ABIM Apology

[gutonc]

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Anybody else get this email today:

I must say that I'm pretty shocked by this. Not what they're doing, but that they're doing the right thing...or at least something that vaguely approximates the right thing for their members.

 

[Mad Jack]

I just regained a fragment of my faith in humanity.

 

[gutonc]

I just regained a fragment of my faith in humanity.

Humanity and the ABIM leadership are two different things.

 

[babdoc]

That's a welcome step in the right direction. I'm glad they are, it appears, taking input from the wider internal medicine community. Unlike so many things we do in the medical profession, board certification should signal something initially attained through many years of hard work and education and maintained in a way that allows the physician to easily evaluate his/her own growth rather than waste time completing a list of tasks.

 

[jdh71]

I got that email. I'm interested to see how it all shakes out.

 

[gutonc]

I got that email. I'm interested to see how it all shakes out.

Yeah...I was surprised at just how far they backpedaled. We'll see what the new plan is but I doubt it can be worse than the current one.

Famous last words.

 

[jdh71]

Yeah...I was surprised at just how far they backpedaled. We'll see what the new plan is but I doubt it can be worse than the current one.

Famous last words.

What I really liked was that it sounds like they plan on being reasonable regarding CME, as in: not just through THEIR system, but allowing other forms to count.

 

[jdh71]

I mean if I got to a national meeting in my area of specialty and clock in a bunch of hours it should count.

 

[gutonc]

I mean if I got to a national meeting in my area of specialty and clock in a bunch of hours it should count.

Of all the ludicrous parts of the requirements, this was the most ridiculous.

 

[group_theory]

I was surprised by the email too - the tone was apologetic, and they listened to the concerns and made some changes. Steps in the right direction.

I didn't mind the medical knowledge portion since if you attend national conferences (such as ATS or CHEST), there were opportunities to get MOC points for attending. The thing that was most annoying was the Patient Voice/Patient Safety requirement, which require basically more work and more paperwork (on top of everything else like PQRS) just for the sake of paperwork ... glad they are suspending it.

What I found most surprising is how much they listened to the criticism - didn't expect them to change the format of the recertification exam - would be interested to see how they change it (how is knowing from memory how to work up treatment of paroxymal nocturnal hemaglobinuria relevant to a pulmonologist, or how is knowing the causes of NSIP relevant to an oncologist)

 

[JustSomeMD]

Not to be a downer but the while the letter sounds apologetic, the substance of the changes are very minimal.

Yes, it is nice to hear them say "sorry" but I'm not buying it. I think they're trying to sabotage the NBPAS so it doesn't get too far off the ground.

They were told that the PIM's were useless and annoying and that only resulted in a change in name to "Patient Voice" with no changed in the requirement. They were implored not to change the status of diplomates on their websites to "Not Meeting MOC Requirements" well before the go-live date last year and ignored the pleas. They were called out for the falling pass rate for the MOC exam which they simply blamed on physician test taker preparedness and motivation. For years they were told on surveys and by state medical societies how useless we felt most of the MOC activities were and how the fees were getting far too high which garnered no response and yet higher fees and more in-house published "studies" demonstrating the value of MOC.

But on January 15th the NBPAS rolls out a new certification option and faced with the possibility that they might lose some of their certification 'subscribers'-- that makes them say "Oops, we messed up" three weeks later?

There's a bigger picture and game here. I suspect it's tied to the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. I think they want us to relax and be quiet for a couple of years so they can shove the IMLC through which will force all physicians into MOC compliance eventually
http://www.aapsonline.org/index.php...e_oppose_interstate_medical_licensing_compact

Whatever it is, I don't trust them any more than I did before the 'apology'. There's something else they have planned and I my guard is up waiting for it.

 

[JustSomeMD]

What I found most surprising is how much they listened to the criticism - didn't expect them to change the format of the recertification exam

It doesn't say that they are changing the format, just that they are "making the exam more reflective of what physicians in practice are doing". To me this is a non-starter. There's still no accountability or transparency in how they put the exam together or what shenanigans they pulled over the last 5 years to drag the pass rate down from 90% to 78%. And are they admitting that they just made some BS exam in the past if the new one will be "more reflective of what physicians are doing"?

 

[gutonc]

I look at this whole thing as more or less them admitting that it actually is all about the money. They've stopped hiding behind "patient safety and advocacy" and "physician education" and let us get credit for the stuff we already do anyway.

ABIM-MOC: "Maximizing Our Cashflow"

 

[tartesos]

I got it too . I'm glad I didn't have to pay anything before... One good thing about still being in fellowship!

 

[Gastrapathy]

.

 

[michaelrack]

I passed the recert exam in 2012 but never completed the practice assessment requirement. A found a chapter ACP meeting about 6 hours from me that will have 20 medical knowledge MOC points avail in 2-3 weeks. Once I complete that I will be fully certified in internal medicine again. Things will get bad again after the 2 year suspension of requirements is over, but for now it is all good.

 

[LoudBark]

Anybody else get this email today:

I must say that I'm pretty shocked by this. Not what they're doing, but that they're doing the right thing...or at least something that vaguely approximates the right thing for their members.

That is too bad. I was really, really looking forward to the "Patient Voice" requirement to hand out 5 page phone surveys to all of my patients. That would have made me a more complete, well rounded physician.

 

[michaelrack]

any idea when abim is going to update their website? I should be recertified as soon as it is updated- this is an issue for me since I am filling out applications right now for hospital staff privileges, etc

 

[tartesos]

any idea when abim is going to update their website? I should be recertified as soon as it is updated- this is an issue for me since I am filling out applications right now for hospital staff privileges, etc

If you passed your boards you are certified.
That shouldn't be a problem if they update or not.
I've never had to furnish documentation of board certification so far, just state that I am.

 

[michaelrack]

The hospital staff privileges application I just filled out asked about dates of initial certification, expiration date, if you recertified (and if so date of recertification). I put on the app that I did recertify in IM, pending update of the ABIM website. This shouldn't affect things to much since it is a psych job, but credentiallers are sometimes obsessive about verifying everything; this is how I appear on the public section of the abim website:

ABIM leaders announced significant changes to the MOC program on 2/3/15, including suspension of some requirements. Therefore, some diplomates who are listed as "not certified" may be certified. And some diplomates may have certifications that are not listed on this page. We apologize for the inconvenience and we will have this page corrected as soon as possible.

March 5, 2015
Rack, Michael J.


Sleep Medicine: Certified

Meeting Maintenance of Certification Requirements: Yes

INITIAL CERTIFICATION
Internal Medicine: 2002
Sleep Medicine: 2007

 

[gutonc]

FWIW, I put the date that I took the exam. I think as long as you have a date (and you're not lying about the certification), you should be fine. But you're right about credentiallers being remarkably uptight about that stuff.