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Volume 4 Issue 1 - February, 2008 President’s Message NCA was founded 30 years ago. It was an era when clinical laboratory science was fully emerging as an independent profession. Our founders passionately believed that changes were needed to the credentialing process as it existed at that time. NCA was based on these key principles:
Our View of the Future The divisions that exist today within the clinical laboratory profession weaken our voice and our professional identity. It is now time for our profession to come to maturity. As we move forward into the 21st century, NCA remains passionately committed to preserving our founding principles. In addition, we believe that a window of opportunity now exists to unify the divided factions within our profession while incorporating and solidifying the continuation of those principles. As is true of many things worth doing, it is worthwhile taking the time to do this well. The meshing of NCA and the BOR cultures into a single credentialing agency requires an expansion of our global perspectives. Building relationships based on trust and respect will take time. If we take the time to do this well, we will increase the likelihood of accomplishing a historic milestone in the development of our profession. We believe the goal is achievable, and are committed to the patience and perseverance to make it a reality. Merger — To Be, Or Not To Be?
As leaders and visionaries in the professional credentialing business, NCA is committed to considering any and all proposals that are brought forth to the board with ample attention to the matter at hand. In November 2005 Dr. E. Blair Holaday visited the NCA board meeting to propose the possibility of forming one credentialing agency for the clinical laboratory sciences profession. I was stunned by the overwhelmingly positive response this elicited from our board members and the presidents of both of NCA’s sponsoring organizations, ASCLS and AGT who were also in attendance. The overall sentiment was that this would be best for our fractured and divided profession. This initial overture from the BOR instigated the journey both of our organizations are on now. After Dr. Holaday departed our meeting, that’s when the real work began. The board searched their souls and realized that as the elected and appointed guardians of NCA they had a daunting decision to make. On one hand there was a great deal of history to consider – history that truly conceived NCA and made it possible for it to exist in the first place. There were social and cultural movements at the time of NCA’s conception as well in 1978 that created the true culture and nature of how NCA is today. On the other hand, the current status of the profession is surrounded by confusion by other members of the healthcare team, an identity crisis and a divisiveness that does not allow the laboratory to have a unified voice with government and with other professions. As true leaders, the NCA Board put aside their points of pride and discussed this opportunity openly and honestly. The decision to begin discussions with BOR on what a merger would look like took place nearly two and half years ago now. Since then the NCA board and its appointed negotiation team has undergone an educational crash course on the various different corporate structures that were viable options, the various different potential board structures and corresponding representation from appropriate parties for the formation of a single agency. And that was just the beginning – after many hours of discussion tempered by a confidentiality agreement by all parties involved a board structure and representation was tentatively agreed upon. From a governance and corporate structure, NCA and BOR are set up and managed very differently, though the lion’s share of our work is similar (examination development). Meshing these two corporations and their cultures will take time, consideration of each other’s positions and patience as we earn one another’s trust. We request that the profession remains patient and we want you to be assured we are still working towards achieving the goal of one credentialing agency for clinical laboratory sciences. Discussions on corporate structure are ongoing. Once this issue is resolved, the truly difficult work would be set to begin – developing a business plan, combining data from both organizations with long histories, finalizing policies on examination development and many, many, many other decisions that still lay ahead of these two organizations. Currently, the BOR has requested additional time to consider some of these factors and NCA awaits a proposal from them. Both organizations continue to try and find ways in which we can collaborate on areas of professional growth and advancement during these discussions. We look forward to receiving and discussing that proposal as we continue to keep the goal in sight! NCA Reports Great Progress and News for 2008
The shift: Isolated Individuals to Connected Community Perhaps the greatest lesson learned in 2007 came with restructuring our new website, Therefore, at the 2008 CLEC meeting presents as an invitation; something that contains important information wrapped in exciting social fabric. A necessary part of any invitation is an introduction. Throughout our history, NCA has been dedicated to setting beneficial standards that provide for public and private patient interests. Our certification represents the best and brightest in today’s medical laboratory field. NCA provides national peer-developed and peer-administered examinations for laboratory personnel. The “main event” is easily seen as all of the exciting changes we’ve made in 2007 and all of the great things we have planned for 2008. There are so many fascinating things that we’ve added to improve our services, strengthen our community, and grow our family. Another exciting addition is NCA Works. This new online feature makes career networking easy and stress-free. Works is a brand new, simple, and accessible career database. Users will be able to stay connected by posting a career opening. Job searchers will have an entire community at their fingertips as they too peruse the professional opportunities the laboratory world has to offer. The main event will only become more enticing as we discuss the Ask NCA for Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals and online publications of Advance for the Administrator; the Ask NCA blog, a complete online recertification system including online payment and online data entry of CEU’s that can be entered and stored until it is time to renew your credential. All exciting things. However, the take home message at our CLEC presentation invitation will be how you can get to the main event. After a short tour of the new site, there are some easy ways that you can join the NCA community and get involved. We want you to completely experience NCA today and notice the many improvements happening all the time. You can send your RSVP today. Bookmark our new website. Explore NCA FAST. Sign up for the free subscriptions of ADVANCE. Use NCA Works. I’ll help you find a way into the NCA community that fits your needs and your style. 2007 was wonderful. It was jam-packed with improvements, achievements, and aspirations. But most importantly, it was full of lessons learned. So, as you prepare to jump feet first into 2008, I would ask you to pause and look back on the things that 2007 taught you. And as we head into what looks to be an even more exciting 2008 at NCA, we offer an invitation of community from our family to yours.
NCA in ADVANCE Newsmagazines At the November 16-17 meeting of the board of directors of The National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel, Inc. (NCA), the agreement made between ADVANCE Newsmagazines and NCA was put into action with a full-day creative session to line up authors and writing assignments in sync with the entire 2008 editorial calendars and publishing plans for ADVANCE for Medical Laboratory Professionals and ADVANCE for Administrators of the Laboratory. “These are two highly-respected, must-read publications throughout the large and diverse field of clinical laboratory practice and management,” said Susan Morris, CLS, NCA President. “Each one has a large and loyal subscriber base with some overlap, yet each of these publications comes through with their own, distinct editorial leadership and topics of greatest importance to laboratory personnel or the administrators.”
The agreement calls for a regular column, called Ask NCA, in every issue of the printed magazine and web-based, twice-a-month publication of ADVANCE for Medical Laboratory Professionals, under the direction of its editor, Matthew Patton. “We agreed, at the same time, to provide a regular column, by the same name—Ask NCA, at least once a month for the new website for ADVANCE for Administrators of the Laboratory, under the direction of its editor, Lynn Nace,” said Morris. “With more than a decade at the helm of ADVANCE for administrators and, prior to that, associate editor of Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals, Nace has been extremely helpful to NCA and all of our writers about what appeals to laboratory administrators and how to cover a topic, such as genetics, molecular or employment needs, in the distinct writing style of the two different publications,” Morris commented. The writing duties and byline for each Ask NCA column will be shared throughout the year for both ADVANCE newsmagazines and websites by more than 20 authors identified by the NCA Board as respected leaders in the clinical laboratory field, each holding one or more NCA certifications. “The timing on this opportunity couldn’t be better,” Morris emphasized. “This is just the beginning of something very big and significant for NCA. For 30 years NCA has taken a front-of-the-pack position by leading the profession with several of the most essential certifications and we’ve been on the front lines where the tests, analysis and treatment decisions come together.” She continued, “Now we have this opportunity to work with the communications experts who have as their mission exactly what we at NCA are all about—advancing the profession and the people who work and live it.” The agreement also calls for crosswalk promotions whereby ADVANCE newsmagazines and NCA work together on content for each others’ websites, blogs, advertisements, newsletters, and special announcements to offer the free subscriptions to all who want to read the publications featuring Ask NCA. Before the first Ask NCA column comes before thousands of readers in January, Matthew Patton volunteered to become a contributing author on NCA’s blog, called Ask NCA & Blog and posted a story on the salary survey for laboratory professionals. “This is what a good alliance is about,” said Sheila O’Neal, NCA Executive Director. “Everyone is collaborating to advance the profession and increasing the awareness of NCA certification.” SUBSCRIBE TO ADVANCE TODAY! Request your complimentary subscription to ADVANCE for Medical Laboratory Professionals here. Request your complimentary subscription to ADVANCE for Administrators of the Laboratory here. Non Profit Corporations – What does it The term nonprofit organization consistently generates confusion. For one thing, the term does not refer to an organization that is prohibited from earning a profit (that is, an excess of revenues over expenses). In fact, it is quite common for non profit organizations to generate profits. Rather, the definition of a non profit organization essentially relates to requirements as to what must be done with the profits earned.1 (Non Profit Law Made Easy, Bruce R. Hopkins, 2005 John Wiley & Sons Inc.) I prefer to use this definition of a non profit organization written by Bruce R. Hopkins, a leading authority on tax exempt organizations, because it is so succinct. There are a variety of categories an organization may fall into in order to qualify for tax exempt status. These categories include charitable organizations (including educational, scientific, and the like), social welfare organizations, labor organizations, business league, social club, employee benefit fund, fraternal society and political organization. NCA’s purpose and mission as listed in the organizational bylaws states that ..the mission of the Agency is to provide quality, peer review certification for clinical laboratory personnel. Its aims and purposes are to:
These stated purposes and aims qualify NCA as a charitable organization because it exists primarily to benefit the public or a large segment of the public. To return to the definition of a non profit organization, this means that the profits that NCA earns in any given year or over the course of many years should be applied towards improving and enhancing its services related to its mission and purpose. Net profit and corporate structure are where the similarities to a for profit business begin. There has to be a governing body that has authority to act on behalf of the organization. The governing body for NCA is the board of directors. Most for profit corporations will also have a board of directors that constitute the governing body of the corporation. NCA’s board members have a fiduciary responsibility similar to that of a for profit organization directing the Chief Staff Officer (myself) to achieve the agreed upon organizational goals and objectives whether that be achieving 15% margin of profit on all programs and services (typical for a for profit corporation) or a minimum of 5% margin of profit. Additionally, the board for either type of corporation may earmark profits for specific future projects. NCA has other products and services, but its primary purpose is to develop the most relevant credentialing examinations for clinical laboratory sciences. The board gives careful consideration to any new program or service requested of NCA prior to launching any new products to determine if it fits the mission and purpose of the organization, if it fills a public need that is not met by another entity and if it will be self sustainable. NCA as a credentialing agency and a charitable corporation has to consider the cycle of its programs and services and plan for their ongoing expenses. As a credentialing agency with accredited examination programs, NCA must plan its activities around the requirements for accreditation. For instance, NCA plans for the update of each of its examination programs content (and there are nine accredited programs) approximately every five years. Staff in conjunction with the volunteers both from the board and the examination committees must continually prepare for when examination content verification needs to occur through the use of a practice analysis tool. Additionally, any other products based on the examination content such as self assessment examinations for preparatory purposes must also be updated. Accredited programs must also use a measurement expert called a psychometrician, individuals who have earned a PhD and have specialized training in statistically analyzing the minimum competency requirements that any profession requires. As you might have guessed, a pyschometrician’s services are quite expensive, but necessary for the high stakes business that NCA is in – which is protecting the public by determining the minimum level of knowledge a professional must have in clinical laboratory science to be considered competent. In addition to the initial determination of one’s competency, NCA has always required the demonstration of continued competency known as recertification. NCA was one of the first professional credentialing agencies to be so forward thinking in 1978 as to require recertification from its inception. Many other professional credentialing agencies only came to the conclusion that recertification was necessary within the last decade. Policies and procedures for initial certification and recertification must be reviewed and updated as the profession and educational avenues change as well. This topic always fascinates me and provides a much needed opportunity to help those we serve understand the importance of the business aspect of the public service NCA provides. The board continues to fulfill the mission the founders of NCA wrote thirty years ago and it is still relevant – now more than ever.
Ask NCA & Blog in Your Classroom Weblogs are increasingly being used in education by researchers, teachers, and students. Weblogs are an excellent way to fuse educational technology and professional implementation inside the classroom and beyond school walls. Because their format is similar to a discussion forum, blogs provide an arena where self–expression and creativity are encouraged and useful and practical advice abounds. Their linkages to other bloggers establish the same peer–group relationships found in nonvirtual worlds. Being situated within the Internet allows bloggers to access their blogs anywhere at anytime an Internet connection is available providing a unique opportunity for learning to continue outside the classroom. More and more collegiate classrooms are extending their walls to the virtual world. Professors enjoy the flexibility, ease, and applicability of using blogs in their curriculum. Because blogs are both individualistic and collaborative, they promote self–expression and connect with an online community. On the Ask NCA blog, bloggers can comment and give feedback to other bloggers, and link to fellow bloggers. This creates an interwoven, dynamic organization where information abounds. Blogs are be multidisciplinary. Any discipline can use blogs to approach a style of meta–learning, where concepts or contexts are discussed and articulated in both a personalized and group exchange, and ideas are built on previous educational content. The Ask NCA blog offers the perfect platform for student and educators in the laboratory field to discuss current material, professional lessons learned, and procedural or technical application. The Ask NCA & Blog engages people in knowledge sharing, reflection, and debate. It fosters the growth of the community, and the dynamics of collaborative filtering and recommending/referring may provide new ways to evaluate, vet, and critique student-created knowledge. To join in the conversation and look into ways that the Ask NCA & Blog can fit into your curriculum, visit our website at www.nca-info.org.
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By now you are probably asking whether or not the discussions between the Board of Registry (BOR) and NCA have fizzled out, come to an impasse or simply halted all together. I think those are fair questions and ones that deserve a considerate response. 
2007 was an exciting year for NCA. From a new website to a complete electronic application for students from NAACLS accredited programs, NCA spent 2007 looking at what we were already doing right, and learning how to make it even better. We discovered how to take all of the things that make our credential the most respected credential in the laboratory field and package them in a way that marks a notable shift. This shift is not only an important one to note, but one worthy of presentation as it helps everyone from student to laboratory manager. 
The Ask NCA blog could serve as a “living text” in which students can actively participate. In the classroom, students can have a personal space to read and write alongside a communal one, where ideas are shared, questions are asked and answered, and social cohesion is developed.