PACS administrators or as they are also called, Imaging Informatics Professionals (IIP), have been around for about 20 years, ever since providers started to realize that it takes a dedicated support staff to manage the PACS system and be responsible for its data integrity and operation. In 2004 a certification agency, the PACS Administrators Registry and certification Association, aka PARCA, was formed to provide a proof of a certain level of proficiency witnessed by passing a certification exam. Not that long after that, the American Board of Imaging Informatics, aka ABII, was formed in a partnership between ARRT and SIIM, providing another certification called CIIP. The PARCA and CIIP certifications are quite different due to their origin and intended target group of professionals. This write up is intended to clarify the different certification paths to benefit potential candidates that are looking to become certified and for those who are trying to recruit potential IIP professionals. Here are the main differences:
2.
The subject areas covered by the CIIP and PARCA PACS certifications are quite
different. Because CIIP only has a single certification, there is some overlap between
CIIP and PARCA certifications to cover the complete area of PACS. As a matter
of fact, there is about a 10% overlap between CIIP and PARCA CPAS IT, 30%
overlap between CIIP and CPAS Clinical, 30% overlap between CIIP and CPSA and
10% overlap between CIIP and CDIP, as shown in the figure by the red dashed
line. 80% of the CIIP subject matter is unique and different. In order to fully
appreciate the differences between the CIIP and PARCA subject areas, one would
need to compare the test content outlines and/or requirments next to each other item by item, but in general,
the CPAS is more technical oriented and CIIP more managerial as it covers areas
such as project management, procurement, education and others. It is not
uncommon for a CPAS candidate to become either CPSA and/or CIIP certified;
there are several professionals who sit for all of the exams.
3.
The CPAS, i.e. basic level of PARCA, has two
distinct target audiences. First, CPAS is appropriate for either non-healthcare professionals or professionals who work in a related field who are
looking for a career change and want to get into the PACS profession. These are
mostly Radiological Technologists or IT professionals, who either need additional
training in either the IT or clinical area. The other audience is for those
professionals who are already working in PACS but never had the opportunity to
gain either the clinical or IT skills and would like to become trained and certified
in this area. The first audience, i.e., individuals without any PACS background,
is not served by the CIIP certification because CIIP requires a certain number
of years of experience. This is also the case for those who were unable to complete
any formal education in the form of a certain number of college credits: they
would be able to take the CPAS certification but are excluded from taking the
CIIP exam.
4.
PARCA and ABII took a very different approach
with regard to developing their what is called certification requirements or Test Content Outline (TCO). PARCA exam requirements were
developed top down, starting with outcome measurements, and learning objectives
and were developed by educators in this field. The ABII requirements (TCO) were
developed bottom up, based on a survey and subsequent committee of volunteers.
The good news is that SIIM is in the process of “reverse engineering” the ABII
requirements to make the curriculum more coherent. The same applies to the
supporting materials, the PARCA textbooks are written by a single author, while
the CIIP textbook is created by various authors which makes it challenging to
have a consistent style and prevent gaps and overlaps.
5.
PARCA has an international focus. The majority
of its board members are from outside the US. 20% of its candidates are from
outside the US and it is growing in importance. Also, one should realize that
in many countries, especially LMIC regions (Lower and Middle Income Countries),
PACS is still in its infancy and therefore a prime target for CPAS
certification, while CIIP certification, which is focused on people with
experience, would not be an option.
6.
CIIP exams have to be taken at a physical
testing center. In contrast, PARCA has provided on-line exams since 2005 which
allows the exams to be taken “any time-anywhere”. The exams are on-line
proctored, that is each student has a dedicated one-on-one proctor who is
watching the candidate continuously during the examination. Any potential
distraction and/or indication that a student might use any external resource or
even look away from the screen will invalidate the exam. This guarantees a
secure test environment. Electronic exams by telepresence instead of a physical
presence at a test center has a lot of other advantages, first of all, none of
the exams are identical as the questions are pulled randomly from a large test
pool that is at least twice the actual test size, with the multiple choice
answers being re-arranged for each test. In addition, on-line certification testing
is the only way to offer international certification exams because many countries
do not have access to physical testing centers. Lastly, on-line testing is much
more cost effective. That is most likely one of the reasons that the PARCA
certification exam cost is less than half the cost of the CIIP certification while
the PARCA retake fee ($20) is less than one tenth of the CIIP retake cost
($250).
7.
The difference between PARCA and CIIP is also
reflected in the training options provided by 3rd parties such as SIIM, OTech and others (note that PARCA and ABII are not offering any training themselves as they try to keep a "barrier" between trainers and examiners). PARCA CPAS training is typically a several
day event going through the materials in depth because much of the content is
new to the candidates. The CIIP training is typically a bootcamp to provide
experienced professionals the opportunity to refresh their knowledge prior to
taking the exam. The PARCA IT as well as the CDIP is also more hands-on than
the CIIP, as those topics are difficult to master without any hands-on
exercises.
8.
There are other minor differences between PARCA
and CIIP such as related to the requirement for continuing education and
re-certification and when the content is made up-to-date because the PARCA
requirements have been recently updated to include new technologies such as AI
and cyber security and the CIIP Test Content Outline is up-to-date as of 2019.
In conclusion, both PARCA and CIIP certifications are
valuable and given the fact that after 16 years, thousands of professionals
have become certified, both have certainly established a new standard of
professionalism which benefits the imaging and informatics community. It would
be beneficial for the IIP community if PARCA and ABII would merge and work
towards a more consolidated approach taking the best of both worlds. Time will
tell whether this could happen.
For more details about either certification see PARCA and ABII.
About the author: Herman Oosterwijk has taught the PARCA
curriculum since its inception. He created detailed study guides for both the
CIIP and PARCA certifications. He is also part of the SIIM committee to create
a new internship program based on the CIIP curriculum and part of the SIIM CIIP
bootcamp faculty.