User:Lboukas/sandbox

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) appreciates that Maintenance of Certification is considered a noteworthy topic warranting an article on Wikipedia. However, some of the edits that have been made to the article present a number of factual inaccuracies, broken/missing links and incomplete, conflicted or dated information. It also appears that some opinionated language has been added to the article.

As an organization that represents this concept of initial and continuing certification for physicians, ABMS kindly requests that the Wikipedia editors review the article to clean up these items.

Some notes include the information below. Citations are shown in bold and noted in the reference section. These and others can be found in the ABMS Evidence Library.

Opening description

Through the Program for Maintenance of Certification (MOC), physicians maintain American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) board certification in their chosen specialty by engaging in continuing learning and assessment.

The intent of both board certification and MOC is to assure the public that a physician certified by one (or more) of the ABMS’ 24 Member Boards has met rigorous education, training and assessment standards and thus is well prepared to provide quality care in a particular medical specialty and/or subspecialty.

The rapid pace at which scientific knowledge evolves and medical procedures and technologies advance make continuous learning and improvement a necessity for physicians. The Program for MOC can help diplomates remain current in their specialties in an increasingly complex practice environment.

Maintenance of Certification competencies
The Program for MOC addresses six core competencies jointly developed by ABMS and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in 1999. Each of ABMS’ Member Boards assess physicians’ proficiency across these competencies that are designed to help define clinical judgment and skills essential for providing high quality patient care. These are the same competencies used in medical residency programs to help guide residents’ education. They are as follows:

•	Professionalism—carrying out responsibilities safely and ethically.

•	Patient Care and Procedural Skills—providing compassionate, appropriate and effective patient care.

•	Medical Knowledge—demonstrating medical knowledge and its application to patient care.

•	Practice-based Learning and Improvement—continuously improving patient care through constant self-evaluation and lifelong learning. •	Interpersonal and Communication Skills—facilitating effective information exchange and collaboration with patients, their families and health professionals.

•	Systems-based Practice—ability to call on other system resources to provide optimal health care.

Maintenance of Certification components
The Program for MOC includes four component parts that serve to assess and help physicians progress in the core competencies. While ABMS guides the MOC process, each of its Member Boards set the criteria and curriculum for their respective specialty. The activities that comprise the components are based on evidence-based guidelines, national clinical and quality standards and specialty best practices. The components are as follows:

Part I Licensure and Professional Standing—Possession of a valid, unrestricted medical license in at least one state or jurisdiction in the United States, its territories or Canada.

Part II Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment—Regular participation in educational and self-assessment programs that meet specialty-specific standards developed by each Member Board.

Part III Cognitive Expertise—As demonstrated through a formalized examination, up-to-date practice-related and practice environment-related knowledge necessary to provide quality care in a specialty.

Part IV Practice Performance Assessment—Periodic evaluation of clinical practice to assess the quality of care provided against that of peers and national benchmarks, and application of best evidence or consensus recommendations to improve care.

Maintenance of Certification studies
Because the Program for MOC is relatively young (as it has been introduced gradually during the past decade), evidence about it has emerged in recent years and continues to grow. Preliminary studies show a link between MOC and improved clinical performance and outcomes by participating physicians.1-11 Physician engagement in MOC activities has been associated with enhancement in clinical competence, improvement in care processes and the gathering of valuable patient feedback. Furthermore, many of the learning methods used in the Program for MOC have a firm grounding in research and a demonstrated ability to address physician competencies in practice-based learning and improvement.1-3,6,12-19 The latest principles in adult learning are incorporated into MOC activities, such as self-directed practice improvement modules, simulations and interactive workshops. Most of the Member Boards use similar approaches in their performance improvement activities. These studies reinforce prior research that has shown a positive link between initial ABMS board certification and quality of care.20-34 The latter range from lower mortality rates for patients with acute myocardial infarction and colorectal surgery to improved preventive care services for Medicare patients when such care is delivered by a Board Certified specialist. These studies and other independent research findings that support the value of board certification and MOC are housed in the ABMS Evidence Library. This online resource is a searchable, convenient database to which references and annotations will be added over time and as new literature emerges.

Maintenance of Certification and the medical community
Major medical associations recognize the value of the ABMS Program for MOC. Among them are:


 * The American Medical Association
 * The American Hospital Association (AHA)
 * The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME)
 * The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB)
 * The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS)
 * The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
 * The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Eduction (ACCME)
 * The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
 * The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

Regarding physicians, studies have shown that specialists believe in the value of MOC.39,41 Specifically, specialists believe that those providing patient care should maintain certification. Many say that a main reason for participation in MOC is to update their knowledge. Physicians report that their experience with components of MOC, such as practice improvement modules and examinations, has been beneficial. 6,13-14,35-38,40-42 Among the cited benefits are identifying areas for improvement in practice, providing valuable patient feedback and generating high quality performance data.

Patients Support Maintenance of Certification
An overwhelming majority of patients believe that it is important for physicians to maintain certification, according to consumer surveys. 20,43-45 In one such study, if respondents found out that their physician does not maintain certification, most would look for a new one or cease referring that physician. Patients and family members routinely check their physicians’ certification status at Certification Matters; more than 1.5 million searches were conducted in 2012 alone.