Highlights from PARCA's 2nd Annual Informational Meeting

PARCA recently held its 2nd annual informational meeting during the PACS2006 conference in San Antonio. It was good to see so many familiar faces, as well as to meet some new ones. Everyone who attended really took an active part in the discussions, an obvious sign that PACS Certification is important to all members of the PACS Community.

We started off the evening with a brief update from advisory board member Herman Oosterwijk, who reviewed the PARCA mission statement and organizational structure. Herman went on to explain the differences in our 3 Certification Levels and the exam process.

Executive Secretary Suzanne Hunter talked briefly on the current membership details. There are now over 400 members world-wide, with nearly 10% of members certified as CPAS and almost 5% CPSA.

Fellow advisory board members Don Jollota and Ed Smith were available to help with questions from the floor. The main topic was regarding the annual renewal process of the PARCA Certifications.

It is planned that the content of the exams will be reviewed and updated as deemed necessary based on criteria such as corrections and new technology. The feasibility of vendors providing areas of change was also discussed, although this is obviously a topic that requires a lot more discussion and investigation. The importance of ensuring the exam content is not only relevant but functional and practical is of a prime concern.

Continuing education credits was another hot topic regarding certification renewal. Comments were received that a member could attend any conference or training class, regardless of content, and receive the required credits without the subject bearing any relevance to the PARCA Certification they are renewing. One suggestion was for PARCA to work with organizations such as PACS2006 who could give credits for specific topics.

Database Management is an area that is currently not covered by the exams. It was asked under what exam it would be covered, the Technical or Clinical CPAS. Ed Smith felt that it would be a better fit under the Technical portion of the exam, it is a new underlying technology, something that was barely covered in PACS2006.

On a different topic, it was voiced that our members would like to hear more from PARCA in the form of more frequent newsletters and to have membership and certification statistics readily available. Another hot topic was giving our members the opportunity to provide feedback regarding PARCA Certification and industry-related topics.

These are all suggestions we take very seriously and will look into. Watch this space for more updates soon! In the mean time, if you have any comments you would like to make regarding PARCA, please contact Suzanne, our Executive Secretary by email at suzanne@pacsadmin.org or by phone, (940) 365-3083.