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KENNEDY, ENZI WORK TO MINIMIZE RADIATION EXPOSURE BILL WOULD IMPROVE HEALTH CARE SAFETY AND QUALITY


Washington, DC: Senator Edward M. Kennedy joined Senator Michael Enzi to reduce patient exposure to radiation by introducing the Consumer Assurance of Radiologic Excellence (CARE) Act of 2006. With over 300 million radiologic procedures performed annually, this legislation is expected to markedly improve health care safety, quality, and consistency by ensuring federal standards Their plan will reduce health care costs and unnecessary exposure to radiation by lowering the number of unwarranted x-rays and other radiological procedures. “Under the CARE Act, uniform federal educational and certification standards for x-ray technicians will lead to improvements in patient safety and the quality of health care,” said Senator Kennedy. “Patients can be harmed by poorly trained technicians, since inadequate procedures can lead to misdiagnosis. If a procedure is repeated, the patient is exposed to further radiation.” Currently, an estimated 40% of radiology technologists have no formal education in that field. CARE seeks to remedy this by ensuring a minimum set of uniform standards for radiological technologists education and accreditation and incentives for timely compliance. By passing CARE, radiological procedures will be safer, more accurate, and less costly. Below is a fact sheet: