X-ray techs don’t need to be licensed in Wisconsin but there is again a push to change that. The Senate Health Committee heard testimony Tuesday about a bill requiring all radiology operators to be certified. Judy Warmuth, workforce specialist Wisconsin Hospital Association, testified for information only. She raised the possibility of the Department of Regulation and Licensing being bogged down while trying to certify 10,000 radiology applicants.
“They would be the third largest group of licensees in the department,” says Warmuth.
Radiology Educator Susan Sanson of Greenfield says the agency will be able to manage as up to 7,000 are already registered through a separate certification exam. She calls this group “a pass through” in the licensing process.
“We do license the people that wash our dogs, cut our hair but not those who apply ionizing radiation to our hair,” says Sanson in support of the bill.
State Representative Terese Berceau (D-Madison) told a story of a technician making a mistake on her X-ray which caused him to repeat the procedure. Berceau, a cancer survivor, had already received extensive chemotherapy and was trying to limit her radiation exposure as much as possible.
It’s not the first time the certification idea has come up. A similar bill cleared the full Senate but ran out of time.
AUDIO: Brian Moon reports (MP3 :80)
