By Meredith Check
For ASRT, advocacy begins with how policy decisions affect the people receiving medical imaging and radiation therapy services.
Advocacy starts long before a bill is introduced, a rule is published or a member receives a Take Action email. It starts with a patient who needs an imaging procedure or radiation therapy treatment and with the professionals responsible for providing that care safely and competently.
In an imaging department, policy is not theoretical. A change in policy can affect who performs an examination, what education and clinical preparation they have, how a patient is supervised, how quality and safety are maintained and who is accountable when something goes wrong. The American Society of Radiologic Technologists looks beyond the stated purpose of a proposal and examines what it would mean in practice.
Rooted in Patient Care
Proposed legislation and regulations involve staffing, access, cost, licensure or how a state defines who may perform a procedure. ASRT considers those factors, but the Society starts with the effect on patients – what the change would mean for the person receiving the examination or treatment. From there, the review becomes practical:
- What would change in practice?
- What education and clinical preparation would the work require?
- How will competency be verified?
- What supervision or licensure applies?
- Who is accountable for the outcome?
How does the proposal align with the ASRT Practice Standards for Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy, ASRT Position Statements and other professional standards?
Those questions keep advocacy focused on the care patients actually receive. Workforce and access concerns matter, but they do not answer whether the people performing a procedure have the education, clinical preparation, competency, supervision and accountability required for the work.
How Policy Decisions Reach Patient Care
ASRT supports legislation that expands patient access to quality radiology care. That’s one reason the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act (MARCA) remains the Society’s top legislative priority. MARCA is proposed federal legislation that would allow Medicare payment to an employer for services performed by radiologist assistants practicing as part of radiologist-led teams.
Some patient-care connections are less obvious than licensure debates. ASRT submitted comments on a U.S. Department of Education rule affecting how the department classifies advanced degrees for radiologist assistants. The department did not adopt ASRT’s recommendation and classified advanced degrees for radiologist assistants as graduate degrees rather than professional degrees, but it addressed ASRT’s concerns directly in the final rule’s justification. That response matters because federal policy can influence how advanced practice roles are described and understood.
Policy that looks technical on the surface can still affect the care environment. ASRT evaluated the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed revisions to radiation protection regulations, a package that included more than 300 pages of material. ASRT also has been evaluating proposed payment rules from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and tracking the Office of Management and Budget’s work on the Standard Occupational Classification. These issues may appear technical, but they can shape access, reimbursement, recognition and the standards that support care.
State policy can affect patient care more directly because it often defines licensure requirements and who may perform medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures. ASRT responded to proposals that would loosen licensure requirements in multiple states. ASRT also advised states updating laws governing the practice of medical imaging and radiation therapy, emphasizing guardrails that support safe, high-quality patient care and professional standards. In Georgia and Louisiana, radiologist assistant licensure efforts succeeded after work by volunteers and staff.
The Voice Behind the Work
In fiscal year 2026, ASRT tracked 221 legislative, regulatory and advocacy measures, including 210 state measures and 11 federal measures. The Society sent 6,131 state Take Action emails and more than 310,000 federal Take Action emails to ASRT members. Those figures show the breadth of the policy environment ASRT monitors and the role members play when policymakers need to hear from the profession. The volume of work shows why this kind of review cannot happen only after a proposal becomes urgent.
Member voices matter because they connect policy language to daily practice. Advocacy depends on people who can explain how a proposal would affect patients, workflow and professional accountability. ASRT continued building that capacity in 2026 through programs such as Ambassadors for R.T. Advocacy, Engaging New Technologists and the ASRT Advocacy Training Program. These programs help radiologic technologists, radiation therapists and students understand how policy decisions affect patient care and professional practice.
Professional Responsibility
For members, this work can feel far removed from the examination room or treatment area. Licensure language, reimbursement policy, education standards and scope-of-practice discussions shape who performs procedures, how roles are recognized, what standards apply and how patient care is delivered.
Patient care must remain the anchor. Day to day, advocacy may involve responding to a bill, reviewing regulatory language or preparing for the next policy cycle. Taken together, those actions help keep the focus where it belongs: on whether the people performing medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures have the education, competency, supervision and accountability to provide safe, high-quality patient care. •
Meredith Check, M.P.P., is ASRT director of government relations and public policy. Professionals interested in learning more about ASRT advocacy initiatives and resources can visit asrt.org/Advocacy.
