ARTICLES Issues Facing

Critical issues facing the sonography profes-sion in the 1990s and in the next millennium are legislation, reimbursement, accreditation, the "advanced practice sonographer " classifi-cation, and musculoskeletal strain injury. The Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers(SDMS) has identified these areas of concen-tration order to assist its membership in addressing these issues. Members of the SDMS have been involved in legislation on behalf of the sonography profession and in an effort to protect their patients. The SDMS also addresses numerous reimbursement is-sues, including many that involve laboratory accreditation. The SDMS support laboratory accreditation and personal credentialing. The advanced practice sonographer classification is a new and controversial issue, and the SDMS Board is in the early stages of explora-tion of this role. Musculoskeletal strain injury is a major problem affecting a significant number of members of the sonography pro-fession. The SDMS is actively investigating forms of treatment and prevention. Finally, in this article, some insight is offered into future developements in the practice of sonographydevel ment n he practice of and the role of the SDMS in the 21 st century. Key words: accreditation, advanced practice sonographer, legislation, musculoskeletal strain injury, reimbursement, SDMS. t rom l3ellevue Community College