Planting the Seeds for CRA Growth

By Brenda DeBastiani, CRA, FAHRA, RT(R)

I am so excited to spring forward on March 13^th! I love having more daylight hours again. I love watching all hints of winter melt away and watching flowers bloom in the spring. In order for me to see blooming flowers in my yard, I have to plant the seeds (or bulbs) in advance. This reminds me that I can’t expect things to grow at work without doing the prep work first. I’m constantly looking at what I want to achieve and then planting the seeds to help me reach my goals. Are you in planting mode right now? For the RACC, we always want to plant the right seeds to allow our CRAs opportunities to grow and succeed.

With things constantly changing around us, we sometimes have to change our focus to keep up. Other medical credentialing organizations, including many nursing organizations, offer continuing education in 0.25 CE increments, which under current RACC guidelines would need to be reduced for use on a CRA renewal. On our last monthly RACC call, we unanimously voted to change our CRA renewal guidelines to count non-RCEEM credits that relate to management-level-skills and knowledge in one or more of the 5 management domain (content) areas in 0.25 increments. This increment change will be helpful for all CRAs.

The Project Management Professional (PMP) credential was evaluated and discussed on our February RACC call to determine if the RACC wanted to approve the PMP certification under RACC policy 3.05(1.1). Since the testing domains are applicable to at least three of the (5) CRA domains (human resource management, asset management, fiscal management, operations management, and communication & information management within the field of healthcare imaging), the RACC approved counting the PMP testing certification towards the 12 hour CRA renewal. (This will be counted only one time per person, just as passing other approved boards count towards the 12 hour CRA renewal one time.) We want to do our part in recognizing certifications that are worthwhile for CRAs.

Times are constantly changing in healthcare, and as CRAs we must do our part to prepare our facilities for the future. Becoming a CRA is the gold standard in healthcare for imaging leadership. Help us pave the way to make everyone understand that. We need to encourage our young leaders to gain the education and training necessary to lead when we are gone. I may seem passionate about building young leaders, but understand that I am going to hit the “BIG 50” next month. At my facility, we are growing new imaging leaders as we speak. Succession planning is at the forefront of my mind.

Saying, “You need to become a CRA” to my young leaders is necessary to guide them down the right path for growth, just as my mentors did for me. For young leaders to have successful futures, they will need to obtain additional education, network with others, learn from others and from their own mistakes, and eventually take charge. They will hopefully be able to give back to our profession when the time is right, too. Do you have young leaders in your organization who show a great deal of potential? I challenge you to encourage your young leaders to become CRAs to build a successful future for your organization.

Please contact me at debastianib@monhealthsys.org, or contact any of the other RACC team members to let us know how we can better serve you.

Brenda DeBastiani, CRA, FAHRA, RT(R) is the director of imaging at Monongalia General Hospital in Morgantown, WV. She can be reached at DebastianiB@monhealthsys.org.