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PA State Board of Medicine Completes Continuing Education Regulations For Pennsylvania Respiratory Therapists!
UPDATED 10/30/06
(Please visit our "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" section by clicking here!)
The long wait is over as the regulations that cover the mandatory continuing education requirement for respiratory therapists have now been completed. Although this 19 month wait seems like an eternity, you should know that these regulations were completed fairly quickly compared to other professions!
If you'd like to read through the history of how we got to this point, click here to view the chronological updates that began in June of 2005. Otherwise read on...
In June of 2005, the PA State Board of Medicine notified all PA credentialed therapists of a new law which went into effect in January of 2005 that added a 20 hour continuing education requirement (CE) to our credentialing act. As part of the monitoring of legislation and regulation, the PSRC leadership became aware that the PA State Board of Medicine's initial interpretation of the law would require therapists to "attend and complete" courses to meet the law's requirements. This interpretation would allow only approved "live" courses to count towards the required hours and would exclude non-traditional courses (e.g. courses offered via the internet, journals, CD-ROMS and more).
The PSRC leadership acted quickly to address the concerns expressed by PSRC members regarding this interpretation. A survey was mailed to health care facilities across the state and the overwhelming response to the survey indicated strong support for the PSRC to pursue a new interpretation of the law that would allow at least some of the required hours to be completed via non-traditional methods. 2006 PSRC President John Conrad and members of the PSRC Legislative Committee attended multiple meetings of the PA Board of Medicine to provide testimony on behalf of the PSRC membership. The PSRC provided the survey results and other information obtained from the AARC and requested that the Board of Medicine reconsider the interpretation of the law. Specifically, the PSRC requested that regulations allow for a minimum of one-half of the total required continuing education hours to be completed via non-traditional education.
As a result of these meetings and the extra effort put forth by the President Conrad and the Legislative Committee, the PSRC’s recommendations were accepted by the PA Board of Medicine. The Board approved regulations that included, as per the PSRC's recommendations, wording that will allow respiratory therapists to complete 'no more than 10 hours of non-traditional education'. The regulations will go into effect with the publication of the Pennsylvania Bulletin on August 12th.
WHAT ARE THE REGULATIONS?
Since the regulations have not yet been publicly released, we are currently unable to post them this web site. However, a "Cliff Notes" synopsis of key elements of the regulations have been listed below. In addition, please visit our "Frequently Asked Questions" section (see link at bottom of this page).
***NOTE***: The State Board of Osteopathic Medicine has not yet completed work on regulations for therapists credentialed through their board (approximately 400 RTs). The Osteopathic Board continues work on their regulations and the PSRC is working with them on this process. It is hoped that the regulations will mirror those completed by the PA State Board of Medicine that are listed below and updates on this process will be posted on this web site as they are received. If you are unsure from which governing body you received your state credential (or "license") to practice, look at your credential #. If it begins with the letters "YM", your credential has been issued by the State Board of Medicine. If the number begins with the letters "YO", your license has been issued by the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine.
PA State Board of Medicine
Continuing Education Requirements for Respiratory Therapists
- 20 hours of continuing education are required to be attained for each biennial (i.e. 2 year) cycle. The first cycle ends December 31, 2006.
It is the responsibility of the each therapist to document completion of accredited continuing education programs. Documentation may be in the form of a certificate of completion or, for AARC/PSRC members, in the form of a print out of your individualized electronic transcript that all members receive as a member benefit. The transcript will list any AARC approved courses completed during the renewal cycle (and beyond) and can be accessed using via the AARC web site using your membership number. Members must obtain a certificate of completion for all courses completed that are approved by accrediting bodies other than the AARC (see below for more information on approved accrediting bodies).
- All continuing education courses selected to fulfill the requirement must be approved by one of the following Accrediting Organizations:
OOOAARC (American Association for Respiratory Care)
OOOAMA(American Medical Association) - category 1 only
OOOAOA (American Osteopathic Association)
OOOCSRT (Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists)
Please note that these are the only accrediting organizations approved by the PA State Board of Medicine to accredit continuing education courses for the purposes of meeting the mandatory requirement. The number of hours accredited for individual courses is determined by the accrediting organization.
- Continuing education courses approved for RT credentialing must relate to clinical practice only. All other courses not related to clinical practice are not approved toward meeting continuing education requirement.
The AARC & CSRC only accredit courses related to respiratory care and thus accreditation by these associations can be viewed as meeting the regulatory requirement. However, the AMA and AOA are physician associations and therefore approve courses on numerous courses that are not considered related to respiratory care. If the content of a particular course is in doubt as to whether it meets the requirement, the therapist should contact the State Board of Medicine prior to completing the course.
- At least 10 of the 20 mandated continuing education hours must be obtained through classroom lecture, clinical presentation, real-time web-cast or other "live" session where a presenter is involved. To qualify, the provider must make available documented verification of completion of the course or program.
This regulation stipulates that at least 10 hours of continuing education must be completed at a "live" event. Practitioners may complete all required 20 hours at "live" events if they so desire. Examples of this type of event include the traditional seminar, lunch-time or evening educational programs, as well as web-casts in which the participant has the ability to interact in some manner (text or voice) with the presenter via the internet. An example of this type of program is the AARC's live web-casts, which have been documented to be highly educational, well structured, and are free to AARC members. You can view a schedule of upcoming web-casts on the AARC website by clicking here. Pre-recorded web-casts are not considered a "live" event as interaction with the speaker is not possible.
- No more than 10 of the 20 mandated continuing education hours may be obtained through internet programs (excluding "live" web-casts), journal review programs, pre-recorded video presentations on CD-ROM or DVD or similar means of nontraditional education. To qualify, the provider must make available documented verification of completion of the course or program.
As a reminder, all continuing education programs including those presented in a non-traditional format must still be accredited by one of the approved accrediting bodies listed in #2 above. An example of a non-traditional form of continuing education is the "CRCE Through the Journal" program offered by the AARC (available until October 1, 2006). This program allows members to complete up to six hours of continuing education for a one time charge of $15! For more information on this program, click here!
Another form of non-traditional education are courses available via the internet. The PSRC has endorsed Respiratory Care Continuing Education Services (click here) which is an online provider of continuing education. In addition, the AARC offers online continuing education as well. In fact, AARC members can view three FREE pre-recorded web-casts and receive continuing education credit for them (counts as non-traditional courses). Click here for all the details on this terrific membership benefit!!
- Beginning with the next renewal cycle (1/1/07 - 12/31/08) one hour courses related to "Patient Safety" and "Ethics" will be required.
These courses will count towards the total 20 hour requirement and may be completed via traditional or non-traditional methods. These courses are NOT required for the 2005-2006 cycle that ends 12/31/06.
- For those RTs involved in military service, facing demonstrated hardship, or serious illness, it is the duty of the RT seeking a waiver of CE, in whole or part, to notify the board in writing and request the waiver prior to the end of the renewal period. Those RTs contemplating such a request should contact their board directly to discuss the process with board staff.
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Please visit our "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" section by clicking here!
If you have any questions not answered by the above or the FAQ section, please email them to the PSRC's Legislative Committee Chair (Garry Kauffman) at 2007GovAffairsChair@psrc.net
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