HPRAC Review: Interprofessional Collaboration and MRT Scope of Practice
Health Human Resource Planning – the CIHI health human resources database project
The CMRTO’s New Information Technology System
Professional Practice Issues
MSF results for 2007: How are we doing?
Allied Health Professional Development Fund Continues in 2008/2009
Suspended Members
HPRAC Review: Interprofessional Collaboration and MRT Scope of Practice
The Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council (HPRAC) has been asked by the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to recommend mechanisms to facilitate and support interprofessional collaboration between health Colleges.
HPRAC has suggested that collaboration initiatives should:
- Assist health regulatory colleges and their members to work collaboratively and to learn from each other to:
- improve patient care and facilitate better results for patients,
- protect the public interest and ensure the highest standards of professional conduct and patient safety,
- regulate the health professions in a manner that maximizes collective resources effectively and efficiently, while protecting the public interest,
- optimize the skills and competencies of diverse health care professionals to enhance access to high quality and safe services,
- ensure access to high quality and safe services no matter which health profession is responsible for delivering care or treatment, and
- enhance scopes of practice to ensure that all regulated health professionals work to their maximum competence and capability.
HPRAC’s consultation discussion guide for this project can be found on its website at www.hprac.org. The College Council will be submitting comments in response to the guide by the deadline of May 31, 2008.
In addition, HPRAC has requested that the CMRTO, in collaboration with the Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (OAMRT), conduct a review of the scope of practice for MRTs to ensure that there are no legislative, regulatory, structural or process barriers to members of the profession working to the maximum of their scope of practice or to working in interprofessional settings or teams. The time-line for this review is short with the submission being requested for early summer, 2008. The College will collaborate with the OAMRT and will strive to solicit input from as many members and stakeholders as is possible given this short time-frame. This is an exciting time for the profession of medical radiation technology as we proceed with this review of the scope of practice of MRTs in light of current practice trends and patient safety.
Health Human Resource Planning – the CIHI health human resources database project
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has been
collecting detailed information on physicians and nurses for a
number of years. In response to demand from governments and
stakeholders, CIHI is developing five new national databases for
medical radiation technologists, occupational therapists, pharmacists,
physiotherapists and medical laboratory technologists. The new
databases will address data gaps by providing a rich source of high
quality, comparable information on geography, demographics,
education and employment for these health professionals.
As part of this project, the College has been working with CIHI,
CAMRT and other provincial regulatory bodies and associations
in the development of a national minimum data set for medical
radiation technologists. We are now in the latter phases of the
development of this project and plan to gather the data from
members in the summer and populate the database in late
summer/early fall of 2008.
The College will collect each member’s information and enter
it into a secure database housed at the College. Examples of
questions that you will be asked include:
- Where did you complete your MRT education?
- What year did you graduate?
- What additional certifications have you received after
graduating as an MRT: e.g. PACS administrator, diagnostic
medical sonography?
- Have you completed additional formal education:
e.g. health administration, business management, education,
or marketing?
- Are you currently employed as an MRT and is this a part-time
or a full-time position?
- In which areas of medical radiation technology do you
practise: e.g. bone mineral densitometry, SPECT/CT, breast
imaging, brachytherapy?
The College will assign a system-generated unique identifier
number to each member’s information and will remove
information that directly identifies an individual member prior
to sending the information to CIHI to form part of the national
database of medical radiation technologists.
The transfer of the information to CIHI will be governed by an
agreement between the College and CIHI which addresses
security and confidentiality of the information and the handling
of the information in accordance with CIHI’s privacy and
confidentiality policies. The national database will be used
for statistical reporting and research purposes including
pan-Canadian reports, analytical studies, an annual report and
data/information requests from government and research
organizations in accordance with the agreement and CIHI’s
privacy and confidentiality policies.
CIHI protects personal information through a number of physical,
technical and administrative safeguards that follow or exceed
industry standards. CIHI has conducted a privacy impact
assessment of the national database of medical radiation
technologists. Further information on the privacy impact assessment
conducted by CIHI and CIHI's privacy and confidentiality policies
can be found on their website at www.cihi.ca.
In addition to working at the national level, the College is also
working with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term
Care in its initiative to develop an Allied Health Human
Resources Database.
The CMRTO’s New Information Technology System
Over the past year the College has been working on developing
and installing a new information technology system to respond
to identified member needs and business requirements. The
system went live internally in early March and the College
staff has been trained and is now comfortable in using the
new system.
This has been an extensive undertaking as there was no
out-of-the-box system that could meet all the regulatory needs
of the College. The Microsoft Dynamics program that was
selected needed to be adapted to fit with the requirements
for CMRTO business including many functions related to
registration, quality assurance, complaints and discipline and
most importantly, security of member information. The College
now has a new customized database on a Microsoft platform
which allows for full integration with office software that will
support online member services.
In the summer of this year the College will launch the second
phase of the project. It will enable members to pay fees by
credit card, and to renew their registration and check their
registration status online. In the next few months the College
will be sending you detailed information on how to access
the system online using a unique temporary password.
Professional Practice Issues
Self-regulation—more than just public protection
Colleges that regulate professionals, like the CMRTO, have a
very clear mandate to protect the public. What may not be
obvious is that there are many aspects of self-regulation in the
public interest that by extension also assist MRTs in their practice.
First, many MRTs will find themselves in the role of patient at
some point in their professional career. In addition, our family
members and loved ones rely on the health care system. As
patients and consumers of health care services, it is comforting
to know that the health professionals who provide these vital
services are regulated, that there are standards of practice and
guidelines setting out the expectations of practice and that
there is somewhere to go to report any concerns you have
about the care you have received.
Through regulation of medical radiation technology the
College’s role is to register those individuals who meet the
entry-to-practice requirements. This not only protects the
public from harm, but it also means that MRTs have the
knowledge, skill and judgment to practise safely. Regardless of
where an MRT received his or her initial training or how long
he or she has been in practice, employers and colleagues can
expect MRTs to possess the competence to practise safely.
Self-regulation means that if ever an employer or colleague
is concerned that another MRT is not practising according to
the standards, there is somewhere for them to report their
concerns and a process to address those concerns.
Another College responsibility under the model is the
development of standards of practice. The standards of
practice and essential competencies, developed by the College
in consultation with members, are not only useful to the
public’s understanding of the profession, but they also provide
guidance and assistance to members. Medical radiation
technology is a complex profession that is not easily understood
and the public may sometimes have unrealistic expectations
of MRTs. MRTs can rely on the standards and competencies
for guidance and can also refer to these documents when
explaining aspects of their practice to members of the public or
colleagues. MRTs can also take comfort in the fact that these
are the documents that guide the investigations and decisions
made by the College’s Complaints, Executive and Discipline
Committees. Clear standards of practice, accessible to all
members and providing a common understanding of the
expectations of practice, can help clear up any concerns
regarding what constitutes appropriate practice.
MSF results for 2007: How are we doing?
In 2007, 80 MRTs participated in the multisource feedback
system of the Quality Assurance Program. The questionnaires
used a five point Likert scale with five being a rating of
“among the best” and four being “in the top half”. Sample
questionnaires can be accessed on the CMRTO website at
http://www.cmrto.org/quality/practice.asp.
The College’s QA Committee is pleased to report on
the aggregate results for MRTs participating in the 2007
MSF program.
Questionnaires completed by peers (other MRTs)
| Category |
Mean Score |
| Equipment and materials |
4.63 |
| Relationship with patients |
4.62 |
| Legislation, standards, ethics and safe practice |
4.51 |
| Records and reporting |
4.57 |
| Professional development |
4.43 |
|
Questionnaires completed by co-workers (receptionists, radiologists, oncologists, nurses, etc.)
| Category |
Mean Score |
| Records and reporting |
4.73 |
| Relationship with patients |
4.79 |
| Team work |
4.76 |
|
Questionnaires completed by patients
| Category |
Mean Score |
| Relationship with patients |
4.78 |
| Communications |
4.65 |
|
Allied Health Professional Development Fund Continues in 2008/2009
For the third consecutive year, the government is providing
financial support for health professionals through the
Allied Health Professional Development Fund. Practising
members of nine allied health professions will be able to
apply for as much as $1500 for professional development
courses and programs.
The purpose of the fund is to develop skills and enhance
knowledge and leadership capacity among allied health
professionals. This year, the $2.5 million fund will provide
grants for professional development opportunities
completed from April 1, 2008 - March 31, 2009. The
eligible allied health professions are: Medical Laboratory
Technology, Physiotherapy, Medical Radiation Technology,
Occupational Therapy, Speech Language Pathology,
Audiology, Dietetics, Pharmacy and Respiratory Therapy.
To further support professional development, the Fund has
invested in a three-year subscription to an electronic health
library that will be made available to practising members
of the eligible allied health professions. This library will give
health professionals access to the most recent health
care literature to help determine the best approach to
evidence-based practice.
What’s Next?
The guidelines and application form for the Fund and
information on the library service will be made available in
upcoming weeks at: www.ahpdf.ca.
The government recognizes and values the important
contribution made by allied health professionals to the
health care system. The Allied Health Professional
Development Fund is a HealthForceOntario initiative. This
innovative health human resources strategy is designed to
ensure the people of Ontario have access to the right
number and mix of health care professionals, now and in
the future.
Suspended Members
The following are the people whose certificates of
registration were suspended between January 1, 2008 and
March 31, 2008 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.
| 09945 |
Tang, Yui - Kai |
| 11654 |
Parris, Adunola Abosede |
| 12096 |
Sidial, Nalisha |
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