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Provincial Regulation

Self Regulation of the Profession

• Professional Regulation is entirely within the jurisdiction of the province.
  
  
• It is a legal process that is contained within the provincial boundaries, i.e. the regulation law does not apply outside the province
  
  
• An individual does not apply for self-regulation; the application usually comes from an organization representing the profession in that province
  
  
• National societies do not have any decision-making role in provincial regulation and can act in an advisory capacity only.
  
  
• Role and Authority of the Province:
  • Whether self-regulation should be pursued
  • Whether a profession should have its own "college" or whether an alliance with another "college" should be made
  • With whom an alliance should be made
  • What standards should be adopted
  • What training or examinations should be adopted
  • Regulatory body has legal authority within that province
  
  
• Role of a National Society such as the CSDMS:
  • Provide information on current professional standards
  • Provide or share certain documents like the National Competency Profile
  • Provide information on professional services such as professional liability insurance
  • Advise on which standards and examinations to adopt
  • Has no legal authority
  
  
• What does the CSDMS advise or provide when consulted by a province?
  • The CSDMS recommends all provinces and territories undergoing regulation to adopt existing Canadian high quality national standards in education and competency. Self-regulation is a means to promote professional practice and to protect patient safety.
  • The CSDMS recommends the provinces and territories to adopt Canadian national standards and services to allow maximum inter-provincial portability for sonographers in all provinces.
  • The CSDMS provides information on its national professional liability insurance policies, one for registered sonographers and a separate "transitional" one for non-registered sonographers

Several provinicial groups are pursuing self regulation for Sonography. Self regulation of a health care profession means that members of the profession are accountable to the public through a regulatory college or via a provincial professional organization.

In general self regulation means:

• having standards of pracatice which describe the outcomes of various professional tasks, and prescribing what it means to perform them at an an acceptable level.
• Meeting qualifications for entry to practice set by the profession themselves
• Accepting a formal complaints and discipline procedure
• Accepting accountability for defining standards, ensuring appropriate qualifications and continuing competence and disciplining members for professional misconduct.

There are a number of benefits of self regulation:

• the profession itself sets the requirements for entry into the profession and the standards of practice rather than having them imposed by the government
• self-regulation infers professional standing comparable to other health care professionals.
• Self-regulation through a college ensures that issues that affect the profession are heard by government and regulators.
• The profession and the public are protected by a formal complaints and discipline procedure in which complaints of professional misconduct are reviewed by members of the profession.

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