HB 590 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Patient Safety/Medical Imaging/Radiation Therapy.

HB 590 establishes licensing requirements for medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals in North Carolina, directly affecting radiographers, radiation therapists, sonographers, and others performing these procedures. The bill creates a new "Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Board of Examiners" to set education standards, administer licensing exams, and ensure practitioners are "educationally prepared and clinically competent." It requires all non-licensed practitioners (e.g., radiographers, radiation therapists) to hold a state license before performing procedures involving ionizing radiation or medical imaging, with limited exemptions for licensed physicians. The law aims to protect patients by mandating standardized training and oversight for these technical roles.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Jun 2025
House Passage
Jun 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 31, 2025 Last action Jun 26, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Edition 2 Edition 3 · 1 edit
MINOR
This bill update expands the definition of who qualifies as a licensed practitioner under the patient safety and medical imaging regulations. The change adds nursing to the list of professions alongside medicine, dentistry, podiatry, and chiropractic medicine. This modification broadens the scope of the bill to include nurses in the regulatory framework governing medical imaging and radiation therapy practices.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to include nursing professionals in addition to the previously listed medical professions, thereby extending regulatory oversight and requirements to nursing practices in medical imaging and radiation therapy contexts.
DEFINITION

The definition of 'licensed practitioner' was updated to include 'nursing' alongside medicine, dentistry, podiatry, and chiropractic medicine, expanding the range of healthcare professionals subject to the bill's regulations.

Floor votes · House Jun 25, 2025

How they voted

1090
Passed · 12 other
Total votes 121
Jun 25, 2025
D Democratic46
45 Yea 1
97% Yea
I Independent2
2
0% Nay
R Republican73
64 Yea 9
87% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
16
Key actions
4
Committee
7
Jun 26, 2025
Committee
Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
upper
Jun 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed 3rd Reading
lower
Jun 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reptd Fav Com Sub 2
lower
Jun 24, 2025
Committee
Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
lower
Jun 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reptd Fav
lower
Apr 30, 2025
Committee
Re-ref Com On Finance
lower
Apr 30, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reptd Fav Com Substitute
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Committee
Ref to the Com on Health, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
lower
Mar 31, 2025
Introduced
Filed
lower
2 primary · 8 co-sponsors

Sponsors