Spring: A Time for Renewal, Growth, and Value

By Ernesto A. Cerdena, PHDc, RT, CRA, FAHRA and Jacob Cerdena

Springtime: my favorite season of the year. As we enter the coming season welcoming verdant fields and blooming flowers, it is likewise vital to be optimistic about the AHRA’s future.

We recently held another successful Spring Conference in Chicago. Based on my personal interactions with attendees and exhibitors, both were very pleased and satisfied with the excellent program put together by the amazing Design Team, led by John Beall. During the conference, the AHRA Board of Directors held the second of its three face to face meetings for the year. As an investment in educating the board, Hitachi Medical sponsored a unique team building session performed by Sonic Leadership, led and conducted by Christian Tamburr and his quartet. The board enjoyed the workshop very much, particularly the team song writing and performance of the “blues.” Wes Harden and his team picked the top spot on that one.

The rest of the board meeting focused on the operationalization of the strategic plan and more action packed planning, which addressed the future of AHRA. As a reminder, here is an outline of our Big Audacious Goal and our strategic plan:

Big Audacious Goal (BAG): Be recognized as the indispensable resource for medical imaging leadership

Strategic Plan Vivid Description:

A. Imaging Leaders: Members

1. Imaging leaders are recognized for leading the transition to collaborative healthcare.
2. Imaging leaders play an integral role in healthcare & policy reform and are change leaders who foster both professional and personal success.
3. Members are well-positioned, knowledgeable and skilled for high-level leadership within their own organizations.
4. Members realize the indispensable value of AHRA in their personal and professional growth/success.

B. Employers: Healthcare Systems/ Hospitals/Facilities

1. Employers see improved operations because of the relevant knowledge their imaging leaders acquire through AHRA membership.
2. Healthcare providers realize excellence in imaging operations due to engagement of AHRA members (CRAs) in their organizations.
3. Healthcare organizations focus on sustainability and wellness to reduce repeat inpatient admissions to outpatient diagnostics and screening.
4. Hospital health systems epitomize high quality & efficiency, fulfill their mission to the community, and leverage technology.

C. Industry Stakeholders: Corporate Partners/Policymakers/Related Organizations

1. Key Industry stakeholders collaborate with AHRA to address relevant imaging issues.
2. Policymakers look to AHRA to define operational excellence in medical imaging and for their insight and perspective on quality & safety standards.
3. Professional organizations (i.e. ASRT, RBMA, ACR, etc.) vendors, payors and policymakers recognize AHRA as a strong partner and leader in a growing coalition to enhance quality outcomes and standards.
4. Patients experience coordinated care that delivers the best outcome possible.
5. Payors receive the benefit of appropriate use, right test to enable best outcome, right care/right price, decreased GDP, through improved and shared best practices.
6. Vendors are aligned with AHRA to leverage stronger partnerships.

Click here if you’d like to view AHRA’s entire strategic plan.

In line with the theme of renewal, growth, and value, I have asked my youngest offspring, 13 year old Jacob, what AHRA’s “Big Audacious Goal” means to him. This is what he wrote:

“From the perspective of a modern youth, AHRA could remain a dull, insignificant presence in commonplace routine. However, when truly recognized as the combined effort of many to enhance national healthcare, it becomes evident that associations such as the AHRA aim to purge the medical industry, as a whole, of its faults in order to form a more enriched community. These ‘crusaders’ embrace the noble task of not only working to develop medical imaging leadership in individuals, but also to refine the hospital environment in favor of patients. Moreover, executive AHRA officials strategically plan and prioritize pivotal ambitions to be achieved in order to highlight potential successes. Each aspiration achieved will further contribute to the already apparent manifestation of the organization’s vision, which is to remain instrumental in the progression of services initiated to provide for the demands of its members. The individuals integrated into this ‘family unit’ are also both highly treasured and acknowledged as professionals bound to fulfill vacant leadership roles in future healthcare administration, as well as essential components to the procurement of the resolution of the complication that is the rising cost and declining quality of the physical and fiscal maintenance of invalids. Tasked with the responsibility of developing members into effective healthcare administrators, the AHRA possesses a distinct passion for this associative maturation of sorts. Consequently, this is merely a broadened perspective of the complex intricacies of the AHRA, however, this organization most assuredly can be considered a testament to contemporary society’s unceasingly adapting perspective of medical imaging management.”

Jacob’s perspective about the AHRA’s BAG speaks volumes. The future of the AHRA is related to the value that our membership itself augments to the potential of our association. The board works hand in hand to renew our past successes and progress towards advancement.

---

Ernesto A. Cerdena, PHDc, RT, CRA, FAHRA is the president of the 2015-2016 AHRA Board of Directors. He is the director of diagnostic imaging/radiology services at Waterbury Hospital in Waterbury, CT. He can be reached at ecerdena@wtbyhosp.org.

Jacob Cerdena is an 8th Grader at Saint Denis/Saint Columba School, Hopewell Junction, NY. He can be reached at jmcerdena.libra@icloud.com.