Who is eligible to take the CRA exam?

To sit for the CRA exam, candidates must have at least 5 years of experience in medical imaging management. AHRA also allows a combination of management experience and formal education to satisfy the eligibility requirement — for example, candidates with a bachelor's degree in healthcare administration may qualify with fewer years of direct management experience. Specific combinations are outlined in the AHRA CRA Candidate Handbook. All experience must be verifiable and in a supervisory or management capacity within a medical imaging setting.

How many questions are on the CRA exam and how long do you have?

The CRA exam contains 220 multiple-choice questions and you are given 4 hours to complete them. Not all questions are scored — some are pretest items being evaluated for future use — but you won't know which ones, so treat every question seriously. The exam is administered at Prometric testing centers and is also available in a remote proctored format. Pacing matters: with 220 questions in 240 minutes, you have about 65 seconds per question on average.

What are the four domains of the CRA exam?

The CRA exam covers four domains: (1) Operations Management — workflow, scheduling, modality knowledge, patient throughput; (2) Human Resources Management — staffing, FTE calculations, performance management, licensure requirements; (3) Financial Management — budgeting, cost-per-exam, revenue cycle, CPT codes, RVUs; and (4) Quality and Safety Management — radiation safety (ALARA), MQSA, ACR accreditation, infection control, Joint Commission readiness, and quality improvement tools. Each domain carries a different weight on the exam — consult the AHRA blueprint for current percentages.

How often do CRA certified professionals need to recertify?

CRA certification must be renewed every 3 years. Recertification can be accomplished either by earning the required continuing education credits in imaging management topics (as specified by AHRA) or by retaking the CRA examination. AHRA provides an online portal for tracking CE credits and managing renewal applications. Staying active in AHRA chapter events, webinars, and the annual meeting is a common way imaging administrators accumulate the required credits while staying current on industry changes.

CRA Certified Radiology Administrator Practice Test PDF (Free Printable 2026)

Download a free CRA practice test PDF. Print and study offline for the AHRA Certified Radiology Administrator certification examination.

CRA - Certified Radiology AdministratorMay 5, 20264 min read

CRA Practice Test PDF – Study Offline for the AHRA Certification Exam

The Certified Radiology Administrator (CRA) credential, awarded by the AHRA (Association for Medical Imaging Management), is the gold-standard certification for imaging department managers and directors. This free printable PDF gives you a focused set of practice questions drawn from all four exam domains — so you can study on your terms, whether you're on a break between shifts or preparing at home.

The CRA exam consists of 220 multiple-choice questions administered over 4 hours, covering Operations Management, Human Resources Management, Financial Management, and Quality and Safety Management. Eligibility requires at least 5 years of medical imaging management experience (or a qualifying combination of education and experience). This PDF is designed to reflect the difficulty level and topic distribution of the real exam.

📄Download Free CRA PDF

CRA Exam Fast Facts

What the CRA Exam Tests Across Four Domains

The CRA exam is broad by design — imaging administrators must command both clinical operations and business management. Here is what each domain covers and what the PDF practice questions target.

Operations Management

This domain covers departmental workflow design, patient throughput optimization, scheduling strategies for high-volume imaging, and productivity metrics. You must understand the basics of each imaging modality — X-ray, CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, and PET — at the administrative level: equipment life cycles, downtime planning, and vendor management. Questions also address patient experience standards and referral patterns.

Human Resources Management

HR questions focus on staffing models, FTE calculations, and productivity benchmarking. Expect scenarios involving performance management, progressive discipline steps, and conflict resolution. Joint Commission staffing requirements and medical imaging professional licensure and registry requirements (ARRT, ARDMS, NMTCB) are tested. Topics include onboarding, competency validation, and succession planning for imaging leadership roles.

Financial Management

Financial questions test your ability to build and manage operating and capital budgets, calculate cost-per-exam, and analyze revenue cycle performance in imaging. CPT coding basics for radiology and RVU-based productivity measurement are included. Charge capture errors, denial management, and supply chain management — including contrast agents and imaging consumables — are also fair game.

Quality and Safety Management

This domain spans radiation safety (ALARA principles, dose tracking, occupational exposure monitoring), MQSA compliance for mammography programs, and ACR accreditation standards. Infection control protocols in imaging environments — contrast reactions, sterile field management — are included. Joint Commission and CMS survey readiness, quality improvement tools (PDSA/PDCA cycles, run charts, fishbone diagrams), and patient safety event reporting round out this domain.

Free CRA Practice Tests Online

Supplement the PDF with our interactive CRA practice test for timed, exam-style question sets with instant feedback. The online format lets you identify weak domains quickly and focus your remaining study time where it counts most. Many candidates use the PDF for concept review and the online tests to simulate real exam pressure — a proven combination for first-attempt success on the AHRA CRA exam.