PACS SAs: Titles and Salaries

The definition of core requirements for the different PACS system administrator (SA) jobs, ranging from associates to interface analyst, administrator and manager, and corresponding exams has definitely encouraged many professionals to start enhancing their skills and filling in the gaps, whether in the IT or clinical domain or both.
As a recent survey conducted by Skinner and Associates among PACS SAs shows, there is still a lack of consistency with regard to what these jobs are called and their salary ranges.
In the PACS profession, “PACS administrator” or “PACS system administrator” leads the pack as the most frequently reported job title, by 37 percent, reported Skinner and Associates. Among PACS SAs there was quite a range of job titles.
The next most frequently reported job title (11 percent) was “RIS/PACS administrator.” Only 11 percent of professionals have the word “imaging” in their job title. Only one reported job title contained the word “enterprise.”
As for salaries (see chart at right), 28 percent of the respondents reported making $60,000 or less, while 18 percent earn more than $106,000 annually. Some of that can be explained by the geographic location, but even so, there is still quite a spread.
The survey results indicate that geographic region does impact salaries:
• Salaries tend to be higher in western states, where 42 percent of respondents have salaries over $85,000. All respondents with salaries over $106,000 live in California.
• Salaries in central states are generally lower: 63 percent of respondents report salaries less than $76,000.
• Salaries of respondents from eastern states were spread across most salary ranges, with 38 percent reporting salaries over $75,000.
• It appears that employers are making some adjustments for geographic regions, but most are still focused on salaries under $85,000.
Despite a lack of consistency in job titles and salary ranges, I anticipate that PARCA certification efforts have already started and will continue to help establish these titles and salary ranges. It will be interesting to see in next year’s survey how PARCA certification will impact the career paths and opportunities for these professionals.
Skinner and Associates is a healthcare recruiting firm and can be reached at www.skinnerandassociates.com; more details about the salary survey can be found in the free resource guide, which you can download from www.otpedia.com.