ABIM is doing some shady business

[oncology2020]

http://www.newsweek.com/certified-medical-controversy-320495?piano_t=1

And its going to go into law if the Senate signs the bill. For those not going into internal medicine, put pressure and ask for transparency from your speciality boards as well (as a non-profit organization they are legally required to show the public their IRS form 990--ask your organization to show ALL pages of the document to see where their money is going). These people are not representing our interests and are making it tougher for us by adding more and more years of unnecessary training and making us take expensive & unnecessary exams, while the nursing and mid-level provider organizations are minimizing their training while pushing for legislation and autonomy that benefits their trainees all while getting awesome PR among the government, media, patients--the exact opposite of what our so-called leaders are doing for us. It's sad but nurses have some of the best run organizations and lobbying groups--I'm very envious. Please share the link with classmates, residents, fellows and physicians. This affects us all.

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[TooMuchResearch]

What made you think it wasn't all just endless hoops through which we jump to line others' pockets?

 

[Instatewaiter]

If that article is accurate it is incredibly scary.

 

[oncology2020]

And it's not just IM..it's virtually every field in medicine/surgery from family med, peds, derm, Pysch to ENT..check it out..it's a racket

http://www.changeboardrecert.com/anti-moc.html

 

[oncology2020]

ABIM purchased a $2.3 million condo that comes with a chaffereud BMW..how nice

http://drwes.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-abim-foundation-choosing-wisely-and.html?m=1

"Extremely Spacious Three Bedroom, 3.5 Bath Home at the Ayer Condominium. Tremendous Entertaining Space. 11’7’’ ceiling heights. Bulthaup b-3 kitchen system, Miele and Subzero Appliances. Huge windows with northwest views. High floor offering stupendous sunsets. Gorgeous stone bathrooms. Abundant closet space. One garage parking space included. Concierge, doormen, valets, gym, chauffeur driven BMW 7-Series."

 

[rajhanda]

It appears that the leadership and management are highly trained and certified in multiple specialties, namely, blackmail, extortion, corruption and racketeering. Unfortunately, because of their Mafia-style secrecy, the world will never know how many millions they've spent on Washington to perpetuate and strengthen their death grip on American medicine.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 

[deleted547631]

http://www.newsweek.com/certified-medical-controversy-320495?piano_t=1

And its going to go into law if the Senate signs the bill. For those not going into internal medicine, put pressure and ask for transparency from your speciality boards as well (as a non-profit organization they are legally required to show the public their IRS form 990--ask your organization to show ALL pages of the document to see where their money is going). These people are not representing our interests and are making it tougher for us by adding more and more years of unnecessary training and making us take expensive & unnecessary exams, while the nursing and mid-level provider organizations are minimizing their training while pushing for legislation and autonomy that benefits their trainees all while getting awesome PR among the government, media, patients--the exact opposite of what our so-called leaders are doing for us. It's sad but nurses have some of the best run organizations and lobbying groups--I'm very envious. Please share the link with classmates, residents, fellows and physicians. This effects us all.

That article was juicy. ABIM deserves the heat coming down on them and more. Do away with these board cert scams.

 

[sozme]

From that article Check this part out

Kroll says he has no vested interest in his ongoing investigation of ABIM’s finances and has taken on the organization largely out of outrage at what he considers to be its accounting abuses. ABIM made it quite difficult to obtain its audited financials, he says, but the group eventually posted one year’s version on its website. By then, however, Kroll had obtained copies elsewhere and found that ABIM, in that posting, left out many pages without revealing it had done so, a move that hid plenty of its expenses—including salaries—from prying eyes. Kroll disclosed the ruse online, and ABIM quietly reposted the document, this time in full.

What it showed were accounting techniques that would make the illusionists at Enron blush. ABIM and the ABIM Foundation lost $39.8 million on program services in the five years ending in 2013—a nonprofit indeed. Yet during that same time, the organizations paid $125.7 million to its senior officers and staff.

How does any organization with year after year of massive losses continue paying huge salaries? By relying on an accounting maneuver called “deferred revenue.”[...]

And there is the bookkeeping magic trick. ABIM is collecting a lot of money up front that it is not recognizing on its income statement and then using the cash to fund the massive losses from the program itself. “Deferred revenue has kept them afloat,’’ Kroll says. “They are in a financial free fall. I have never seen anything so reckless.”

 

[oncology2020]

Based on the other aritcle I posted, ABIM essentially created a subsidiary ABIM called ABIM Foundation to funnel money into (notice how the executives are getting ridiculous salaries from BOTH non-profits..what?!?). They incorporated it in Iowa instead of where they are located (Pennsylvania) because in Iowa you don't have to disclose your finances to the state of Iowa. Read below. Sooo shady

In 1999 for reasons that are unclear, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), itself a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) independent non-profit physician evaluation organization domiciled in Iowa, created a second non-profit tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) organization, the ABIM Foundation (Foundation), to first define and later promote the term "medical professionalism." Both the ABIM and the Foundation share a common address in Pennsylvania and common officers.

...So how did the ABIM Foundation accumulate all that money? Reviewing public tax records of the ABIM and its Foundation reveals a significant portion of the Foundation's revenues came directly from the ABIM. Recall that ABIM receives 97% of its annual revenuesfrom physician certification (62%) and re-certification fees (35%), with only 14% of these fees going toward physician examination development. In 2007 and 2008 alone, cash grants from the ABIM to its Foundation of $7 million and $6 million respectively were issued. The public records disclosed that $17,360,000 from the ABIM were made to its Foundation in the 7 years ending 6/30/2008.

...It should be noted that in the year of the condominium purchase the former President and CEO of the ABIM earned $484,883 from the ABIM and $161,627 from the Foundation. Other executives of ABIM that year included Executive Vice President of the ABIM earning $379,915 from the ABIM, and Senior Vice President earning $185,122 from the ABIM and $185,122 from the Foundation and nowserves as a Vice President of Anthem, Inc., formerly Wellpoint.

...Reviewing the public record on when and where the ABIM Foundation was actually created discloses another discrepancy. We observe that the Foundation has recorded on their tax returns as being founded in 1999 with its "legal domicile" in Iowa, like the ABIM. However, a search for the organization in Iowa comes up empty, while a search in Pennsylvania Department of State (screen shot here) shows the Foundation was actually created in Pennsylvania in 1989. Which is correct?

We should note that non-profits are not required to file financial statements with the state of Iowa, while Pennsylvania requires them. This raises uncomfortable questions. Is the Foundation's Iowa domicile sheltering the sources and uses of its funds? Why does a non-profit promoting "medical professionalism" need to accumulate this much revenue? Is this how the Foundation demonstrates their "medical professionalism" to the public? To whom is the ABIM and Foundation "accountable?" Anyone?

 

[NickNaylor]

This is what happens when people get monopoly power: you have no effective choice in this matter (at least for the time being), thus if you want the benefits of being board certified, you have to deal with their nonsense. Unfortunately for the ABIM and most specialty boards, they got a little too arrogant and greedy and managed to piss off a lot of people to a point of seemingly no return.

I'll be interested in seeing how the alternate certifying body that has popped up does.

 

[DubVille]

Just keep this in mind as you near the end of your residency and plan for the future. Also tell your colleagues.

https://nbpas.org

It's the grassroots organization to counter the absurd requirements of MOC and become board certified through another avenue after completing your initial ABMS board test (ABIM, etc for each specialty). The creation of this organization promoted some of the backtracking the ABIM did a shirt time ago. They look to have boarding options for most every specialty.

 

[PikminOC]

That article was juicy. ABIM deserves the heat coming down on them and more. Do away with these board cert scams.

Exactly right.
Being an MD is enough along with CME you need for state licensing.
The rest is ridiculous.
Look at other midlevel fields. The BC is a joke and they barely even do it. Comes in a cracker jack box along with the milled diploma from online education.

 

[GUH]

Just keep this in mind as you near the end of your residency and plan for the future. Also tell your colleagues.

https://nbpas.org

It's the grassroots organization to counter the absurd requirements of MOC and become board certified through another avenue after completing your initial ABMS board test (ABIM, etc for each specialty). The creation of this organization promoted some of the backtracking the ABIM did a shirt time ago. They look to have boarding options for most every specialty.

How does the NBPAS expect to stand out as an independent board if they require previous ABMS certification for anyone who applies?

 

[wholeheartedly]

How does the NBPAS expect to stand out as an independent board if they require previous ABMS certification for anyone who applies?

It's always possible that it's just a transitional phase until they come up with their own. Or they'll just leave it as is for the exam, then they'll take over at the point of continuing education as a cost-saving measure since it's a volunteer group currently.