Setting Standards
Mark,
I recently read the article you wrote in May 2009 titled “PACS Administrators No More?” OK, accepting the fact that the article is almost one-year-old, I would have liked to comment on the sidebar takeaway comment that “no standard term has yet emerged industry-wide to refer to these professionals.” However, it looks like the link to add comments to this post is no longer available. While the article clearly demonstrates the complexity and challenges with managing and categorizing PACS professionals there may be a good follow-up story to this subject.
Since 2007, the American Board of Imaging Informatics (ABII) has been uniting, testing, certifying and attempting to “professionalize” all PACS administrators under the title Imaging Informatics Professional (IIP) no matter where they reside or from what background they enter the profession. Once certified by passing the ABII exam, professionals are referred to as Certified IIP (CIIP). You can learn more on their Web site at http://www.abii.org. Here is a cut from their “About Us” page:
American Board of Imaging Informatics, Inc. (ABII) was founded in 2007 by the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT). An independent, non-profit organization, ABII's mission is to enhance patient care, professionalism, and competence in imaging informatics. ABII has created and manages the Imaging Informatics Professional (IIP) certification program and awards the Certified Imaging Informatics Professional (CIIP) designation to qualified candidates.
There are other organizations that provide imaging informatics testing and “certification.” However, ABII is unique in that they are not-for-profit, only provide a test content outline and do not offer nor endorse any specific training courses.
All of us who have taken the exam believe that there is indeed a standard that appropriately identifies this group of professionals.
Sincerely,
Victoria Myers, BS, RT(R), CIIP
Project Manager
Scottsdale Healthcare
Information Services
Scottsdale, AZ
Healthcare Informatics 2010 April;27(4):8
