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Contributing to Tsunami Relief Effort
Role of Public Appointees
Taking Pride in Your Credentials
Quality Assurance Program - Multi-Source Feedback System Update
New Policy on Administering Contrast Media Through or Into the Rectum
Bone Densitometry
Suspended Members
Contributing to Tsunami Relief Effort
The tsunami tragedy in South East Asia has affected us all deeply. As health care professionals, we are in the unique position of being able to offer our distinctive skills to help in the recovery effort.
The Government of Ontario is creating an inventory of Ontarians wishing to volunteer their specialized technical or professional skills to assist people in the devastated countries affected by this disaster. Once the Federal Government has identified the specific needs of the affected countries, the Ontario Government will forward the names of those with specialized skills that match the requirements of those countries.
In order to register with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, interested MRTs should phone 1.866.212.2272 to provide their names, particular skills, languages spoken and contact information. This information will be given to Emergency Management Ontario which will maintain the database.
Role of Public Appointees
In addition to the members of the College Council elected by MRTs, there are public members appointed by the provincial government to sit on College Council. Each of the public members serves a three year term. These public members play an important role in making certain that the public’s point of view is taken into account in the College’s decisions.
About 4,800 Ontarians serve the province by sitting on almost 630 agencies, boards and commissions. These bodies vary in size from large operating agencies like the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to small advisory committees like the Ontario Geographic Names Board. All the health regulatory colleges have publicly appointed members on their boards.
The public members are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council after a recruitment and review process managed by the Public Appointments Secretariat. The mission of the Public Appointments Secretariat is to ensure that “the most qualified men and women having the highest personal and professional integrity serve the public on the Province's agencies, boards and commissions.”
Throughout the College’s history it has been served well by public members who clearly respect the profession, and the contribution that health care professionals make to the health and well-being of Ontarians. They are active on every statutory committee and put in many hours offering guidance, insight and energy. The individuals make available to the College both the expertise they bring from their own varied personal and professional lives and opinions that help ensure the College meets its mandate to “serve and protect the public interest”. Their presence ensures that the College’s decisions about the practice of medical radiation technology have the best interest of the public in mind.
Taking Pride in Your Credentials
In the College’s 1999 annual report, then president of the College – James Roberts – wrote that “Registration... is an important statement of professionalism for MRTs. Registration with the College identifies to patients and other health care professionals that you are a qualified professional in good standing, who complies with specific Standards of Practice in carrying out your responsibilities, and who is willing to be measured against those standards. This is exactly what characterizes a “professional”, and it is something of which we should be proud.”
Perhaps we need to be reminded on occasion that our “credential” – that is, the designation we are allowed to display as a consequence of our registration with the College – is something in which we should take pride. The fact that you are a registered MRT – and use the title in your professional practice – makes a statement to patients that they are dealing with someone who has the appropriate knowledge, skills and judgment to be providing health-related services.
In marketing terms, the designation MRT describes a “value proposition”. Your designation reflects to the public that there is a specific value to the care you provide, and that you are willing to be held accountable for the quality of that care –which is the mark of a professional.
Quality Assurance Program - Multi-Source Feedback System Update
The invitation to MRTs to participate in the pilot study of the QA Program multi-source feedback system has been a resounding success. The College thanks all of the members who have volunteered to participate in the pilot study in January 2005. (MRTs who do not have direct patient contact were not eligible to participate in the pilot.) As previously indicated in a letter mailed to members in October 2004, the deadline for accepting volunteers for this pilot ended in December 2004.
The multi-source feedback system, developed by Dr. Claudio Violato under the direction of the QA Committee, is the approach the College will use to fulfill the legislative requirement to assess how members are actually performing in practice.
Those volunteers participating in the pilot study by completing questionnaires will be treated as having completed one practice assessment if they are randomly selected prior to January 1, 2012 once the formal practice assessment is implemented. Participation in the study does not exclude a member from being randomly selected to submit his or her Self-Assessment Profile, Continuous Learning Portfolio and related Quality Assurance records.
In January 2005, the College will mail out the multi-source feedback pilot packages to volunteer participants and the pilot will take place over a six-week period.
Each volunteer will:
- complete the self questionnaire
- identify 6 peers (MRTs) to complete the peer questionnaire
- identify 6 co-workers (non MRTs, examples include receptionists, radiologists, nurses, sonographers or referring physicians) to complete the co-worker questionnaire
- identify 25 patients to complete the patient questionnaire
All responses will be kept confidential and will be sent to the CMRTO in sealed envelopes by the individuals who complete the questionnaires. The questionnaires will be sent to an independent agency for analysis and to evaluate the tools being considered for the QA practice assessment pilot study.
Each MRT participating in the project will receive a summary sheet that will provide the MRT with feedback regarding his or her clinical performance and will compare the MRT’s clinical performance to that of other MRTs in the pilot study.
The QA Committee will also receive a copy of the summary sheet – with all identification removed – for the purpose of evaluating the tools being considered for the QA feedback system.
The QA Committee and Dr. Violato will analyze the results of the pilot study, and may make adjustments to the program before the report is submitted to Council for its consideration in July 2005.
New Policy on Administering Contrast Media Through or Into the Rectum
Council has approved a new policy to clarify the controlled act authorized to MRTs administering contrast media through or into the rectum or artificial opening of the body. In many practice settings, the MRT inserts the enema tip or endorectal tube into the patient’s rectum and the radiologist checks the position of the tip before the MRT or radiologist administers the contrast media. However, the authorized act related to contrast examinations of the colon states that MRTs are authorized to “administer contrast media through or into the rectum or an artificial opening into the body.” The authorized act does not refer to the controlled act of “putting an instrument, hand or finger... beyond the anal verge.”
This has raised the question of whether the insertion of the enema tip or endorectal tube needs to be delegated to the MRT or whether it is encompassed within the authorized act of administering contrast media through or into the rectum.
As a reminder, under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) and the Medical Radiation Technology Act (MRT Act), MRTs are authorized to perform specific controlled acts on patients. Controlled acts are the thirteen procedures listed in the RHPA that are potentially harmful to a patient if performed by unqualified people. The controlled acts authorized to MRTs are the following:
- Taking blood samples from veins
- Administering substances by injection or inhalation
- Administering contrast media through or into the rectum or an artificial opening into the body
- Tattooing
After considering the views of MRTs, educators and managers, Council has adopted a policy that “administering contrast media through or into the rectum or an artificial opening into the body” includes performing an endorectal tube insertion (barium enema tip insertion) or catheter insertion into the rectum or artificial opening of the body. Therefore, this procedure is considered an authorized act which can be performed by an MRT provided that the procedure is ordered by a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and is performed in the course of engaging in the practice of medical radiation technology. It is also important to keep in mind that before performing an authorized act, an MRT must be competent to perform the authorized act in light of the circumstances in the situation in which the procedure is to be performed.
Bone Densitometry
The College has received a number of requests from members to clarify who can operate an x-ray bone densitometry unit. An MRT registered in any of the specialties is authorized to operate an x-ray bone densitometry machine provided that he or she has sufficient knowledge, skills and judgment to operate the machine safely and competently and to comply with the requirements under the Healing Arts Radiation Protection Act.
Suspended Members
The following are the people whose certificates of registration have been suspended effective December 17, 2004 for failure to pay their fees in accordance with section 24 of the Health Professions Procedural Code. A person whose certificate of registration has been suspended is not a member of the College unless and until the suspension is removed.
| 08339 |
Lachowich, Danny R. |
| 05895 |
Sandlak, Cheryl K. |
| 11997 |
Hutchings, Jackie Lane |
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