The following is an updated copy of the CERTT Guidelines. Please review this document carefully. The bold areas are the areas that have been changed based on recommendations from the ASRT ECE Department, TDH-MRT Program and the board and officers of TSRT .
The TSRT Board has removed the fee for affiliates in good standing for request for approval. Fees will still apply to all other sponsoring organizations requesting approval.
The board and officers are still reviewing this program. If you have comments or questions related to the CERTT Guidelines, please contact Scott Morren, TSRT President, email address: sammorren@odsy.net.
Due to the numerous changes in this document, the following form has been developed by the TSRT Executive Office to indicate why your requests for approval have been denied. If you have any questions related to this form, please contact Lisa Ganus, TSRT Executive Office Manager, at 877-986-8818.
I: OBJECTIVES
The TEXAS SOCIETY OF RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGISTS, INC. (TSRT), and the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGISTS (ASRT) have entered into a Cooperative Agreement which provides that the TSRT CERTT program can approve continuing education for TSRT and TSRT Affiliate Society sponsored continuing education activities to be recognized by and acceptable to the AMERICAN REGISTRY OF RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGISTS (ARRT) as Category "A" continuing education. The TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (TDH) MEDICAL RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGISTS (MRT) CERTIFICATION PROGRAM recognizes TSRT as an approval agency for continuing education and accepts continuing education activities approved by the TSRT CERTT program for Certified Medical Radiologic Technologists and Limited Medical Radiologic Technologists certification renewal.
II: DEFINITIONS
A. The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) is a national professional association which, through its Recognized Continuing Education Evaluation Mechanism (RCEEM), recognizes and approves continuing education activities relative to the radiologic sciences.
B. The Texas Society of Radiologic Technologists, Inc. (TSRT) is affiliated with ASRT .
C. TSRT Affiliate Societies are those professional organizations that are affiliated with TSRT. Affiliate Societies in good standing with TSRT are those societies that have submitted an Affiliate Renewal Form into the TSRT Executive Office by June 30 of each year. Affiliate Renewal Forms may be obtained by contacting the TSRT Executive Office.
D. TSRT is recognized by the TDH MRT Certification Program as an agency for reviewing and approving continuing education activities to meet the mandatory continuing education requirements of the Medical Radiologic Technologists Certificate Act, V. T .C.S. article 4512m.
E. The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) is a national credentialing agency for Radiologic Technologists, Nuclear Medicine Technologists, and Radiation Therapists.
F. Category "A" credit is awarded by a Recognized Continuing Education Evaluation Mechanism (RCEEM) to education activities which qualify as a CE activity as defined by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. Category " A " credit will be awarded for valid CPR certification. Credits are awarded on the date the certification or re-certification. A copy of a valid certification card issued by the Red Cross or the Heart Association will serve as documentation. Only one of the following options will be allowed during a biennium. (I) CPR certification in Basic Life Support will be awarded three Category A credits limited to three credits per biennium, or (2) Advanced CPR certification (Advanced Life Support, Instructor, or Instructor Trainer) will be awarded six Category A credits limited to six credits per biennium. Activities approved by one of the following organizations are recognized by the ARRT as Category A only if relevant to the radiologic sciences profession: American Medical Association (AMA), American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). TSRT CERTT approval is based on evaluation of activity objectives, course outline and faculty credentials. In order to grant Category " A" credit, the TSRT CERTT program must evaluate the request for approval prior to the scheduled date of activity .The TSRT CERTT program will grant Category " A " credit only to acceptable educational activities sponsored by TSRT or TSRT affiliates.
G. Category "B" credit: All continuing education activities considered relevant to the radiologic sciences that have not been submitted for Category A credit may be eligible for Category B credit. The distinction between Category A and Category B activities is not based on the nature of the activity itself, but rather is based upon whether the activity has been reviewed and approved by a RCEEM.
H. TSRT Continuing Education Activity Classifications
1. DIRECT (D) are planned educational activities which are directly related to the use and application of ionizing forms of radiation to produce diagnostic images and /or administer treatment to human beings for medical purposes. Directly related topics include, but are not limited to: radiation safety, radiation biology and radiation physics; anatomical positioning; radiographic exposure technique; emerging imaging modality study; patient care associated with radiologic procedure; radiopharmaceutics, pharmaceutics and contrast media application; computer function and application in radiology; mammography applications; nuclear medicine application; and radiation therapy applications.
2. INDIRECT (I) are learning activities, which are indirectly related to radiologic technology. Indirectly related topics include, but are not limited to, patient care, computer science, computer literacy, introduction to computers or computer software, physics, human behavioral sciences, mathematics, communication skills, public speaking, technical writing, management, administration, accounting, ethics, adult education, medical sciences, and health sciences.
3. SELF-STUDY (HS) are planned educational activities which are not instructor directed. These programs may include audiotapes, videotapes and/or reading material. All self-study programs must include a posttest for evaluation. Self -Study programs may be either Direct or Indirect. Self-Study programs are treated as multiple presentations and will be approved for a period of one ( 1) year.
4. TEACHING (T) Researching, writing and presenting a planned educational activity, which meets the criteria for acceptable continuing education as defined in this document. Credit will be awarded based on one (I) credit hour per contact hour of teaching. Credit can be received only one (1) time for multiple presentations of the same lecture. Teaching credit may be given as Direct, Indirect or Non-Ionizing. Teaching credit will not be awarded if the teaching is done as a part of your regular employment.
5. PUBLISHING (P) Researching writing and publishing a paper, the contents of which is acceptable as continuing education for radiologic sciences. Credit will be awarded on the basis of five ( 5) contact hours per paper of at least 1,000 words. A letter from the editor or a copy of the publication must accompany the Request for Approval.
6. VIDEO TAPED PROGRAMS: A copy of the videocassette must accompany the Request for Approval form. A posttest and key must also be submitted at the same time. The videocassette will be kept on file in the CERTT office. The videocassette presentation will be approved for a period of one (1) year. All video programs will be identified with the letter "V" immediately following the usual designation of "D", "I", or "N". If a fee is required for review of the Request for Approval, it will be set according to the fee schedule for multiple presentations and must accompany the Request for Approval.
I. CONTACT HOURS are defined by the length of the presentation. A continuing education activity must be at least fifty (50) minutes in length to receive approval. An activity of 50-74 minutes is eligible to receive one (1) credit, 75-99 minutes is eligible to receive one and one-half (1 1/2) credits and 100-124 minutes is eligible to receive two (2) credits.
III: CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION
A. A planned program of continuing education of radiologic sciences involves the organized presentation of the body of knowledge so that the subject matter is comprehensively covered in sufficient detail to meet the educational objectives of the course. A continuing education activity sufficient for approval must be a planned program including, but not limited to: defined objectives, outline of course material, scope of activity clearly defined, faculty credentials and must be a subject related, directly or indirectly, to the radiologic sciences.
B. Subject matter of any continuing education activity must provide sufficient details to meet the objectives of the activity.
C. Activities must be presented by an individual with credentials relevant to the material being presented.
D. Activities not considered to be continuing education activities include, but are not limited to: journal clubs, tours or viewing exhibits, poster sessions, radiologic technology student papers, elected office or committee appointments, attendance at business sessions of TSRT or TSRT Affiliates, student education tournaments and other non-educational activities of TSRT and TSRT Affiliates.
IV: PROCEDURE FOR APPROV AL THROUGH CERTT OFFICE
A. TSRT and TSRT Affiliates
1. Requests for CERTT approval shall be submitted to the TSRT Executive Office.
2. All Requests for Approval must be submitted at least thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled date of the educational activity. Requests for Approval received in the Executive Office less than thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled date of presentation will not be reviewed.
3. Requests for Approval forms may be obtained from the TSRT Executive Office.
4. When a Request for Approval is received in the TSRT CERTT office, a CERTT reference number will be assigned to each activity .If applicable, an ASRT reference number will be assigned in accordance to the guidelines set forth by ASRT.
5. Documentation of completion for continuing education activity must be made available to Non-TSRT and Non-ASRT members or participants for verification of attendance at approved activities.
6. Expiration date for continuing education activities approved by CERTT for TSRT and TSRT Affiliates is for scheduled date of presentation except for those programs approved for multiple presentation. Programs approved for multiple presentation are approved for a period of one (1) year .
7. Activities approved by CERTT for TSRT and TSRT Affiliates will be recognized by the ASRT, accepted by ARRT as Category "A" and accepted by TDH MRT program for CMRT and LMRTcertificate renewal. The TSRT CERTT office will not designate any approved programs as Category "B".
8. Based on the TSRT/ASRT Cooperative Agreement, ASRT reserves the right to audit the approval of any continuing education program to verify adherence to the guidelines and procedures as defined, and to determine its applicability to the radiologic sciences; in any such case, the ASRT's findings shall be final.
9. TSRT will maintain attendance records for four (4) years following the presentation.
10. An evaluation form will be provided by the TSRT Executive Office. These evaluation forms must be submitted to this office along with the signed Attendance Verification Sheets and signed Instruction Form for Attendance Verification Sheets.
B. Other Sponsoring Organizations
1. Sponsoring organizations that may submit continuing education for CERTT approval include, but are not limited to: JCAHO/Medicare approved hospitals, facilities, clinics, commercial companies and individuals or companies in the business of providing continuing education.
2. Programs approved by sponsoring organizations as defined in number I, are recognized by the TDH MRT programs as acceptable continuing education activities to meet the mandatory continuing education requirements of the TDH MRT Certification Program as mandated by the Medical Radiologic Technologist Certification Act, V.T.C.S. article 45l2m. These programs are neither ASRT approved nor eligible for Category "A" activities as defined by ARRT. To gain ASRT approval and seek classification as ARRT Category "A", requests for approval must be submitted directly to the ASRT Department of Education.
3. All Requests for Approval must be submitted at least thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled date of the educational activity. Fees, if applicable, must accompany the Request for Approval. Requests for Approval received in the TSRT Executive Office less than thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled date of presentation will not be reviewed.
4. Requests for approval forms may be obtained from the TSRT Executive Office.
5. Requests for Approval may be submitted for single or multiple presentations. Single presentations are approved for one (1) time for the date specified on the Request for Approval. Continuing education activities requesting approval for multiple presentations are approved for a period of one (1) year. At the end of the approval period, a new Request for Approval must be submitted if the program is to continue to be presented. Participants will not receive credit for attending or participating in programs that are presented after the expiration date. The expiration date, for programs approved for multiple presentations, will appear on the Attendance Verification Sheet.
6. Documentation of completion for continuing education activities must be made available to non-TSRT and non-ASRT members/participants for verification of attendance at approved activities.
7. Requests for Approval for post approval of continuing education activities is limited to speaker changes. In order to qualify , the original presentation must have been approved and the substitute speaker must speak on the same topic and use the outline as submitted. A CV must be submitted for the substitute speaker .
8. An evaluation form will be provided by the TSRT Executive Office. The completed evaluation forms must be submitted to this office along with the signed Attendance Verification Sheets and the signed Instruction Form for Attendance Verification Sheets.
V: FEES
The TSRT CERTT program is a mechanism for reviewing, evaluating, approving, documenting, recording and reporting continuing education activities of participants. Participants will receive a computerized report annually of their education activities reported to this office. Participating in the CERTT program is open to TSRT Members Only.
A. Enrollment Fees
1. TSRT Voting Members are enrolled in the CERTT CEU Tracking program free. It is up to the TSRT Voting Member to review their CEU Report and notify the TSRT Executive Office of any discrepancy.
B. Fees for Processing Requests for Approval
1. TSRT is exempt from paying fees for program evaluation.
2. TSRT Affiliates in good standing with TSRT are exempted from paying fees for program evaluation. This free approval will designate direct or indirect requirements need for the TDH MRT Program. The ASRT Reference Number will be assigned to all affiliates in good standing at no charge.
3. TSRT Affiliates not in good standing with TSRT and all other sponsoring organizations are subject to the following fees:
A. Single Presentation: $50.00 for the first lecture hour and $10.00 for each additional hour or fraction of an hour.
B. Multiple Presentations: $100.00 for the first lecture hour and $10.00 for each additional hour or fraction of an hour.
VI: DELINEATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES
A. Responsibilities of Sponsoring Organization/Contact Person:
1. Submit the Request for approval to this office as required.
2. Include with the Request for Approval: name of sponsoring organization, name of contact person, complete mailing address of contact person along with telephone and fax numbers, list of defined objectives, outline of course material, faculty credentials and copies of hand outs or study guide, if applicable. If a seminar or single course is over two hours, it does require a schedule to be included.
3. Provide attendance verification sheet received from this office at presentation of approved program. These are the only attendance sheets that will be accepted by this office.
4. Instruct the participants on the proper method for completing the attendance verification sheet. (Instruction Form For Completing Attendance Verification Sheets)
5. Mail the original attendance verification sheets to this office (keep a copy for your files) within ten (10) days following the activity. This is necessary because with the TSRT/ASRT Cooperative Agreement, this office must provide the request for approval, CV, outline, course description, and attendance verifications sheets to the ASRT Department of Education within twenty (20) days following the activity.
6. Mail the evaluation forms to this office along with the attendance verification sheets.
B. Responsibility of the CERTT Participant:
1. To maintain current membership with TSRT.
2. PRINT name and social security number on attendance verification sheet when attending CERTT approved continuing education activities; place a check mark in the column identified as "TSRT Member" if you are a paid member of TSRT and in the column marked as "ASRT Member" if you are an ASRT Member. Names and Social Security Numbers not legible or failure to mark in the "TSRT" or "ASRT" column will result in credit not being recorded in the participant's file.
C. Responsibility of the CERTT Office:
1. To review all Requests for Approval in a timely fashion.
2. To provide the ASRT Department of Education with Requests for Approval and supportive documentation for all continuing education activities approved for TSRT and TSRT Affiliates, as defined in the TSRT/ASRT Cooperative Agreement, within 20 days after the presentation.
3. To enter into the computer, only from TSRT CERTT Attendance Verification Sheets, continuing education activities of the CERTT participants.
4. To provide Attendance Verification Sheets (keeping a copy for the TSRT CERTT files) to the ASRT Department of Education, when applicable, within the required amount of time.
5. To provide, to paid TSRT members, an annual report of continuing education activities reported to this office. This report will be mailed every September .
6. To keep on file, Requests for Approval, with supportive documentation, and Attendance Verification Sheets for a period of four (4) years following the date of the activity .In order to conserve filing space, evaluation forms may be summarized, keeping the summary and discarding the actual evaluation forms.
VII: TSRT CERTT approval of continuing education activities does not indicate endorsement by TSRT, TSRT Affiliates or ASRT.
VIII: Incomplete Request for Approval will be returned for completion. The TSRT CERTT office is not responsible if this causes processing to be too late for this activity.
IX: Requests for Approval received less than thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled date of the activity will not be reviewed.
X: Should evaluation forms indicate that the quality of the program is sub-standard due to failure to meet stated objectives, follow course outline as submitted or is inappropriate as continuing education for medical radiologic technologists, CERTT approval may be revoked upon recommendation of the CERTT Committee and approval by the TSRT Board. The decision of the TSRT Board shall be final. Fees, if applicable, will not be refunded.
1987, Adopted
1989, Revised
1993, Revised
1994, Revised
1997, Revised
2000, Revised
FEES:
TSRT Affiliates in good standing with TSRT are exempted from paying fees for program evaluation. This free approval will designate direct or indirect requirements needed for the TDH-MRT Program. The ASRT Reference Number will be assigned to all request for approval forms submitted by TSRT Affiliates only who are in good standing at no charge. TSRT Affiliates not in good standing with TSRT and all other sponsoring organizations are subject to the following fees:
Single Presentation: $50.00 for the first lecture hour and $10.00 for each additional hour or fraction of an hour.
Multiple Presentation: $100.00 for the first lecture hour and $10.00 for each additional hour or fraction of an hour.
Fee must accompany the Request for Approval. There will be a $35.00 charge for returned checks.
TSRT AFFILIATE SOCIETIES: (in good standing)
Alamo Area Society of Radiologic Technologists
Bay Area Medical Imaging Society
Big Country Medical Imaging Society
Capital Area Society of Radiologic Technologists
Coastal Bend Society of Radiologic Technologists
Dallas Area Mammography Educational Society
Dallas Area Radiological Technologist Society
East Texas Society of Mammographers
Fort Worth Society of Radiologic Technologists
North Texas Society of Radiation Therapists
Permian Basin Society of Radiologic Technologists
Pine Rays Society of Radiologic Technologists
Radiation Therapy Professionals of Houston
Rio Grande Imaging Society
Society of Texas Correctional Radiologic Technologists
Southwest Imaging Council
Southeast Texas Society of Radiologic Technologists
South Texas Area Radiologic Technologic Society
Wichita Falls Society of Radiologic Technologists
When you receive the Attendance Verification Sheet from this office, make as many copies as may be needed to accommodate the number of participants at the meeting.
Instruct the participants to print legibly their name, and social security number and to place a check in the column for ASRT Member or TSRT Member, if applicable. This office will not accept AVS that have been completed by one person or typed.
If you are distributing certificates, include the CERTT ID number and the ASRT reference number on all documentation.
After the presentation, make copies of the AVS for your records and mail the original to this office. Computer entries will not be made from copied or faxed forms. Computer entries will not be made from any form other than that provided by this office.
The AVS must be received in this office within ten (10) days after the scheduled date of the activity. This is necessary so that the AVS can be processed and submitted to ASRT in the prescribed amount of time. AVS received too late will result in the activity not being recorded on the individuals CERTT or ASRT report.
Information on the AVS that is not legible will not be recorded.
