As used in the Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety Act:

A. "advisory council" means the medical imaging and radiation therapy advisory council;

B. "board" means the environmental improvement board;

C. "certificate of limited practice" means a certificate issued pursuant to the Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety Act to persons who perform restricted diagnostic radiography under direct supervision of a licensed practitioner limited to the following specific procedures:

(1) the viscera of the thorax;

(2) extremities;

(3) radiation to humans for diagnostic purposes in the practice of dentistry;

(4) axial/appendicular skeleton; or

(5) the foot, ankle or lower leg;

D. "certified nurse practitioner" means a person licensed pursuant to Section 61-3-23.2 NMSA 1978;

E. "credential" or "certification" means the recognition awarded to an individual who meets the requirements of a credentialing or certification organization;

F. "credentialing organization" or "certification organization" means a nationally recognized organization recognized by the board that issues credentials or certification through testing or evaluations that determine whether an individual meets defined standards for training and competence in a medical imaging modality;

G. "department" means the department of environment;

H. "diagnostic medical sonographer" means a person, including a vascular technologist or echocardiographer, other than a licensed practitioner, who provides patient care services using ultrasound;

I. "division" means the environmental health bureau of the field operations and infrastructure division of the department;

J. "ionizing radiation" means alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays, x-rays, neutrons, high-speed electrons, high-speed protons and other particles capable of producing ions; "ionizing radiation" does not include non-ionizing radiation, such as sound waves, radio waves or microwaves, or visible, infrared or ultraviolet light;

K. "license" means a document issued by the department pursuant to the Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety Act to an individual who has met the requirements of licensure;

L. "licensed practitioner" means a person licensed to practice medicine, dentistry, podiatry, chiropractic or osteopathy in this state;

M. "licensure" means a grant of authority through a license or limited license to perform specific medical imaging and radiation therapy services pursuant to the Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety Act;

N. "magnetic resonance technologist" means a person other than a licensed practitioner who performs magnetic resonance procedures under the supervision of a licensed practitioner using magnetic fields and radio frequency signals;

O. "medical imaging" means the use of substances or equipment emitting ionizing or non-ionizing radiation on humans for diagnostic or interventional purposes;

P. "medical imaging modality" means:

(1) diagnostic medical sonography and all of its subspecialties;

(2) magnetic resonance imaging and all of its subspecialties;

(3) nuclear medicine technology and all of its subspecialties;

(4) radiation therapy and all of its subspecialties; and

(5) radiography and all of its subspecialties;

Q. "medical imaging professional" means a person who is a magnetic resonance technologist, radiographer, nuclear medicine technologist or diagnostic medical sonographer and who is licensed pursuant to the Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety Act;

R. "non-ionizing radiation" means the static and time-varying electric and magnetic fields and radio frequency, including microwave radiation and ultrasound;

S. "nuclear medicine technologist" means a person other than a licensed practitioner who applies radiopharmaceutical agents to humans for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes under the direction of a licensed practitioner;

T. "physician assistant" means a person licensed pursuant to Section 61-6-7 or 61-10A-4 NMSA 1978 [repealed];

U. "radiation therapy" means the application of ionizing radiation to humans for therapeutic purposes;

V. "radiation therapy technologist" means a person other than a licensed practitioner whose application of radiation to humans is for therapeutic purposes;

W. "radiographer" means a person other than a licensed practitioner whose application of radiation to humans is for diagnostic purposes;

X. "radiography" means the application of radiation to humans for diagnostic purposes, including adjustment or manipulation of x-ray systems and accessories, including image receptors, positioning of patients, processing of films and any other action that materially affects the radiation dose to patients;

Y. "radiologist" means a licensed practitioner certified by the American board of radiology, the British royal college of radiology, the American osteopathic board of radiology or the American chiropractic board of radiology; and

Z. "radiologist assistant" means an individual licensed as a radiographer as defined in the Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety Act who holds additional certification as a registered radiologist assistant by the American registry of radiologic technologists and who works under the supervision of a radiologist; provided that a radiologist assistant shall not interpret images, render diagnoses or prescribe medications or therapies."

History: Laws 1983, ch. 317, § 4; 1991, ch. 14, § 1; 1993, ch. 140, § 1; 1994, ch. 82, § 1; 2009, ch. 106, § 4; 2013, ch. 116, § 1.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.

Laws 2016, ch. 90, § 29 repealed 61-10A-4 NMSA 1978, effective July 1, 2016.

The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, changed the definition of "division" and "non-ionizing radiation"; in Subsection I, after "health", added "bureau of the field operations and infrastructure" and after "department", deleted "of environment"; and in Subsection R, after "means the", deleted "optical radiations, including ultraviolet, visible, infrared and lasers".

The 2009 amendment, effective June 19, 2009, changed the name of the act from "Medical Radiation Health and Safety Act" to "Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety Act"; in Subsection A, changed "radiation technical" to "medical imaging and radiation therapy"; deleted former Subsection J, which defined "radiologist technologist"; deleted former Subsection K, which defined "radiologic technology"; deleted former Subsection S, which defined "registered physician and assistant"; and added Subsections E, F, H through K, M through R, T, U, X and Z.

The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, added Subsection D and redesignated former Subsections D through K as Subsections E through L, respectively, and added Subsection M.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, added Paragraph (5) of Subsection C, making related grammatical changes; and rewrote Subsection D, which formerly defined "division".

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, added Paragraph (4) in Subsection C; in Subsection K, substituted "licensed practitioner" for "physician" and added "or the American chiropractic board of radiology" at the end; and made related stylistic changes.