Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Proud To Be An RPSGT

(originally published 06/30/2011 at brpt.org)

I don’t know that I have ever been more proud to be part of the BRPT volunteer leadership team than I was at Sleep 2011 in Minneapolis earlier this month. For two and a half days, my colleagues on the BRPT Board – all volunteers, all offering their personal time to support BRPT and our credential holders – spent hours in the BRPT booth on the Sleep 2011 exhibit floor. They were there to talk with our credential holders and our candidates: to help them through the RPSGT recertification process, to talk openly and candidly about the launch of an exam for sleep technologists through ABSM, and to share their personal pride in the RPSGT credential as we officially launched the “Proud to Be an RPSGT” campaign.

The response my colleagues on the BRPT Board of Directors and I received was remarkable: literally hundreds of RPSGTs visited our booth, eager to share their great pride in the credential that has shaped their career in sleep and to commit to continued support of the credential in the years to come. If you were unable to join us in Minneapolis and didn’t pick up a “Proud to Be an RPSGT” button or win a coveted “Proud to Be an RPSGT” t-shirt, check our website over the next few weeks as we launch an expanded online store, stocked to help you celebrate your pride in your RPSGT credential.

We do listen to our credential holders, in person at every opportunity, on the telephone, by email and on social networking sites and professional message boards. I have read a small number of posts on those message boards recently that have underscored for me some misconceptions that remain about the nature of BRPT as an organization.

BRPT is not a membership organization; we are a credentialing body. Our core mission is to develop and deliver a credentialing exam for sleep technologists according to best credentialing practices: a credentialing exam that will be widely respected within the allied health disciplines and by the public we serve. Our credential holders pay no annual dues; unlike several of the most prominent allied health credentialing programs, we do not require an annual fee to maintain the RPSGT credential. Since its inception, the overwhelming percentage of BRPT revenue has been generated by exam fees. The responsibility of the BRPT Board of Directors is to assure that revenues are directed to the enhancement of the BRPT credentialing program, and that sufficient funds are built up and retained in reserves to assure the long-term stability of our credentialing program.

Careful stewardship of BRPT resources has enabled us to maintain our reserves at a level well within best practices recommended for non-profit organizations. At the same time, we have channeled revenues back into the credentialing program, enabling us to move the RPSGT exam to an on demand model, to develop and deliver the RPSGT exam at the state of the art, to build an enhanced online presence to serve our stakeholders, and to build out a recertification tracking tool offered to our credential holders at no charge. We benefit from literally thousands of volunteer hours devoted annually to the development of the BRPT exams and to the other programs of BRPT. Our organization has for many years been administered by a three-person staff, housed within an association management company – a management model which has, year after year, enabled us to reduce our operating overhead by 25-30% compared to operating as an organization providing it’s own staffing and daily operations. At the same time, our management model has enabled us to operate as a strong, independent credentialing body, without the direct influence of a parent organization. As a point of reference, the AAST, a membership organization, has chosen a similar management model, though their choice has been to be managed by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.


So thank you for your comments, questions and continued engagement in the BRPT credentialing program. I value your input and am very proud to serve as BRPT president.


Janice East, RPSGT, R. EEG T.

BRPT President

Reflections From The ABSM Information Session At SLEEP 2011

By Cindy Altman, RPSGT, R.EEG/EP T.
President-Elect, BRPT

(originally published 06/22/2011 at brpt.org)

I recently attended an American Board of Sleep Medicine (ABSM) technologist examination information session at the American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST) program in Minneapolis. Most technologists went to lunch, but a hundred or so were present.

Dr. Richard Rosenberg gave the presentation. Dr. Nathaniel Watson was also there. He was introduced as president of the ABSM and he sat next to Dr. Rosenberg on the stage but really didn’t say much.

Dr. Rosenberg is a full-time American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) employee, and Dr. Watson is on the AASM board of directors. How can the ABSM be “an independent, nonprofit, self-designated board” separate from undue influence by the AASM? The relationship between the two groups is not transparent.

On several occasions Dr. Rosenberg let the audience know that he trained in sleep with Dr. Rechtschaffen, and he serves on the Committee for Accreditation of Polysomnographic Technologists Education (CoA PSG). He talked of all the good the AASM has done for sleep technologists and education. He forgot to mention the role that the AAST and the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) played in advancing technologists’ professional status, or in the formation and continued support of the CoA PSG.

Dr. Rosenberg said there was absolutely no financial motivation, as rumors implied, behind the development of the new technologist exam. He said the ABSM simply wants to offer a technologist examination that is relevant for all “stakeholders.” And they want a pass rate that is higher than the RPSGT exam... for the good of the profession. In other words, for the good of the physicians who employ the techs who are unable to pass the RPSGT exam. After all, he implies, the problem in passing the RPSGT exam is with the exam itself, and not the individuals or educational pathways.

To them, it doesn’t matter that the BRPT works with a well-respected professional testing company, or that the BRPT uses best practices for developing, maintaining, reviewing, delivering, and scoring the RPSGT examination. Or that it uses a geographically and professionally diverse group of Subject Matter Experts. Or that at every step along the way, the RPSGT examination is checked for validity and relevance not only by the professionals in the field, but by professionals in the testing community. What matters is that the ABSM believes it has produced a better technologist exam that will result in a higher pass rate. After all, the ABSM knows “some psychometricians” who help with the exam. What matters is that the ABSM will do what the AASM asks.

Dr. Rosenberg said the ABSM would apply for NCCA accreditation for the technologist examination. He fumbled with the terms and relationship between the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE), the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), and the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA), which is now ICE. I hope he gets these organizations straight for his next presentation.

Dr. Rosenberg blamed the RPSGT exam pass rate on “stifling” the development of formal sleep technology education programs across the country. He based this on a conversation with a dean at a school in the Chicago area. Dr. Rosenberg talked about the dissatisfaction physicians have with the RPSGT credential, yet he has no data to support that. The AASM is certainly capable of surveying a large number of people and institutions to determine the extent of this dissatisfaction... if they were interested.

Dr. Rosenberg repeatedly referred to outdated RPSGT exam pass rates and did not discuss the difference in pass rates based on educational pathway or over time, or compare the pass rates of similar examinations with multiple pathways. When program directors from two different schools challenged the assertion that the exam was too difficult for CAAHEP students, Dr. Rosenberg indicated their schools were the exception, not the norm.

Dr. Rosenberg told us that the RPSGT requirement for AASM sleep center accreditation would still stand. Yet when asked if he would put that statement in writing, he let the audience know it wouldn’t have any weight. When asked if the new examination should be viewed as a mid-level credential, with the CPSGT on the lowest level and the RPSGT on the highest level, he made it clear that the new credential was to be on equal terms with the RPSGT.

Dr. Rosenberg reminded the audience that the AAST supports the new exam. He let us know AAST’s immediate past president and current president have been involved in the development of the ABSM technologist exam. The audience was already aware of AAST’s position to support “all” technologist examinations—even those not yet developed or evaluated—but it was surprising that AAST leaders were actually assisting in the exam development. This was news to current AAST board members as well. Did Dr. Rosenberg let the cat out of the bag?

When it was time for questions and comments at the end of the presentation, not one person stood up to voice support for the new exam. However, many stood in line to question or comment on the purpose of it. At times those in attendance clapped enthusiastically in support of the techs or physicians who challenged the ABSM. Suffice it to say, the new ABSM technologist examination was not well received.

So why, exactly, is the ABSM getting involved in technologist credentialing? Could it be that the BRPT is truly an independent organization adhering to best practices in credentialing, and the AASM does not like that?

The RPSGT is the Gold Standard. Don’t let grandfathering into the new credential confuse you. While it is “only $25” and you may think that you have nothing to lose, you do. You risk losing the professional identity that technologists have worked for over 32 years to achieve. As technologists we can stand united to keep the RPSGT credential strong. Don’t let the AASM divide and conquer. That is really what this is all about.