EVANSTON, Ill. - Sept. 12, 2007 - Find out how the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)  is helping to improve the quality of healthcare in the United States and access statistics pertaining to general and subspecialty certification by viewing the newly released 2007 Annual Review and Certification Statistics publications now available at http://www.abms.org/Products_and_Publications/.
“Moving Forward Together” is the theme of this year’s Annual Review which describes progress made by ABMS in implementing its strategic plan. It also highlights several key projects and programs which are examples of the important work ABMS does to lead the way to safe, quality care by certified physician specialists.

• All 24 ABMS Member Boards received approval of their ABMS Maintenance of Certification® plans and program development continues to be ahead of original projections.
• The newly approved subspecialty certificate in Hospice and Palliative Medicine marks the first time 10 ABMS Member Boards have collaborated in the offering of certification in one specific area.
• The ABMS Research and Education Foundation was awarded a two-year, $2.5 million grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support expansion of the Improving Performance in Practice quality care program.

The ABMS 2007 Certification Statistics publication contains information outlining basic information regarding certification by each ABMS Member Board as well as statistics representing certificates issued by specialty, subspecialty and geographic location. These statistics are updated annually and give accurate information about board certified physicians in the United States.

Some general certificate statistics include:

• In 2006, a total of 24,597 general certificates were issued to physicians by the 24 ABMS Member Boards. Since 1997, these boards have issued a total of 242,684 general certificates.
• The following boards issued the greatest number of certificates in 2006:
• American Board of Internal Medicine - 6,774
• American Board of Family Medicine - 3,061
• American Board of Pediatrics - 2,688
• A total of 694,438 U.S. physicians hold general certificates from ABMS Member Boards (according to current 2007 data). The states reporting the greatest number of board certified physicians are:
• California (81,751)
• Florida (37,115)
• New York (59,995)
• Texas (41,661)
• Pennsylvania (34,313)

Read the ABMS Annual Review online at www.abms.org or order a free copy. The Certification Statistics publication may be ordered at a cost of $6. Other publications are also available online.

About ABMS
The American Board of Medical Specialties is the pre-eminent 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 www.abms.org or call (847) 491-9091.