The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has implemented changes to the
Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements. Like the 24 other specialty
boards, ABIM will have a 4 Part Process:
- Part I: Professional standing (licensure)
- Part II: Lifelong learning and self-assessment
- Part III: Cognitive expertise (examination)
- Part IV: Practice performance assessment (performance improvement project)
Parts I and III are essentially unchanged. However Parts II and IV are
new additions. Part II is the lifelong learning and self-assessment component.
It includes continuing medical education (CME) and online modules for most
boards.
Starting in 2014, the ABIM now maintains a report indicating if ABIM
Board Certified physicians are “meeting MOC requirements”.
The ABIM has detailed the
changes in
the MOC requirements. It’s a bit of a maze to try and follow all the details
so we’ll give you the high level bullets here.
What has changed?
Previous: You were required to maintain your Internal Medicine Board
Certification by “simply” passing the ABIM Board Exam every 10 years.
ABIM MOC Changes: In order to be “meeting MOC requirements”, you will
still need to pass the ABIM Board Exam every ten years. In addition, you will
need to:
- Complete at least one ABIM-approved MOC activity every two years
- Earn at least 100 ABIM MOC points every five years with:
- At least 20 points in medical knowledge
- At least 20 points in practice assessment
- Fill out a patient safety and a patient experience survey requirement every
five years
Why the changes?
We are certainly no experts in this area. The ABIM argues that “There is
growing recognition and agreement from the public, consumer groups and medical
organizations that assessing knowledge and performance every 10 years is not
sufficient.” Others could certainly argue this is all about money and power
(after all, ABIM isn’t implementing these changes without a financial
benefit).
There are certainly those that think the MOC changes are helpful and for
the better. Then there are those that take a more cynical, yet popular – and
perhaps accurate – view of the changes. Regardless, these are the rules, at
least for now, that you have to play by if you want to maintain your Internal
Medicine Board Certification.
What’s the cost of this?
Fees (currently) for the Internal Medicine MOC are $194 annually or $1,940 on
a 10-year basis. You can choose to pay annually or pre-pay for 10 years. If you
maintain certification for other specialties, the fees are different.
What if I just got certified? What if I need to certify in 2014? What
about 2015? What if I’ve been “Grandfathered” in?
Almost universally, regardless of when you need to certify, you will be
impacted by the changes. Even for those grandfathered in and not having to meet
any requirements previously, you will now be listed as “not meeting MOC
requirements” (If you are grandfathered in, you will still maintain your
certification but you will be listed as “not meeting requirements”)
In order to understand your specific situation, you should review the
MOC requirements website where it
details the actions you will need to take depending on when you need to
recertify.
Does the ABIM know my contact information?
Make sure you update it if you have not provided them with the most current
information. You can update your
contact
information online.
What medical knowledge modules / products can I complete to earn
points?
You can earn medical knowledge points through the ABIM directly or from other
professional organizations. A list of
ABIM’s
medical knowledge modules can be found on their website.
You can see a
list
of medical knowledge modules products developed by professional
organizations at the ABIM website.
How can I earn practice assessment points?
You can earn practice assessment points by completing
ABIM
PIMs Practice Improvement modules or through the
Approved
Quality Improvement (AQI) pathway.
What if I need help?
With all the rules and requirements that are needed to make this transition,
it can get confusing. If you do need help, you can contact the ABIM at
1-800-441-ABIM or email them at
MOC2014@abim.org
The bottom line
The ABIM Maintenance of Certification requirements have changed. To maintain
Board Certification, you have to play by their rules. It can be confusing and it
will cause problems, especially in the first few years of this transition, but
the change is here to stay.
To learn more about the
ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC)
requirements, visit the
ABIM MOC
website.
