Communicating the fact of a physician's board certification is as important as the qualification itself. Part of ABMS' mission is to make this information accessible to everyone who is interested.

Information about a physician’s certification status has always been available through ABMS or an ABMS Member Board. Providing information to the public that assures them of a physician’s qualifications was one of the original purposes for the organization and remains just as important today. Board certification information was initially offered in a print directory. As specialty medicine expanded and the number of certifying boards grew, board certification information quickly became an essential part of constructing a physician’s professional profile. Board certification information provided by ABMS is now considered the “gold standard” because of its credibility and quality.

Through the years, ABMS board certification data has been referenced by healthcare organizations, insurance companies, law firms, recruiters and research organizations for their purposes. Today, ABMS collects the information from the certifying boards, maintains a centralized database and circulates the information through its licensees for professional use. Plus, millions of people have checked their doctor’s board certification through the ABMS Web site or have called the toll-free number. (1-866-ASK-ABMS)

ABMS data has also played a role during times of national crisis. Information from the second edition of the ABMS Directory of Medical Specialists was invaluable to the Armed Forces for the classification of medical officers serving during World War II. In 2005, board certification information was accessed electronically from the ABMS database by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for emergency verification of volunteers to support Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts. Our emergency credentialing initiative continues to expand to other organizations that need to verify credentials after a disaster or tragedy.

What started 75 years ago as a simple written registry of 147 board certified physicians has grown into a centralized database containing more than 800,000 physician records to whom certificates have been issued since 1917. From the bookshelf, over the phone, from the Internet and through a network, both the public and professionals alike can conveniently and consistently find out a doctor’s certification.

From the Bookshelf

Soon after the Advisory Board’s creation in 1933, plans were made to publish a “registry” of diplomates. Suggestions were solicited from the seven existing boards as to the type of information that should be collected and reported; what, if any, information is currently being reported by the boards; and the number of diplomates from each board.

Following discussion of these and other suggestions at a meeting of the Executive Committee and the Committee on Standards and Examinations, it was decided that the general plan be to present the registry in sections devoted to each separate specialty board. Each section was to include:

• A summary from the board including its purpose and plan, certification requirements, examination description and a list of board members
• Tables outlining the facilities for graduate training in the specialty both in the United States and Canada
• A geographic listing of the board’s diplomates by state with addresses
• An alphabetic index of biographical information

The first edition of the Directory of Medical Specialists was published by the Columbia University Press in 1939 and financial support was provided by the Josiah H. Macy, Jr. Foundation. After that, an attempt was made to finance the venture with funds provided by the specialty boards and the next edition was published in 1942. This proved to be partially successful for a brief period, but soon some of the boards found it impossible to meet their obligations. Consequently, the plan was abandoned and for a few years publication of the Directory was discontinued.

Paul Titus, MD

Finally, Dr. Paul Titus, then Secretary-Treasurer of the Advisory Board, led negotiations with the A.N. Marquis Company (publishers of Who’s Who in America), and an agreement was reached whereby they would publish the Directory. The third edition was published in 1946.

The relationship continued until 1983 when ABMS took over publishing the registry from the Marquis company. ABMS had purchased computer hardware and software with the intent of creating a centralized database of physician board certification information. The formation of the database originally consisted of separate databases for each Member Board. ABMS initially populated the databases with information from previous directories.

Each diplomate was then mailed a form for revising their biographical information. Updating the database with the new information received was a rather involved process requiring three shifts of people to run the letters and forms, process the incoming mail, key in the new data and run reports. By the end of 1985, ABMS had gathered up-to-date biographic information on diplomates in all specialties. A maintenance program was initiated to continually update information on those diplomates already listed and to add new diplomates as they are certified.

ABMS Compendium of Certified Medical Specialists first published in 1988

Out of these new databases, ABMS began publishing individual directories and the first ABMS Compendium of Certified Medical Specialists, in 1988.

In 1992, ABMS resumed its relationship with the Marquis company through its subsidiary Reed Reference Publishing to produce the Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists®. This publication replaced the directories each organization previously published. By this time the publication appeared as a four-volume set containing some 425,000 listings. The Directory was to be published every two years with a supplement of new diplomates published in between. Three years later, the Directory was published for the first time as a CD-ROM reference: ABMS Medical Specialists Plus™.

Today’s Directory, published in cooperation with Elsevier, is a four-volume reference that presents current, reliable data on every ABMS Board-certified physician in the United States – nearly 700,000 listings.

Over the Telephone

Sample page from the 1990 Yellow Pages Program

Responding to the heightening issue of consumer access to information about a doctor’s credentials, ABMS launched the Yellow Pages Program early in 1990 to offer the public another way to identify those physicians that are certified by an ABMS Member Board. At that time, Yellow Page officials estimated that consumers consult the directory heading “physicians and surgeons” more than 1 billion times a year.

The program allowed physicians certified by a Member Board of ABMS to publicize their credentials under the ABMS trademark and specialty board headings in the Yellow Pages. Physicians certified by a Member Board were contacted for their interest in being included in advertised group listings that were placed in more than 2,000 local directories around the country. Separate display ads contained a toll-free number allowing callers to check the status of doctors not listed in the ad.

The contract for the Yellow Pages Program was transferred to the Telephone Marketing Program, Inc. (now TMP Worldwide) in 1992. The following year, it was renamed the ABMS Public Education Program and the toll-free number was receiving almost 1,000 calls a day. ABMS continues to offer the free telephone service through 1-866-ASK-ABMS. A professional call center now handles the calls.

From the Internet and Through a Network

In 1993, the ABMS computer system was enhanced and the 24 databases were merged into a single database. A standardized format for receiving certification information from the Member Boards was agreed upon and a method for electronic transfer of the information from the boards was established in 1998 making uploads quicker. Now that this was complete, ABMS began finding other ways to efficiently provide board certification to everyone who seeks it. 

Screenshot of "Is Your Doctor Certified?" physician certification interface for consumers

• In 2000, ABMS debuted “Is Your Doctor Certified?”, a free service accessible through the ABMS Web site where visitors could search the ABMS database by name, city or state to verify a doctor’s certification. This replaced the Yellow Pages component of the Public Education Program which grew less popular due to quicker accessibility through the Internet. Over 200,000 physician certification searches are performed on "Is Your Doctor Certified?" by the public each month.

• To protect the security and quality of ABMS data and to avoid confusion between ABMS data and other physician-reported data, the ABMS Display Agent program was created in 2003 to designate products and services that can distribute data with the same primary source equivalency as if provided by ABMS.
  
  
• In 2004 ABMS introduced ABMS Direct Connect™, a browser-based system for our licensees that allows them to provide an uninterrupted, secure and direct connection to the ABMS database. With direct access right from the computer, users can get the information they need to satisfy Primary Source Verification (PSV) requirements (including The Joint Commission, NCQA, URAC and other accrediting organizations) complete with effective and expiration dates.

• By 2005, many medium to larger organizations that credential and privilege physicians were asking for products and services to streamline the credentials verification and application management process, reduce costs and create efficient processes. ABMS responded with the ABMS Direct Connect Select™ service. When added to an existing electronic credentialing system, ABMS Direct Connect Select provides direct access to ABMS data for PSV through a secure Internet connection. With this technology integrated into the workflow, credentialing professionals have use of a distinct toolset consisting of direct queries and multiple search element options, searches on numerous physicians at once, storage of search information for future purposes and pre-population of their credentialing database with found information.

The information for this history has been compiled by ABMS staff through an examination of ABMS' records and documents. As with all historical reporting, the information we've provided is based on our understanding and interpretation of these records. If you find any factual inaccuracies, please advise us by contacting the Director of Marketing and Communications at (847) 563-4531