ABMS MOC Included in Health Care Bill as Option to Assess Physician Quality

CHICAGO – Tuesday, March 23, 2010 – A provision in the health care reform measure passed by the House of Representatives Sunday and signed into law today by President Barack Obama includes participation in the American Board of Medical Specialties Maintenance of Certification® (ABMS MOC®) as an option for the nation’s physicians to fulfill requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI).  The bill enhances PQRI by opening up an additional pathway for physician participation in quality reporting starting in 2011, and provides an increased incentive payment beyond the PQRI bonus to physicians who choose to voluntarily participate.  It represents the first time MOC is an option within the Federal accountability framework. 

“ABMS MOC was developed to ensure physician commitment to lifelong learning and competency in his or her specialty and/or subspecialty,” said Kevin B. Weiss, MD, ABMS president and CEO.  “MOC reporting will give patients, health plans and others the information they need to choose physicians based on performance and other key qualifications, including diagnostic acumen, clinical reasoning and medical knowledge.  This bill’s approval is a significant step forward in recognizing the value of MOC in advancing health care quality for the benefit of patients.”

Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, MOC was enacted by ABMS and its 24 Member Boards to enhance the physician certification process, moving from once in a lifetime, or once every six to 10 years, to an ongoing commitment to continuous maintenance of high quality clinical competencies.  ABMS MOC ensures that a participating physician is committed to lifelong learning and ongoing self-assessment in six areas of competency.  While measurement of these competencies may vary according to the medical specialty, this multi-faceted assessment is carried out by all 24 Member Boards using a four-part process, including practice-based learning and improvement.

“Practice performance assessment required by ABMS MOC involves real-world evaluation of clinical practice and quality improvement,” said Christine Cassel, MD, president and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), a Member Board of ABMS.  In MOC, physicians must perform a quality improvement intervention, a process that, by its very nature, calls for continuous improvement for the benefit of patients, physician practices and the broader health care community.

PQRI is a physician quality reporting system established by the CMS.  The program includes an incentive payment for physicians who satisfactorily report data on quality measures for professional services provided to Medicare beneficiaries.

Each of ABMS’ 24 Member Boards will now determine if and how to participate within the PQRI program leveraging this new MOC pathway.

About ABMS
For more than 75 years, American Board of Medical Specialties has been the medical organization overseeing physician certification in the United States. It assists its 24 Member Boards in their efforts to develop and implement educational and professional standards for the evaluation and certification of physician specialists. ABMS Member Boards provide physician certification information to ABMS for its certification verification service programs. ABMS is recognized by the key healthcare credentialing accreditation entities as a primary equivalent source of board certification data for medical specialists. Patients can visit www.abms.org or call toll-free 1-866-ASK-ABMS to see if their physician is board certified by an ABMS Member Board. For more information about ABMS visit http://www.abms.org or call (312) 436-2600.

The 24 Member Boards that make up the ABMS Board Enterprise cover more than 145 medical specialties and subspecialties and include: American Board of Allergy and Immunology, American Board of Anesthesiology, American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, American Board of Dermatology, American Board of Emergency Medicine, American Board of Family Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, American Board of Medical Genetics, American Board of Neurological Surgery, American Board of Nuclear Medicine, American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Board of Ophthalmology, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, American Board of Otolaryngology, American Board of Pathology, American Board of Pediatrics American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, American Board of Plastic Surgery, American Board of Preventive Medicine, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, American Board of Radiology, American Board of Surgery, American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and American Board of Urology.