All Entries Tagged With: "board certification"
Majority of physicians participating in maintenance of certification
Thousands of physicians who belong to the American Board of Medical Specialties are enrolling annually in the recertification process known as Maintenance of Certification (MOC). MOC is a voluntary, structured program in which physicians participate in education and activities related to recertification on an ongoing basis rather than every 10 years. Ninety-one percent of all active American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM)-certified family physicians eligible for the MOC program are participating, while 90% of internal medicine physicians are participating. This trend may be the result the public’s expectation that physicians stay current in their medical specialties and maintain certification. According to a study conducted by the ABMS, 45% of patients would look for a new doctor if they learned that theirs did not have current certification.
Read more here.
Doctors cheat on ABIM certification exam
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) claims that about 140 practitioners cheated on certification exams, according to a June 9 Wall Street Journal article. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704256604575294712195930970.html). The practitioners allegedly purchased test questions from a test-prep company, which violates the ABIM’s test policy signed by test takers.
However, Christine Cassel, M.D., president and chief executive of the ABIM, is quick to point out that most test takers are honest and take the certification exam in good faith.
Click here to learn more about the case, and read “ABIM Sanctions Physicians for Ethical Violations,” on the ABIM’s website. (http://www.abim.org/news/ABIM-sanctions-physicians-for-ethical-violations.aspx)
Florida proposes higher pain medicine training requirements
“Because of the number of deaths we’ve had in the state, we feel it’s necessary for people to have extra training,” Board of Medicine committee member Lisa Tucker, MD, a Pensacola-based obstetrician told the paper.
However, some opponents say that the proposed regulations are too strict and make it overly burdensome for patients to receive care.
Below are the proposed regulations.
For practitioners with hospital privileges, board certification, and/or accredited post-graduate training in pain management: These practitioners would be required to complete 20 hours of CME in pain management every two years.
For practitioners without hospital privileges, board certification, and/or accredited post-graduate training in pain management: These practitioners would be required to complete three years of full-time practice in pain management and successfully complete a 40 hour, in-person, graded course on pain treatment. This proposed requirement would last until 2012. After that, the proposed requirement is for these practitioners to complete an 80-hour to 120-hour comprehensive pain management course by an accredited Florida medical school every two years.
ABP certification change sparks confusion
On January 1, 2010, the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) announced an amendment to its board certification process that may change the future maintenance of certification (MOC). Starting in 2010, newly issued certificates of board certification will not contain a specific end date. This means that copies of this certificate cannot be used to verify a physician’s board certification status. Rather, a physician’s board certification status will be linked to his or her status in the MOC process, which can change over time depending on whether the physician is up to date in the MOC process. Medical staffs can verify MOC on the ABP Web site.
This change presents several questions for MSPs including:
- When and how often should MSPs check MOC status?
- Should medical staffs or specialty boards track the continuing education of certified physicians?
Although the ABP is still working on clarifying this topic for the field, MSPs can read more about the issue in the latest edition of Medical Staff Leader Connection.
Check back on the Credentialing Resource Center Blog for more information about this evolving topic.
Q&A: Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Certification
Check out the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Q&A about Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Certification. It’s a great resource for MSPs responsible for verifying the certification and for practitioners interested in pursuing certification.
The Q&A provides answers to questions such as:
- When will ABIM require ACGME accredited training in this area?
- Will DOs be eligible to take the examination?
- Who should I contact for more information?
Poll question: Reimbursing for practitioner certifications
The American Board of Medical Specialties approved a new medical specialty for treating child abuse last month. This move highlights the importance practitioners place on regulating their work through certification programs. Medical staffs also value certifications and sometimes make them a privileging requirement.
In this week’s poll question we want to know if your organization helps pay for these certifications. Take the poll below and see how your facility compares to others.
More talk of board certification
Yes, folks, the conversation regarding board certification as a measure of physician competency is till rolling. More of your colleagues have written in to share their opinions. Here’s what they have to say:
“Board certification is obviously one item of many that should be considered in the evaluation of a physician, either at initial appointment or at re-appointment. However, that is not its only purpose. More important in this discussion is whether a hospital medical staff should require board certification, independent of any use for credentialing. Requiring board certification makes a statement to the medical staff, to the board, and to the public that the hospital is trying to be the best that it can be. That institutional attitude counts for a lot.
“Our own healthcare system is going to be visited soon by the investigation team for the Baldridge Award. Why should we try for such an award? Just the effort needed to apply for the award makes a statement about the institutional attitude, whether or not we receive the award. Cultivate that attitude, build and expand on it, and let that attitude be expressed in everything we do. The plaque on the wall, the congratulatory letter in the doctor’s file, the monthly newsletter announcement that one of our doctors recently was re-certified: all of these help to tell the world who we are and what we stand for. Just as important is that they tell us who we are.”
~Van Swan, MD
Presbyterian Medical Group
“Rather than the idea that medical staffs and boards do not consider that certification is a reflection of physician competence, I believe they are reluctant to enforce the regulation for other reasons. I have seen these groups not enforce the decision at the time of appointment or reappointment because the physician was needed or has been a loyal colleague. For the most part, the regulations began with grandfathering of the current medical staff membership, which may make some believe an unfairness exists. I believe that the few hospitals that enforce this requirement have an higher quality medical staff. Even though I was in an administrative position in 2000 at the age of 70, I re-certified in internal medicine. This did require the appropriate time commitment, something that busy practitioners may find difficult to do.
“I also have noticed that committees or boards sometimes opt to extend deadlines for individual medical staff members to pass their boards. We had a bylaw that indicated the requirement to have board certification or the equivalent. The equivalent was hard to define and carry out. A member of our bylaws committee suggested a procedure that he had seen in the orthopedic association that required a review of office records. This did not work out.”
~Francis M. Wilson MD, FACP
Retired Chief Medical Officer
St. John Health
You can find more food for thought about board certification here.
Board certification conversation still going!
The conversation regarding the relationship between board certification and physician competence continues! I’ve received several more e-mails, so I thought I’d share what your colleagues have to say.
“I believe that expiration of board certification occurs for various reasons not related to competency. It seems ludicrous to assume that a practitioner’s competence diminishes if he/she does not recertify. The measure of true competence should not be confined to board certification, and in fact that runs contrary to CMS conditions of participation.”
~Jill Jourden, CPMSM
Medical Staff Administration
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital
“My hospital established a board certification requirement in 2002. It requires all physicians to obtain board certification within five years of completing their residency or fellowship. All members, with few exceptions, are required to maintain board certification. When the bylaws amendment was created, a grandfather clause was included for those physicians who did not qualify for board certification. Most of those physicians have retired from staff by now. We’ve had a few physicians challenge the bylaws. One physician went as far of the state supreme court. We’ve had physicians who left the medical staff because they failed their board exams, allowed their certifications to lapse, or chose not to recertify at the end of their careers. All of these issues have been dealt with thoughtfully by the medical executive committee. At times, enforcement of the bylaws can be difficult, but consistency is the key.”
~Anonymous
“Board certification, within itself, does not prove physician competence. It is simply one measure, one tool if you will, to determine whether or not a physician is qualified to perform in a particular specialty. Other considerations such as training, experience, teaching, and continuing medical education should also be considered when evaluating a physician’s competence. Our medical group believes that board certification provides a unique and widely accepted measurable objective upon which to base decisions. We have mirrored our internal policy to that of surrounding hospital and insurance carrier partners.“
~Sheri Wahl
Manager, provider credentialing and enrollment
UT Medical Group, Inc.
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Keep the comments coming in!
Join the conversation: Board certification and competency
Little did I know how many responses I would get when I included a news bite in this week’s issue of Medical Staff Leader Connection regarding a new study that explores the relationship between board certification and privileging!
A study in the Archives of Surgery suggests that hospitals do not consistently require physicians to be board certified to receive privileges. Out of the 109 hospitals that were surveyed, only 5% required surgeons to be board certified when they received initial privileges. In addition, 82% of all hospitals surveyed allowed surgeons ad non-surgical subspecialists to retain privileges after their board certification expired.
Here are some of the comments you had to share:
Sales of fake medical certifications under investigation
The Connecticut Attorney General is investigating complaints from the American Board of Internal Medicine and others about the illegal sale of fake medical certifications, according to an April 8 ModernHealthcare.com article. The certifications are allegedly being sold by Keith Alan Lasko who targets foreign-trained physicians unfamiliar with authentic certification organizations.
The certifications come from false organizations such as the American Board of Geriatric Medicine and the United States Medical Specialists Federation.
