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By Jacqui Rose, CRA
May 2012—In 2000 and 2001, the founders of the CRA credential developed a detailed outline of the knowledge and skills that are needed to be a successful radiology administrator, called role delineations. Since that time, the magnitude of changes our profession has seen has been monumental. We have experienced changes in regulations, delivery mechanisms, fiscal policies, and major technological breakthroughs in a very short period of time. In order to ensure that the CRA credential remains valid and relevant, these delineations are periodically reviewed to maintain the continued integrity of the credential.
During the first quarter of 2012, the RACC performed this review and validation of the role delineations. The process involved many hours of several commissioners, some negotiation, and a very dedicated support person who kept us focused. Each domain is broken down into the tasks required to be proficient in that domain. Then each task has a list of knowledge and skills needed to accomplish the task. The role delineations are located on the CRA website. At the end of the process, we only made a few minor clarifying changes of knowledge or skills and a few grammatical changes. We were amazed at how timeless these basic concepts remained. It never ceases to amaze me that while our basic abilities remain constant, we are able to be flexible and adapt to the multitude of changes that we encounter. This is just another testament to our wonderful field!
Although our industry has experienced a great deal of change, the role delineations developed some ten years ago still remain a viable attestation to the skills of good administrators. This speaks volumes about the work of those original founders who developed all the details around the domains which focus on human resource management, asset resource management, fiscal management, operations management, and communication/information management.
Please join your fellow CRAs at AHRA’s Annual Meeting in Orlando for a special celebration of a decade of excellence in medical imaging.
Note: The new role delineation language will not alter the May 2012 exam content. To view the original language used for CRA exams from 2002 to May 2012, please click here.
Jacqui Rose, CRA is the administrative director of imaging services at Upper Valley Medical Center in Troy, OH and a member of the RACC. She can be reached at jfrose@uvmc.com.
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