An ASCP Action Alert on Aug. 2 galvanized more than 8,400 laboratory professionals to urge the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to repeal its proposed rule to allow nurses to perform high and moderate-complexity testing.
ASCP and the ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) have been working to block a proposed rule that would add the bachelor of nursing degree to the list of degrees recognized in the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) high complexity testing personnel rules. CMS published the
proposed rule on July 26. ASCP reported on this development in a Special ePolicy shortly afterward.
The
Action Alert, released by ASCP and the ASCP BOC, generated considerable response within just a few days. The Society and the BOC plan to reissue the alert soon to secure even more opposition.
A key concern is the 30-day comment period allowed by CMS, half the time it ordinarily allows for responses to proposed rules. This limits laboratory professionals’ ability to respond. In a
letter to CMS, ASCP, the American Medical Association, and 20 other laboratory and pathology organizations urged the comment period be extended by another 30 days.
In addition to the nursing degree issue, ASCP and the BOC are concerned about several other matters. The Society is disappointed CMS didn’t include ASCP’s recommendation to recognize appropriate “non-traditional” degree routes for testing personnel, though it did include such a proposal for laboratory directors, technical consultants, and technical supervisors. In addition, CMS did not adopt the Society’s recommendations to classify histotechnology professionals as high complexity testing personnel or to clarify the high complexity training and experience requirements.
ASCP and the BOC will submit formal comments on these and other issues of concern to quality laboratory testing and patient care before the Aug. 25 comment deadline. We need more laboratory professionals to comment on the proposal. Please tell CMS that testing personnel need appropriate an academic degree, training, and certifications to do high complexity testing
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For more information regarding ASCP's advocacy initiatives and policy positions, please contact ASCP's Center for Public Policy at (202) 408-1110.
ASCP ePolicy News is supported by an unrestricted grant from Hologic.
