NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A236
SPONSOR: Magnarelli TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the license require-
ments for the practice of respiratory therapy
PURPOSE::
To update the license requirements for respiratory therapy consistent
with current national standards.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section 1: Changes the educational requirement from an associate to a
bachelor's degree for licensure as a respiratory therapist.
Section 2: Ends the licensing of respiratory therapist technicians as
that licensing level is now obsolete.
Section 3 and Section 4: Provides that the new licensure requirements do
not impact any current licensees.
Section 5: Establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
This legislation will improve the health, safety and welfare of New York
citizens in need of respiratory therapy services by increasing the
educational standards for Respiratory Therapists (RTs) to a bachelor's
degree in keeping with best practices. Respiratory Therapists are
healthcare practitioners who play an integral part in diagnosing lung
and breathing disorders, consulting with physicians on treatments,
assessing patients, and recommending specific changes in therapy based
on their patient assessments. They are involved in analyzing data to
determine levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide and other physiological
parameters. Respiratory Therapists contribute heavily to managing
patients on a variety of advanced modes of mechanical ventilation and
artificial airway devices, and actively participate in rapid response
teams and emergency situations.
Respiratory Therapists also provide education to patients and their
families about how to best care for their cardiopulmonary disorders in
both the in-patient and outpatient care setting. Respiratory Therapists
played a significant role in treating COVID-19 patients who were crit-
ically ill and those who required life support equipment such as mechan-
ical ventilation, high flow oxygen therapy or Extracorporeal Membrane
Oxygenation. Along with managing life support equipment, Respiratory
Therapists intubate patients, and are responsible for obtaining arterial
blood gases to help make critical parameter adjustments to patients on
life support equipment. With significant healthcare resource shortages
and a significant increase in critical care patient load during the
COVID-19 pandemic, it was imperative that Respiratory Therapists think
quickly and provide immediate critical care during this extremely diffi-
cult time.
New York first recognized the practice of respiratory therapy and
respiratory therapist technician as licensed professions in 1992.
Cardiopulmonary medicine, pharmaceutical treatment, and medical technol-
ogy have significantly advanced since 1992, as has the academic prepara-
tion and professional standards for Respiratory Therapists. A corre-
sponding advancement in educational requirement for licensure to a
bachelor's degree is necessary to ensure that future, respiratory thera-
pists are adequately academically prepared for this expanding role.
Associate degree programs have a limited amount of time to properly
deliver the curriculum, while bachelor's degree programs have the abili-
ty for educational training and experience in more advanced clinical
practice, teaching, management, and research. This higher academic
requirement will ensure Respiratory Therapists are able to continue to
contribute to improving patient outcomes. Those individuals currently
licensed as Respiratory Therapists will not be impacted by this legis-
lation, and the legislation allows for a six year period for a new
licensee that is a graduate of an associate's degree program to complete
a bachelor's degree while still being licensed as a respiratory thera-
pist during that six year period.
In addition, this legislation eliminates the Respiratory Therapist Tech-
nician license for new applicants but allows previously issued licenses
to be renewed. The State no longer has one-year certificate programs for
Respiratory Therapist Technicians. In addition, a national educational
accrediting body report indicates that those individuals who were bacca-
laureate prepared had a greater. passage rate for Registered Respiratory
Therapist credentialing than those who were associate degree prepared.
In 2020, the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)
updated its "Entry into Professional Practice" standards to reflect the
minimum expectation goal of respiratory care practice performed by
Registered Respiratory Therapists (RRT), eliminating the previous stand-
ard which relied on the CRT exam success rate (for RTT license) as
outcome measurement for programs.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
2023-2024: A.201-A; 2021-2022: A.1358-A; 2019-2020: A.7304; 2017-2018:
A.10798
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE::
Two years following enactment.
