Practice Assessment, Patient Voice, Patient Safety requirements being suspended effective immediately
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — In response to concerns from internists and medical specialty societies, immediate changes are being made to the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program, according to correspondence from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).
Physicians have been criticizing the ABIM policy change to introduce a more continuous program in place of the once-every-10-years MOC. In a letter to the internal medicine community, Richard J. Baron, M.D., president and chief executive officer of the ABIM, apologized for parts of the new MOC program that were not meeting the needs of physicians.
According to the letter, the ABIM is suspending the Practice Assessment, Patient Voice, and Patient Safety requirements for at least two years, effective immediately. The language used to publicly report a diplomate’s MOC status will be changed on the ABIM website from “meeting MOC requirements” to “participating in MOC” within the next six months. The Internal Medicine MOC exam is being updated by the ABIM; these changes will be incorporated beginning in the fall of 2015. The ABIM will assure new and more flexible ways for internists to demonstrate self-assessment of medical knowledge by the end of 2015.
“I have heard you — and ABIM’s Board has heard you,” Baron writes. “We will continue to listen to your concerns and evolve our program to ensure it embodies our shared values as internists.”
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