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By: Kim Evans, CRA, MS, RT
What a wonderful occasion to join together in person with colleagues from across the nation during annual meeting in Nashville in early August. I underestimated how much I missed “human face-to-face” interaction and feel quite fortunate that we had that opportunity. As commissioners for the RACC we volunteer to cover the CRA booth in the exhibit hall to acknowledge fellow CRAs, inspire future CRAs and answer any questions about becoming a CRA. I was encouraged during this time to see so many pink CRA ribbons. Go CRA Team!
Certified Radiology Administrators now number over 1,300! We are growing in number and are providing documented quantifiable leadership expertise in the field of medical imaging. I was also impressed by those who stopped by with a desire to become a CRA. There continues to be great interest, and many have identified the CRA as a personal goal and are on a timeline to success. This credential is meaningful to each one who has achieved it and plans to achieve it. It is a great accomplishment and worthy of the time investment.
Over the past year in my organization, we have worked to include the CRA as a job requirement for leadership positions from director level and above. We replicated the requirement for advanced technical credentialing and allowed for a 2-year grace period to pursue and achieve the credential. This aligns with our core value of Excellence and core value behavior of committing to be exceptional today and even better tomorrow. If we require advanced certification as best practice for our team technical roles, why would we not elevate the leadership credential as well?
The CRA credential is a testament and affirmation of core foundational knowledge across the five domains of Imaging leadership. Leadership draws on knowledge and experience in each of these areas in daily work. The domains include:
- Human Resource Management
- Asset Resource Management
- Fiscal Management
- Operations Management
- Communication and Information Management
As a CRA, I continue to draw on my career knowledge significantly and appreciate now more than ever the value of the exam eligibility requirements specific to experience. Eligibility for the CRA exam includes 7-10 years of progressive experience in management, supervisory roles or administrative experience in radiology or medical imaging with responsibility for activities across each of the five domain areas. Each domain content area is divided into tasks expected of a Radiology Administrator. Expected tasks include experience drivers which accompany the following abilities:
- to establish
- to develop
- to implement
- to manage
- to create
- to forecast
For more information on the specific CRA domains and examination content areas, visit www.crainfo.org and select the Future CRA tab. For today’s CRAs, keep on the path and keep running the race. You’re doing great! To those who aspire to obtain their CRA, your hard work will be worth it. No one can ever take away your experience and knowledge as a leader in medical imaging. Become a Certified Radiology Administrator. Set it as goal and work toward it. Go Team! Grow Team!
Kim Evans, CRA, MS, R.T. is the Vice President of Imaging Services at ChristianaCare in Newark, DE. She can be reached at kevans@christianacare.org
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