ABFM Required Annual Fees?

[monkeymedic]

I graduated in 2019 and believe that I need to complete some PI activities by 2022 to stay boarded so I logged into my account to try and complete PI activities. It's saying that I owe the board $200 per year (so $400 right now). I'm not really sure what this fee is or if I need to pay it. I've determined that there are tons of fees that are optional (AAFP, AMA, a bunch of other advertising disguised as invoices) so I'm trying to determine if this one is legit or not. It's giving me the option to prepay fees (so they won't go up in the future) which seems similar to some scams disguised as invoices I've received in the mail. Also, this adds up to $2000 over 10 years, would I be better off not doing the maintenance of certification and just paying the board test fee in 10 years' time?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

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[deleted87716]

1) You need to ask the Board about your account status.

2) Many employers require BC for employment. MOC=BC. You can’t just take an exam every 10 years.

 

[smq123]

I graduated in 2019 and believe that I need to complete some PI activities by 2022 to stay boarded so I logged into my account to try and complete PI activities. It's saying that I owe the board $200 per year (so $400 right now). I'm not really sure what this fee is or if I need to pay it. I've determined that there are tons of fees that are optional (AAFP, AMA, a bunch of other advertising disguised as invoices) so I'm trying to determine if this one is legit or not. It's giving me the option to prepay fees (so they won't go up in the future) which seems similar to some scams disguised as invoices I've received in the mail. Also, this adds up to $2000 over 10 years, would I be better off not doing the maintenance of certification and just paying the board test fee in 10 years' time?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

As BlueDog says, if you don't keep up your MOC (i.e. do your required CME activities every 3 years AND pay the $200), then your board certification technically "lapses." Taking the re-cert exam isn't enough.

 

[monkeymedic]

Thanks for the responses guys! I was hoping that after the NBME and AAMC and USMLE they'd be done nickle and dimeing me, but I guess no such luck! Add on another $200 per year...

 

[FrustratedFamDoc]

Thanks for the responses guys! I was hoping that after the NBME and AAMC and USMLE they'd be done nickle and dimeing me, but I guess no such luck! Add on another $200 per year...

It never stops and they make the rules. I guess we should be thankful(?) it's not more than $200. What choice would we have? They essentially determine your employability. ABFM is the only org required for BC, but AAFP will track your CME and offer online options... for a modest sum.

 

[monkeymedic]

So on the payment page it says: "Note: The amount of the process fee is reviewed annually. The only way to guarantee the fees listed above is to prepay for them prior to any annual increases." It forces me to pay for 2020 and 2021, but I have the option to pay for 2022-2028 as well as a $250 "Examination Application Fee"

Is there any precedent for them increasing this cost year over year? Any benefit to prepaying these fees?

Also, I thought the exam was going away in favor of quarterly "quizzes?"

 

[deleted87716]

I thought the exam was going away in favor of quarterly "quizzes?"

Yes, that's an option now. You can still elect to take the exam, however.

Self-Assessment and Lifelong Learning | ABFM | American Board of Family Medicine

The purpose of the Self-Assessment and Lifelong Learning component of Family Medicine Certification is to help you identify your knowledge gaps and enhance your clinical knowledge and skills to provide high quality patient care.

www.theabfm.org

 

[FamilymedMD]

According to these folks, ABFM has been doing very well financially with their monopoly on FM board certifcation since they mandated MOC:

 

[monkeymedic]

MOC is mandatory now? I thought it was only mandatory because my hospital requires me to remain board certified unless I've been practicing for some number of years?

But yes, I'm doing KSAs right now and they are woefully out of date... I feel if I'm paying $200 per year to access their CEs, they should at least update them once a decade or something...

 

[FrustratedFamDoc]

MOC is mandatory now? I thought it was only mandatory because my hospital requires me to remain board certified unless I've been practicing for some number of years?

But yes, I'm doing KSAs right now and they are woefully out of date... I feel if I'm paying $200 per year to access their CEs, they should at least update them once a decade or something...

MOC is essential if you plan on billing insurance, 'care and 'caid. So in a traditional practice, it is mandatory. Your hospital requires it because insurance requires it.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

MOC is mandatory now? I thought it was only mandatory because my hospital requires me to remain board certified unless I've been practicing for some number of years?

But yes, I'm doing KSAs right now and they are woefully out of date... I feel if I'm paying $200 per year to access their CEs, they should at least update them once a decade or something...

Must be subject dependent as the last two I did seemed up to date to me.

 

[hallowmann]

Must be subject dependent as the last two I did seemed up to date to me.

I think they seem to update them on a rolling basis. Ones that I did a few years ago were the same, but then it looked like they updated others just last year.

 

[Bacchus]

Check to see if your department will cover the fees. As this is necessary to remain board certified my department covers the fees.

 

[monkeymedic]

Check to see if your department will cover the fees. As this is necessary to remain board certified my department covers the fees.

A good thought but my main gig is staffing an ER as an independent contractor with my own LLC so I can write them off against taxes, but that's about it. I moonlight as an employed physician at an urgent care network, but they don't cover fees/licensing/CME for moonlighters. When I was full time with them they did...

 

[deleted1089378]

I graduated in 2019 and believe that I need to complete some PI activities by 2022 to stay boarded so I logged into my account to try and complete PI activities. It's saying that I owe the board $200 per year (so $400 right now). I'm not really sure what this fee is or if I need to pay it. I've determined that there are tons of fees that are optional (AAFP, AMA, a bunch of other advertising disguised as invoices) so I'm trying to determine if this one is legit or not. It's giving me the option to prepay fees (so they won't go up in the future) which seems similar to some scams disguised as invoices I've received in the mail. Also, this adds up to $2000 over 10 years, would I be better off not doing the maintenance of certification and just paying the board test fee in 10 years' time?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Yes, this one is legit and you need to pay it to stay ABFM Board Certified. They have changed the way they administer the testing and the yearly fee and MOC activities now are required to even sit for the ABFM exam every ten years. They do greatly discount the amount you pay to sit for the exam compared to the way it was done before. I finished residency in 1994 and the fee to sit for the exam was like $1200 - $1500 as I recall. That's a pretty rough amount to afford when you just graduate residency and haven't found a job that will pay for it. The new amount is much less for the "privilege" to sit for the exam as they, I guess, consider you pay all along with the $200 a year.
While you might find a job in a rural area that doesn't require Board Certification, you will not be able to get on any insurances, get hospital privileges or find an employer to hire you in any medium or large sized city/town. It's a racket that many docs were against all along. Taking and passing an 8 hour exam doesn't make you a great doctor. Extensive ongoing CME, additional training and peer review should be enough. But no more - anybody with an MBA in hospital administration or the insurance industry won't even invite you to the table for employment or billing reimbursement without being boarded.
And the AMA invoices, I haven't paid in 30 years. They add nothing to my practice of medicine other than more red tape while saying they are advocates for doctors and asking for $500+ every year. Their biggest "contribution" to doctors is making up the codes and printing code books for CPT and ICD-10 codes.

 

[deleted1089378]

BTW you graduated in 2019 so the MBA powers that be will hire you as you are, in their language, "truly Board eligible" for 3 years after residency. After that I believe there is a whole lot of red tape to go through to sit for Boards. Maybe someone else can chime in on how it works now but I know one of the younger docs I worked with in Orange County, California waited too long and it was a real hassle for him and the big group practice gave him a hard time about not being Board Certified 3 years after residency.