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What is the Initiative About?
Currently, Medicare Pt. B recognizes a number of medical and other health care services that can be furnished by non-physician practitioners, but respiratory therapy services and respiratory therapists are not among them.
HR 3968 will permit respiratory therapists with an RRT and bachelor's degree to furnish respiratory therapy services without the physician having to be physically present at the time the service is being rendered. This means flexibility for the physician and new opportunities for the respiratory therapist outside of the hospital.
This issue is important to all therapists in this profession, not just those who would be eligible to practice under these new rules. Permitting more options of where, when and under more flexible supervision a RRT can provide services opens doors for everyone's future. The legislation would also provide an important avenue for documentation of respiratory therapy services that would provide evidence of the respiratory therapist's value. This is a professional issue that every RT can get behind.
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