On September 28, CAP President-elect Donald Karcher, MD, FCAP, urged in public testimony to the Council of the District of Columbia (DC) to reconsider laboratory personnel licensure and additional statutory fixes in lieu of repeal within the personnel clean-up bill B24-764 proposed by the Mayor’s office. The law was initially enacted in 2015 but never operationally implemented. At this stage, the DC Council appears to be carefully weighing the concerns expressed by CAP and other stakeholders, including the DC Hospital Association (DCHA).

The CAP collaborates with state pathology societies to oppose state licensure for pathologists’ assistants, cytotechnologists, and histotechnologists per CAP’s model criteria for the state licensure of clinical laboratory personnel. The CAP advocates against regulatory burdens on pathologists’ ability to direct the laboratory and to ensure laboratory personnel are subject to pathologist supervision.

CAP President Emily Volk, MD, FCAP, wrote to the DC Committee on Health affirming, “The CAP does not believe that local regulation of clinical laboratory personnel is necessary for, nor integral to quality assurance, in the clinical laboratory. Accordingly, our members in DC opposed the enactment of the original DC licensure law (DC Law 20- 272; 62 DCR 6643) in 2015. Our position is based upon the rigorous quality assurance provisions embedded in the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) law, and related regulations, that regulate all clinical laboratories. Of note, several states (GA, TN) in the last couple of years have since repealed their respective clinical laboratory personnel licensure laws, in deference to federal oversight, recognizing the redundant nature of state licensure laws.”

Notwithstanding the CAP’s position in support of repeal, the CAP alternatively urged additional amendments to the laboratory personnel licensure law to ensure all personnel are appropriately supervised by a physician or clinical laboratory director. In addition, the CAP supported additional amendments to appropriately reflect personnel's scope of practice, and flexibility for the Advisory Committee on Clinical Laboratory Practitioners to reserve the right to license cytotechnologists, histotechnologists, and medical technologists at their discretion.

The CAP will continue to work with DC stakeholders and the DC Council to urge the repeal for laboratory licensure.