ABIM to offer new MOC assessment options in January 2018

WASHINGTON — The American Board of Internal Medicine plans to offer a new Maintenance of Certification examination option in January 2018, according to a press release issued by the organization.

ABIM will offer an additional assessment format in addition to its traditional 10-year MOC exam, granting physicians more flexibility, it stated.

In a presentation at the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Meeting, Richard. J. Baron, MD, president and CEO of ABIM, explained that the new option creates two MOC assessment pathways: one with more frequent assessments with fewer questions, completed outside a testing center and the traditional long-form assessment taken every 10 years. The traditional exam will, however, feature other enhancements and improvements requested by physicians, he said.

“ABIM board-certified physicians will soon have a choice of pathways to maintain their certification over the course of their career,” Baron said in the release. “At a time when online credentials with no standards behind them are proliferating in many disciplines, doctors have told us they want us to continue to provide an MOC credential that says to their peers and to the public, in a credible and substantial way, that they are maintaining the knowledge they need to practice medicine. By offering shorter assessments that they could take at home or at the office, we hope to lower the stress and burden that many physicians have told us the current 10-year exam generates.”

As detailed in the release, the new exam option will consist of shorter assessments that physicians can take on their own computer. The assessment will be taken more frequently than every 10 years, but not more than once each year. Physicians who perform well on the shorter assessments will be able to test out of the standard 10-year MOC exam.

In addition, the option will provide doctors with feedback on areas where they can improve, allowing them to seek more appropriate education.

“ABIM is grateful for all of the suggestions and guidance that we have received from physicians over the past year,” Baron said in the release. “Already more than 9,000 ABIM board-certified physicians have shared their opinions with us through a survey and hundreds more are helping ABIM by participating in our MOC blueprint review and open book study. As we move forward with the new proposed assessment pathway, we will seek additional input from physicians, the public and other stakeholders. Together, we will build an assessment program that better reflects how physicians practice medicine today while preserving a credential in which the profession can take pride and the public can place trust.”

The new option will be made available to physicians who want to maintain their certification in internal medicine. It may also be available for one or two subspecialties. ABIM plans to use feedback from the initial exams to inform decisions regarding other specialty MOC assessments, Baron said in his presentation.

ABIM will also seek and study physician feedback on components of the new assessment option including: frequency, number of questions, remote proctoring methods, the testing out process and the format for physician feedback regarding the knowledge gaps revealed in assessments. In addition, the organization is currently conducting research on 850 physicians who are taking part in an open-book study. Results are expected later this year.

According to the release, more information regarding the alternative assessment option will be available by December 31, 2016. ABIM also plans to open a public comment period about the changes before implementation.

"We want to be able to make a statement that someone is staying current in knowledge and we want to have a basis for making that statement," Baron said during the discussion. "I want to point out that patients have access to the Internet, too, but that doesn't mean they have the same knowledge and skills and abilities that we have as physicians. And I would point out that, most of us in practice, if we looked up stuff on every patient that we saw, we wouldn't get through the day any more than the people trying to get through the exam."

He continued: "I would not undervalue what our knowledge is actually worth. I wouldn't undervalue the social importance of being able to speak to that in a credible way. In a world where people can get a certification on the Internet, where I could become certified by the New York Institute of Cardiology, whatever that is, and call myself a cardiologist, that stuff is happening. In a world where that's happening, we all have an interest that there be a real standard that we can place trust in. That's the challenge and that's the journey we're on together." – by Chelsea Frajerman Pardes

Reference:

Baron RJ, et al. Engaging the Internal Medicine Community in Redesigning MOC. Presented at: ACP Internal Medicine Meeting; May 5-7, 2016; Washington, D.C.

Disclosures: Baron is the president and CEO of ABIM and ABIM Foundation.