays and Exhibits, Technologist Essays and Exhibits, Registration, Membership and much more.

Let me take this time to welcome and introduce to you the new board officers members elected at the business meeting held during the annual meeting last April in Columbia, MO.

• President Elect - Dustin Ward                       
• Vice President – Casey Feigly                 
• Secretary – Rebecca Doss                  
• Treasurer – Donita Shipman
• 1st District Rep – Kelley McDonald
• 4th District Rep – Barb Hente
• 5th District Rep – Stacy Soden

I also look forward to sharing the upcoming year with an outstanding group of board and committee members. They all come to the organization with a wealth of knowledge and insight. I have been actively involved with our society since 2009 on the local and state levels. I began as a volunteer and Judge for the Student Bowl, Student Bowl Chair, District 1 Rep, Vice President, and now President in 2016.

I’d also like to bring your attention to upcoming events and opportunities for involvement:

• Our 85 th annual meeting will return to Columbia, MO in 2017
• RT in JC in February/March 2017 – Missouri Licensure Support
• Our Theme for next year’s conference is “Treasured Past Unlimited Future”
• Call for speakers!! Please let me know if you are interested in speaking at our next meeting.

As we move into another great year for imaging specialists, I would also like to outline some goals for our organization:

• Determination to build our membership and volunteers – remember “membership is the life’s blood of an organization!”
• Increase student involvement in the organization through the student leadership development program and student activities - remember the students are our future for the organization
• Have a driving force to achieve Missouri Licensure – we are educationally trained and competent
• Building up our committees and the mentoring process in the society organization – sharing knowledge and working together
• Continue to provide excellent meetings for our members through the state and Districts – networking

I would like to thank all our members who continue to support our state society. I am very excited about the direction that Missouri Imaging Specialists will continue to take in the future. 

Warm Regards,

Marilyn “Mj” Lewis Thompson, MBA RT (R) (M)
MoSRT President and Chairman

Legislative Update

August 23. 2016

Hello fellow Missouri technologists and students,

I want to provide to you an update on Missouri legislative issues and our march toward state licensure.

MoSRT is ready to begin our constituent march again in Jefferson City. We have had an offer from Representative Galon Higdon to sponsor the next bill. My usual partners in crime include ARRT, ASRT, the MoSRT board, Mike Grote our lobbyist, and myself are in conversations and are actively reviewing our last bill. Representative Higdon has said he will pre file the bill again in December 2016.

https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2016

I have included a website link above that I have found helpful and interesting for you to review. I will keep each of our members up to date as we continue to move forward in our goal of educational prepared and clinically competent individuals who provide medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures in Missouri.

Keep in touch with your state affiliate website, mosrt.org for more information. Please continue to share our goals with your colleagues and your medical contacts. Let me know if you should have any questions, email me at diane.hutton@mosrt.org. I look forward to hearing from you, D.

Diane Hutton BA RT(R)
Legislative Activities Chair
Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologist

Legislative Updates

July 15, 2016

Hello fellow Missouri technologist and students,

I wanted to provide to you an update of what is going on in Missouri and in Washington DC legislatively. I hope that you were responsive to ASRT call for action regarding the VA proposal of NP wanting to “Order, perform, supervise, and interpret laboratory and imaging studies". 

Nurse practitioners are gathering legislative momentum to continue their drive into our world. It is up to us to make sure we take the few minutes required to provide a comment in support of ASRT opposition to this invasion.

"The proposal would divide advanced-level nurses into four categories: certified nurse practitioner (CNP), certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), clinical nurse specialist (CNS), and certified nurse-midwife (CNM). Individuals in each category could perform certain procedures previously reserved for physicians."

You can submit comments to the Federal Register HERE.  If you have not already commented, please do so soon as the comment period is coming to an end soon.

Now onto MARCA. Yes, we are still actively engaged with Congress to provide CMS reimbursement for our mid-level professionals, our RA/RPA. I am pleased to announce that Missouri Representative Billy Long (R-MO7) has agreed to co-sponsor the MARCA bill. He is joined within the last day by Missouri Representative Sam Graves (R-MO6). Continue to contact your representatives and senators and ask them to co-sponsor this vital bill to our profession. 

Now on the state level, our Missouri lobbyist and myself are actively working with ASRT and ARRT on our next proposed bill. I will be making a trip to Jefferson City soon to begin conversations with our legislator’s legislative assistants (LA). As you know, the legislative session is adjourned but we want to make sure we hit the ground running in January. 

I am optimistic again this upcoming session. MoSRT and I will continue to work, along with my partners in crime mentioned above, until we get this thing done! It is the right thing to do for our Missouri patients. I will encourage you to sign up for your legislator’s electronic emails. Find out when they will be back in district and attend any meetings held around your home town. Talk to their representative at this meeting about our desire for state licensure. Many times, you do not actually get to speak with your legislator, make sure the LA or other induvial from the office knows your ‘ask’. Ask them to take your concerns back to your person in office; you are their constituent and they will listen to you.

Please let me know if you have any questions for me, you are always welcome to email me at diane.hutton@mosrt.org. I look forward to hearing from you, D

Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) ARRT
MoSRT Senior Board Member
Legislative Activities Chair
MoSRT District 1 President 

VA's Proposal To Let Advanced Practice Nurses Perform Medical Imaging Duties

June 7, 2016

I want to share this important information with our members. Please review this information from ASRT and then take action. We have to let our legislators know that we are strongly against this proposal. Please follow the link provided and contact your legislators now. Thank you for your assistance in supporting your profession, D.

Diane Hutton, Senior Board Member and LAC chair.

Topic: Submit Your Comments To Oppose the VA's Proposal To Let Advanced Practice Nurses Perform Medical Imaging Duties

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has introduced a proposal that would allow nurses to, "Order, perform, supervise, and interpret laboratory and imaging studies." The ASRT strongly opposes this measure as only registered radiologic technologists should perform procedures that use ionizing radiation. Certified nurse practitioners do not have the education, experience or skills required to perform highly technical procedures like x-ray, computed tomography, nuclear medicine, vascular-interventional or bone densitometry. This proposal is a threat to patients and registered radiologic technologists.

We encourage all radiologic technologists to join in our effort to oppose this shortsighted proposal. Please submit your comments to the federal government and let them know that you strongly oppose the VA’s efforts to bypass patient safety measures by allowing non qualified certified nursing professionals to perform medical imaging procedures. You can submit comments to the Federal Register at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/05/25/2016-12338/advanced-practice-registered-nurses#h-4.  

MoSRT District 1 and KSRT Education Symposium

June 4, 2016

MoSRT district 1 will again join forces with the Kansas society (KSRT) to present our next conference. Our fall two day education symposium is being planned for September 2016. 

Continue to check out the mosrt.org and theksrad.org websites as we continue to finalize details. Feel free to email diane.hutton@mosrt.org or Toni Caldwell mmcaldwell@aol.com with questions. 

It is our privilege to present these educational opportunities. Look for more details to come soon.

Thank you, Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) ARRT

A Quick Thank You From Past-President Diane Hutton

April 11, 2016

Hello Missouri technologists and students,

My year of functioning as your president has ended! I cannot believe it; the time has gone so quickly. So I wanted to take a few minutes to let you know what has happened in this past year.

First, I want to thank each of you for allowing me the honor of being your president. I have thoroughly enjoyed working as president of our affiliate.

I feel we have been able to improve several things during this past year. Some improvements we have made include our mentoring process, we have been able to streamline some internal processes, and our legislative efforts have been expanded. As I am sure you all know, we are going for state licensure in Missouri. For the first time, we have a House bill plus a companion bill in the Senate. Each bill has had a hearing and we are waiting for the next step; either the bills will have a vote on it and move forward or the bills will die in committee. We are keeping in touch with each bill sponsor. We have a lobbyist who is active in the capital daily. 

I think my biggest achievement and the one I am proudest of is my drive toward increasing advocacy awareness for all Missouri technologists and students. I feel we need to make sure we are teaching the next generation of technologist how to be advocates; this is just as important as proper positioning and radiation safety.

I look forward to continuing my dedication to the MoSRT and all of you. Even if we do not get our bills passed during this current legislative session, rest assured that I (we) will not stop in our push toward state licensure and quality Radiology procedures performed on Missouri patients.  They deserve nothing but the best; we desire to give nothing but the best to our patients.

Come along, bring your game face and let’s get this done. Thank you again for your continued support of the MoSRT.

Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) ARRT
Senior Board Member
LAC Chair
Diane.hutton@mosrt.org

Update from recent hearing: Missouri House of Representatives - Committee on Professional Licensure

March 15, 2016

I want to update the membership about the recent hearing for HB 2613. As you probably know, HB 2613 was heard in committee on March 15, 2016. 

First, what an outstanding group of professionals I have the privilege of working with. Thank you each of every one of you. Not only from my colleagues at MoSRT but ASRT and ARRT continues to be a valuable resource. Your support is priceless. 

The committee heard the bill and although I wonder if we had a quorum, we proceeded. Most of the committee members had good questions, which I felt we answered well. The same issues came forward as before:

1. Limit the profession
2. Cost of the procedures increasing
3. Access for rural healthcare
4. Some wanted specific exemptions to the bill
5. RN and LPN exemptions
6. Having a board within a board (Bill calls for oversee by the Board of Healing Arts; then having a board established after bill passed)

Had one group testify against the bill with several testified for informational purposed. The Committee was very open with some great questions, as I mentioned.

Next steps: I want to make sure each of you continues to contact your Representatives to ask for their support. Ask about the process of the bill, where it is at right now. What next steps are, etc.  Remember, we cannot only contact them once. They are very busy with many bills on their plate.

As always, make sure to check the mosrt.org website often for updates. I will be doing an extensive update at conference, so make sure you attend. Bring any questions you might have.  Which reminds me; conference is April 6-8, 2016 back in Columbia. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

Thank you, 

Diane Hutton, BA, R.T.(R)
President/MoSRT Legislative Activities Chair
Gower, Missouri
Diane.hutton@mosrt.org

Announcement of Senate Bill 1114

March 4, 2016

I wanted to share with you another bit of great news! Senator Wallingford has introduced SB 1114 which is a companion bill for HB 2613. We now have bills on both sides; something we have not had before. The bill has been referred to the Financial and Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee.

SB 1114 Licenses persons performing radiologic imaging or administering radiation therapy and establishes the Missouri Radiologic Imaging and Radiation Therapy Board of Examiners

Make sure to keep track of these bills as we hopefully get closer to a hearing on these. Start contacting your legislators to ask of the progress and have the LA update you on its progress.  You can keep track of the status of our House and Senate bill by clicking HERE and searching them out respectively (HB 2613 and SB 1114).

Keep an eye on the website, I will post updates here as needed. Make sure when you contact your legislator, you do that by phone. Or if you can catch your legislator in district, make the effort to go see them to tell them of the importance of this bill getting through this session.

Anxiously waiting for action, 

Diane Hutton, BA, R.T.(R)
President/MoSRT Legislative Activities Chair
Gower, Missouri
Diane.hutton@mosrt.org

Federal Bill HR 4614

March 2, 2016

Fellow MoSRT members and technologist, ASRT has shared some fantastic news with us. Rep Olson and others have introduced a new MARCA bill. You will probably remember this is a federal bill which will allow the RA to perform procedures and will provide Medicare coverage of these services. This is a fantastic advancement for our profession. 

There is a call to action for each of us to notify our federal legislators and ask for their support of this bill. This will advance our profession and is something we all need to get behind. 

I have included some brief information below, please check out your myasrt website to gather more information and also to see some pre-formed emails that you can customize and send to your legislators. 

Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Reps. Pete Olson (R-TX), Mike Doyle (D-PA), Dave Reichert (R-WA), and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) introducedH.R. 4614, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act of 2016. This bipartisan legislation would allow for Medicare coverage of qualified radiology assistant (RA) services.

ASRT has updated the Advocacy Action Center website with the latest information about HR 4614, letters to contact your congressman and talking points about the bill.  We will be sending out an email to the membership letting them know that this tool is available later this week. You can access this information at http://cqrcengage.com/asrt/RA

Please let me know if you have any questions, thank you.

Diane Hutton, BA, R.T.(R)
President/MoSRT Legislative Activities Chair
Gower, Missouri
Diane.hutton@mosrt.org

Legislative Update

February 27, 2016

MoSRT members, 

I am wanting to share some wonderful progress in our march toward state licensure. On Tuesday of this past week, HB 1604 is no longer. I have been telling you for a while that ASRT, ARRT, our lobbyist Michael Grote and I have been working on rewording the bill. I am pleased to announce that HB 2613 is here! (Click HERE to see the current status of the bill).

This bill is a much fuller bill with definitions and additional information which the legislation has requested. Mike and I are actively engaged in finding a senate sponsor and have a few possibilities in line. There is still the consistent thought in Jefferson City that we have too many licenses in Missouri already. However, I continue to stress this is all about keeping Missouri patients safe while they are having medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures. That needs to be our common theme.

Look for a 'call to action' soon as we continue to engage House and Senate members. I am thrilled with this next step and ask for your continued support moving forward.

Respectfully, 

Diane Hutton, BA, R.T.(R)
President/MoSRT Legislative Activities Chair
Gower, Missouri
Diane.hutton@mosrt.org

Conference Registration has begun!

February 3, 2016

Click CONFERENCE 2016 in the navigation bar above!

LAC Update

January 31, 2016

MoSRT Needs Your Support

Dear radiologic technologist professional,

We need your help! It’s time to take action! 

House Bill 1604 has been introduced into Missouri’s 98th General Assembly and there is no better time for the radiology community to contact their state representatives. Your state representative and state senator need to hear from you, as their constituent, asking them to enact HB 1604. We need to show our Missouri legislators that radiologic technologists care about our profession and our patients.

Please tell your legislators that educationally prepared and clinically competent medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals are experts in performing imaging and radiation therapy procedures. Make your request personal; ask them if they want someone who hasn’t received the   education or qualifications that radiologic technologists possess to perform medical procedures on themselves or their families. Radiologic technologist licensure is evidence that the person doing their imaging examination or treatments is educationally prepared and proven clinically competent to perform procedures using the lowest radiation exposure rates and provide optimal patient outcomes.                  

House Bill 1604 requires any person who holds himself or herself out as an advanced radiologic practitioner (radiologist assistant or nuclear medicine advanced associate), radiographer, radiation therapist, nuclear medicine technologist, magnetic resonance technologist or limited x-ray machine operator who performs medical imaging or radiation therapy to be licensed by the State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts within the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration”.

The link to the bill is at http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills161/billpdf/intro/HB1604I.PDF

If you are having difficulty and don’t know where to start, feel free to contact either Diane Hutton or Jason Lee with questions.

Diane Hutton, BA, R.T.(R)
President/MoSRT Legislative Activities Chair
Gower, Missouri
Diane.hutton@mosrt.org

Jason K. Lee, BSRT, R.R.A., RPA, R.T.(R)(CT)
MoSRT Legislative Activities Committee
Springfield, Missouri
JasonKLee_RPA@yahoo.com

LAC Update

January 28, 2016

It is with great pleasure I announce the MoSRT has hired a lobbyist to assist with legislative issues. Our march toward state licensure is so important to the profession that ARRT is fully funding the lobbyist on behalf of Missouri technologist. 

It has been my pleasure to work with ARRT and ASRT over the past several months and it is my honor to make this announcement.

Mike will be joining us on February 9, 2016 for our state advocacy day RT in JC. Please come and welcome Mike and express to him in your own words the importance of providing Missouri patients with educationally prepared and clinically competent individuals acquiring medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures.

Welcome aboard Mike!!

Diane Hutton, BA RT(R) ARRT
MoSRT President
Legislative Activities Chair
MoSRT District 1 President

~~~~~~~~~

New Membership Signup Form

January 28, 2016

In an effort to bring costs down and to make things more efficient behind the scenes, our Membership Chair Donita Shipman, has partnered with Findjoo - an online Membership and Event Tracking Service.  An e-mail will go out later today to all current members explaining the change and how to renew your membership when it is time.  If you are here to sign-up for a new membership, you should find the process relatively quick and painless still.  If you have any questions at all do not hesitate to contact Donita or the Webmaster and we will get back to you ASAP.

R.T. in J.C. Registration has begun!

January 6, 2016

Update 2/4/16 - RT in JC Registration has ended at this time.

A message from the MoSRT President

January 1, 2016

Hello Missouri technologists:

I wanted to update you as to what your state affiliate is doing. Hang on, here we go!

MoSRT has asked our bill sponsor to introduce our next proposed bill, which he did on December 2, 2015. Check it out (CLICK HERE), it is HB 1604. It is similar to previously introduced bills; therefore, we continue to work with our sponsor Representative Galen Higdon to refine the bill. 

It is important to get the bill introduced early prior to the actual beginning of the legislative session in order to give us time to work with our own legislators. Here is what you can do to help this legislative process: educate your legislator, contact your legislator to ask for their support of the bill, and be an advocate for our profession. It seems to me that most of what I do in Jefferson City is to educate the legislators on who we are and what we do.
 
Join us on February 9, 2016 for RT in JC, a printable copy of our Agenda can be found HERE.  It is our advocacy day; what an opportunity to talk face to face with the folks who will vote on our bill. In order to give our members more time to talk with their legislators, we have moved our advocacy day to February. We will focus on those legislators in the Professional Licensure committee, the committee our bill has been assigned to the past several years. But it will be our responsibility to talk with all legislators. You are their constituents and that word carries a lot of weight in Jefferson City. You are the ones who vote for them! Therefore, you can influence them and answer their questions. We need to stress our motivation comes from our desire to present all Missouri patients who require a Radiology procedure with safety. A safe environment, radiation safety, proper positioning by clinically competent and educationally prepared professionals. Legislative issues need not be confusing or intimidating, keep yourself informed and educate others; just as we do our patients every day. Also please do not think this ‘does not concern me’ because it does. It concerns all of us and our profession going forward. Teach students the importance of knowing what is going on in Jefferson City as well as keeping yourself informed.

Our annual conference will be April 6-8, 2016 held in Columbia Missouri. This has been a successful move, saving our members money and being in a central location. Plan on joining us there so mark your calendars now. Check out the society website at mosrt.org often as information will be posted there as plans continue to be finalized.
 

MoSRT is always looking for interested technologists and students who want to get involved. The board is doing a better job of increasing our mentorship of new officers and other interested individuals. Getting involved in your profession is beyond important, it is vital. Begin by attending a board meeting to learn what goes on, increase your involvement by attending a local district meeting, and check out your involvement opportunities with the ASRT. Learning and growing in the profession will give back to you 100 percent! I cannot tell you how much I enjoy learning from others, sharing what little I know, and how I can serve the profession. Take the opportunity to learn and share with others of like interests.

Keep an eye of the website, mosrt.org for continued updates. Please let me know how I can help to serve you by sending me an email at diane.hutton@mosrt.org. I look forward to seeing you all at conference! 

Diane Hutton, BA, RT(R) ARRT
Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologist President
Diane.hutton@mosrt.org

December issue of Radiographer has been released!

December 3, 2015

You can find a link to download a copy of it by clicking RADIOGRAPHER on the link bar above or by clicking HERE.

R.T in J.C. Tentative Agenda has been announced!

December 2, 2015

Join your fellow medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals for an R.T. Day in Jefferson City! Sponsored by the Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologists, Inc., the event will provide you with an opportunity to meet with your state representatives and senators to educate them about the radiologic technology profession and the need for licensure standards for Missouri’s medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals.

R. T. in J.C.
February 9, 2016
Tentative Agenda

0800-0900:         Orientation, coffee and breakfast snacks.
                              MoSRT lecture: “How to talk with your legislators”.
0930-1130:            Legislative visits.
1130-1230:             Lunch on your own.
1230-1500:            Legislative visits.
1500:                     Wrap-up meeting – a recap of the day.

Note: Agenda subject to change

Look for Registration information soon!

LAC/Presidential Update

November 12, 2015

Hello fellow Radiology professionals,

I wanted to provide you with an update. What is going on at the MoSRT? Well, hang on cause here we go!

First: we have a date for our annual RT in JC day. February 9, 2016 will be our day at the capital so get it on your calendars now. Join us for a discussion of legislative issues while we join together in Jefferson City for our day of advocacy. I hope to start the day with a lecture which will help prepare everyone to speak to your legislators. Remember, we are the experts and we need to provide some education for our legislators about what we do. As the constituents, we will have the ear of our legislators. This will be your opportunity to gather together with other professionals, then move out into the capital to speak with your legislator.

Representative Galen Higdon will pre file our next proposed bill on December 1, 2015. I have been in contact with his office while the session has been out. Together with ASRT and the approval of the MoSRT board, we have presented the next bill to him. Keep in contact with the mosrt.org website for more information. When the next session begins after the first of the year, we must be ready to begin this march again. 

The MoSRT board is actively engaged in preparation for the next annual conference April 6-8, 2016 back in Columbia Missouri. Place these dates on your calendar and keep in touch with the website where information will be posted. Know of a good speaker, or are you yourself interested in speaking? Get in touch with Kristi Littleton, program chair at Kristi.littleton@mosrt.org. 

ASRT annual conference will be held in Las Vegas June 23-26, 2016. What a fantastic opportunity to join with fellow professionals from across the country. And who doesn’t want to go to Las Vegas, right? Missouri is usually well represented in many areas; not only our affiliate delegates are sent but there are several Missourians who represent some of our chapters as delegates as well. 

Being an advocate should be a calling for all of us. When I was trying to figure out what to do ‘when I grow up’, I felt I wanted to help people. I knew I did not want to be a nurse or a doctor but when I found out about Radiology, well, it just seemed to fit just right. I feel this is the best way for me to help people. I now feel I can continue to help people by being an advocate for the profession I love. Join me! If not you or I then who? Being an advocate for something I love is easy; however when we stand shoulder to shoulder it becomes easier. Let’s tell others what we do and why we do it as we continue the march to state licensure.

Thank you so much, as always let me know if you have any questions by emailing me at diane.hutton@mosrt.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

Diane Hutton, BA, RT(R)

LAC/Presidential Update

September 26th, 2015 

Hello fellow Radiology professionals. I wanted to give you an update on legislative issues currently going on in Missouri. There are none! Okay, as most of you know, the Missouri House and Senate are in recess. At the summer board meeting in Columbia, an invitation went out to several interested groups to participate in a legislative session. We heard back from many of those groups with input for the language of the next proposed bill.

I have been in conversation with and working closely with ASRT in the development of our next bill. We desire to have inclusive language for our aspects of the profession. Our bill sponsor, Representative Galon Higdon, will introduce the next proposed bill in December when he can prefile the bill.

I also want each of you to begin thinking of our next advocacy day, RT in JC. As you probably know, we already have in place the Radiation Safety Awareness Day, which will be observed March 27, 2016. However, when the board discussed this event, it is our desire to have another advocacy day observed earlier in the year. Our thought is once our next bill is introduced and assigned to committee, we want to be able to visit with our legislators as their constituents on behalf of the bill. Of course, there is no way to know when the bill will be assigned to committee but hopefully by having all Missouri technologist contacting their legislators will help the bill. So make sure you check out the mosrt.org website for updates to this event. Right now, we are thinking sometime in February 2016. I will be visiting Jefferson City the last week of September into early October; even though the legislators are out of session, sometimes you can catch them, so will have more information after that visit.

Remember conference is April 6-8, 2016 back in Columbia Missouri. Check out the website at mosrt.org where information will be posted. Also, see the calendar on the website for district meeting schedules. Even though you are not necessarily a member of each district, feel free to attend where you want. MoSRT offers educational sessions through our state so make sure to check out the website often.

Thank you to all our Radiologic sciences professionals. Know that MoSRT is here for you as a resource and for educational opportunities. Please email our officers with questions, each of us work to serve you.

Respectfully,

Diane Hutton, BA, RT(R)

Diane.hutton@mosrt.org

Student Internship Submission Date Announcement

August 10th, 2015

Due to the need to have our second Student Intern selected for the ASRT by December 19th, Student Intern Chair Casey Scott has asked that the final day for submissions be moved forward to November 9th, 2015.

Once again, the Student Intern Application is now due by November 9th, 2015! 

You can find a link to the application by going to the STUDENT INTERN page (located in the navigation section near the top of the page).  If you have any questions about the application process you may reach Casey via email at student_internship@mosrt.org

LAC Update

August 1st, 2015

Fellow Missouri Technologists:

I wanted to provide each of you with an update on MoSRT legislative efforts. At our last board meeting in August, an invitation was sent out for all interested groups to provide feedback to assist with legislative verbiage while we continue to work on our next bill.

Our bill sponsor, Representative Galen Higdon will sponsor the bill again during the next legislative session and will pre file the bill in December.

Look for a Missouri 'call to action' as the bill begins its march through the House of Representatives; at that time we will need everyone to begin contacting their representatives for their support of the bill. 

So right now, we are working closely with ASRT on the bill language to have it ready to present to Representative Higdon, then discussions will begin at the House level to fine tune the bill for presentation.

Continue to watch the website mosrt.org for news. I will update MoSRT membership through the web site as changes occur.

Thank you all, as always please let me know if you have questions/suggestions by emailing me at  diane.hutton@mosrt.org.

LAC/Presidential update

June 10th, 2015

Good morning Missouri technologist, 

I am hoping everyone enjoyed the MoSRT annual conference this past April in Columbia. As you can probably guess, we are back to the drawing board actively working on next year’s conference. Thank you again for your continued support of your state society.

What is currently on my mind is to provide you with a legislative update. March 31, 2015 was our annual state advocacy day in Jefferson City we call RT in JC. This day happened to coincide with the day our state licensure bill, HB 109 was scheduled to be heard in the Professional Licensure committee. We had approximately 55 technologists and students attend our state advocacy day and had that many attend the hearing. It was a wonderful experience for everyone, as most of us are not able to see our state government in action. Yes, we all packed into a very small hearing room; I think the committee was very impressed to see such support of the bill.

Unfortunately, the bill did not make it out of committee this session. What does that mean for Missouri technologists? We keep working! MoSRT will invite any interested parties to come to our next MoSRT board meeting July 10-11, 2015 in Columbia Missouri. Open communication is vital to make sure we align the verbiage for the next bill to include everyone in the profession.  The common goal for all interested parties is patient safety. We have to make certain Missouri patients are receiving imaging studies from educationally prepared and clinically competent individuals. We can make sure we accomplish this when we all continue to work together.

Okay, as I gently climb down off that soapbox and climb onto another one; let me invite you to take the opportunity to volunteer. This can be at the state, local district, or our national organizations. Contact any board member should you have questions, as always feel free to contact me! There are so many ways a technologist can get involved in your profession and devote a large amount of time or a limited amount of time. Visit MoSRT website (mosrt.net) for suggestions, look for opportunities in your local districts; also check out ASRT.org to see what volunteer opportunities are there. 

MoSRT will continue to work with our bill sponsor and with ASRT, as well as other organizations, to develop our next bill language. If you should have questions about the next bill, contact me at diane.hutton@mosrt.org. Should you have questions about volunteer opportunities, contact me or any of the board members listed on your state website. 

Thank you, let’s keep this momentum moving forward, D.

Diane Hutton, BA, RT(R)

MoSRT President

May 6th, 2015

MoSRT annual conference attendees:

It has been brought to our attention that many of you are receiving emails from ASRT stating you have submitted documentation for continuing education and that the documentation is incomplete.

ASRT is requesting the individual credit amounts awarded for each lecture title instead of just the total credit amounts attended during conference. We are working with ASRT to come to a solution. 

Please bear with us while new certificates are made. We will then forward each of you another email with the corrected documentation.

Thank you for understanding,

Diane Hutton

MoSRT President

LAC Update

APRIL 30, 2015

Hello Missouri technologists, 
I wanted to provide you with an update about our recent RT in JC event March 31. What an exciting day! We had about 55 in attendance for our state advocacy day. And the icing on the cake was our opportunity to have you all present for the hearing of HB 109. We packed the hearing room! What a great learning time for everyone who was able to be there. We had around 6-7 people (I lost count) testify either for or against the bill. We also had two individuals provide informational testimony.
I was thrilled to have so many of you in Jefferson City to see how the process works. Although I have not had any updates, I believe the bill is still in committee; meaning it has not made it out of committee to the floor. Our senate companion bill, SB 472 is also in committee and has not moved. 
Moving forward, should neither bill move from committee, plans are already underway to begin work on the next bills. I will be making a trip back to Jefferson City within the next couple weeks before the end of session May 15. Should the bills stall in committee, Representative Higdon has already stated he will carry the bill again next session. Keep an eye on mosrt.org for opportunities to attend an open forum meeting where we will invite other interested organizations and individuals to a brain storming meeting. We want to make sure we are transparent in our desire to present an inclusive bill for the next session. 
I want to personally thank everyone who has helped move the bills as far as we have gotten; this is truly been a wonderful ride which we will complete with state licensure for the Radiologic technologist in Missouri. Patient safety is and will continue to be our motivation toward licensure. 
Thank you,
Diane Hutton, LAC Chair

House Bill 109 has a hearing date!

MARCH 20, 2015

Attention Missouri technologists!! We now have a hearing date on the House bill!! March 31!! Yes on our advocacy day. All the more reason to join us for RT in JC!!!

It's not too late to sign up!  

<link removed due to event being completed>

RT in JC - 2015 has been set!

JANUARY 27, 2015

I am pleased to announce that 2015 RT in JC will be March 31, 2015.  I have reserved the third floor alcove from 0800-1030 for opening exercises for our event.

Thank you, 
Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) 
MoSRT President Elect
LAC
MoSRT District 1 President

HB 109 update by Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) - LAC Chair

JANUARY 24, 2015

I wanted to update you that HB 109 has been referred to the Professional Registration and Licensing committee.  Looks like they did this on 1/20/15.  I read that Rep. Burlison is the committee chair.

Thank you, 
Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) 
MoSRT President Elect
LAC
MoSRT District 1 President

Thanksgiving Day Update!

JANUARY 04, 2015 

I have been in conversation with our House of Representative bill sponsor Representative Galon Higdon's LA (legislative assistant). Rep. Higdon will pre-file the bill on December 1, the first day to pre-file bills. At my meeting with him earlier this year in St. Joseph, he was very encouraging as to the flight of the bill during this upcoming legislative session. ASRT and I have worked with him to craft new bill language that is more accepting to other imaging societies. As you probably remember, MoSRT board members worked with other organizations during the summer to develop more inclusive language; this is the bill Rep. Higdon will introduce next month. According to his LA, the next session will begin in earnest mid January; I will wait till the bill has been assigned a number and also assigned to a committee till I make my next trip to Jefferson City.

I also want to ask your opinion: as you know we have a Senate bill, SB 527, which has been signed by the governor. This is the formal day of recognition of Radiation Safety Awareness day which will be March 27th. March 27, 2015 falls on a Friday; the legislators are not in session on Fridays so we need to have our observance another day that week. This will be our annual RT in JC event. We will want to host this event on either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday of that same week. Do you have a preference of when we celebrate? Please visit the mosrt.org website to send Janet Akers or I a message.

Please visit mosrt.org often to keep yourself informed of what MoSRT is doing on your behalf. As the next legislative session begins mid January, make sure you put your advocacy hat on; contact your Senator and Representatives to comment on state licensure for the Missouri imaging technologist. Remember, our goal is to have anyone utilizing ionizing radiation be educationally prepared and clinically competent to provide quality Radiologic imaging studies for every Missouri patient.

Advocate on!!

-- 
Diane Hutton, BA RT(R) ARRT
MoSRT President Elect
Legislative Activities Chair