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ABMS announces new MOC details

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, March 31, 2009

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) last Thursday announced new requirements for Maintenance of Certification (MOC), an ongoing education process and performance assessment of certified physicians. Aimed at enhancing physician qualification, the new set of standards requires:

• Documentation of CME and self assessment
• Evidence of practice-based assessment and quality improvement every 2–5 years
• Completed patient safety self-assessment at least once during each MOC cycle
• Communication skills assessment using an approved peer survey and a patient survey such as the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient survey

The new set of MOC standards is a result of the ABMS 2008–2011 Enhanced Public Trust Initiative that was approved last year to improve healthcare quality and encourage transparency. On March 16, the ABMS Committee on Oversight and Monitoring of Maintenance of Certification proposed the new MOC requirements.

The ABMS oversees physician certification in the U.S. and certifies more than 80% of U.S. physicians, according to the ABMS press release. The ABMS is the governing body for its 24 member boards, which cover more than 145 medical specialties and subspecialties, including the American Board of Family Medicine, and the American Board of Emergency Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

Many anticipate ABMS-related certification for inpatient specialists will come from the ABIM as an ongoing MOC program for hospitalists, according to a March 5 Society of Hospital Medicine chapter meeting in Boston.

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