North Carolina HB 590: Patient Safety/Medical Imaging/Radiation Therapy.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 3
HOUSE BILL 590
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/30/25
Committee Substitute #2 Favorable 6/25/25

Short Title: Patient Safety/Med. Imaging/Radiation Therapy. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
April 1, 2025
*H590-v-3*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR AND ENHANCING PATIENT SAFETY IN MEDICAL 2
IMAGING BY ENSURING EDUCATIONALLY PREPARED AND CLINICALLY 3
COMPETENT PERSONS PERFORM AND ADMINISTER MEDICAL IMAGING AND 4
RADIATION THERAPY PROCEDURES. 5
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 6
SECTION 1. Chapter 90 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article 7
to read: 8
"Article 44. 9
"Radiologic Technologists, Radiation Therapists, Sonographers. 10
"§ 90-750. Short title; findings. 11
(a) This Article may be cited as the "Patient Safety in Medical Imaging Act." 12
(b) The General Assembly finds and declares that citizens in this State are entitled to the 13
highest quality of care and maximum protection practicable from the harmful effects of 14
improperly performed medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures and that protection and 15
quality can be increased by requiring appropriate education and licensure of persons operating 16
equipment used for medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures. Therefore, it is essential 17
to establish standards of education for these professionals and to provide for appropriate 18
examination and licensure. 19
"§ 90-751. Definitions. 20
The following definitions apply in this Article: 21
(1) Board. – The Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Board of Examiners. 22
(2) Bone densitometry. – The determination of bone mass by means of the 23
radiation absorption by a skeleton or part of a skeleton. 24
(3) Cardiac electrophysiology specialist. – A person who is registered to perform, 25
under the supervision of a qualified physician, radiographic procedures and 26
studies using external ionizing radiation to produce fluoroscopic images. 27
(4) Cardiovascular invasive specialist. – A person who is registered to perform, 28
under the supervision of a qualified physician, radiographic procedures using 29
external ionizing radiation to produce fluoroscopic images. 30
(5) Certification organization. – A national certification organization that 31
specializes in the certification and registration of medical imaging or radiation 32
therapy technical personnel and is accredited by the National Commission for 33
Certifying Agencies, the American National Standards Institute, or other 34
accreditation organization recognized by the Board. 35

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 590-Third Edition
(6) Computed tomography. – The process of producing sectional and 1
three-dimensional images using external ionizing radiation for diagnostic or 2
therapeutic purposes. 3
(7) Diagnostic medical sonographer. – A person who is licensed under this Article 4
to perform diagnostic medical sonography procedures using high-frequency 5
sound waves with specialized equipment to direct the sound waves into an 6
area of the human body to generate an image for diagnostic purposes or for 7
the purpose of providing guidance during medical interventions. 8
(8) Diagnostic medical sonography. – The use of high-frequency sound waves 9
(ultrasound) with specialized equipment to direct the sound waves into an area 10
of the human body to generate an image for diagnostic or therapeutic 11
purposes. 12
(9) Fluoroscopy. – The continuous exposure of a patient to X rays in real-time 13
imaging of structures inside of the body during real-time procedures. 14
(10) Hybrid imaging. – The combination of imaging technologies that allows 15
information from different modalities to be presented as a single set of images. 16
(11) Ionizing radiation. – As defined by G.S. 104E-5(9). 17
(12) Licensed practitioner. – A person licensed to practice medicine, dentistry, 18
podiatry, nursing, or chiropractic medicine in this State. 19
(13) Limited practice radiographer. – A person who is licensed under this Article 20
to perform, under the supervision of a radiographer or licensed practitioner, 21
radiography or bone densitometry procedures resulting in diagnostic 22
radiographic images of selected specific parts of human anatomy or bone 23
density measurements. 24
(14) Magnetic resonance. – The use of radiofrequencies within a magnetic field for 25
diagnostic, therapeutic, or research purposes. 26
(15) Medical imaging. – Any procedure or article intended for use in the diagnosis 27
or visualization of disease or other medical conditions in human beings, 28
including radiography, nuclear medicine, fluoroscopy, magnetic resonance, 29
sonography, and other procedures using ionizing radiation or nonionizing 30
radiation. 31
(16) Medical imaging professional. – An individual other than a licensed 32
practitioner who has undergone appropriate training and testing by a 33
Board-approved certification organization to be licensed i