The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has issued that challenges the American Board of Internal Medicine's Maintenance of Certification (ABIM MOC) requirements, stating its belief that rheumatologists have lost confidence in the program.
In a press release, ACR president E. William St. Clair, MD, stated that "[o]ur members strongly feel the ABIM MOC program not only fails to appropriately assess their competence but lacks evidence that patients are benefiting from their involvement with it."
The current MOC requirements do not provide the best way to optimize patient outcomes and justify the expenditure of rheumatologists' time and resources, according to the statement.
Specific points made by the statement include the following:
- The program should be modified to permit rheumatologists to develop an ongoing professional development program suitable to his/her own professional needs
- The Practice Assessment, Patient Voice, and Safety Assessment components of the recertification process should not be reinstated because they are redundant
- The "secure, closed book, high-stakes MOC examination" should be replaced by "CME activities that include assessment and demonstrate educational benefit, or a take home open-book exam should be considered as appropriate assessment tools for MOC"
- An independent, external review of the MOC program should be undertaken and the findings made public
In addition, both the scope of the program and its costs should be reined in, the ACR statement said. "Concerns about the financial stewardship of the ABIM are widespread among the membership of the ACR and the basis for those concerns lies in both the appearance of impropriety and the overreach of the ABIM MOC program."
"Thus, a transparent accounting of the cost to the physician of the MOC program is essential and a reduction in cost commensurate with the reduction in the program should be instituted."
"We share the same goal of ensuring our patients receive the highest quality of care available, but we have identified numerous areas where the current MOC process fails in this aim while substantially adding to physicians' administrative and cost burdens," said Joel Block, MD, chair of the ACR's education committee, in a press release.
"It is our desire to see barriers that prevent our members from pursuing meaningful educational activities in order to meet MOC requirements removed," Block said, noting that the group was "encouraged" by recent changes ABIM had made in its MOC program.
Earlier this year, ABIM backtracked on some of the new requirements it had instituted in 2014, which had prompted outcries from individual physicians and medical societies.