ABIM announced December 16, 2015 it will extend through the end of 2018 its decision not to require practice assessment, patient voice and patient safety in its maintenance of certification (MOC) program through Dec. 31, 2018. The board reiterated that physicians will still need to take and pass an examination every 10 years as well as earn 100 MOC points every 5 years and complete some MOC activity every 2 years.
This College sees this action by ABIM as good news in light of ACG’s advocacy efforts on behalf of GI clinicians to simplify and reduce the costs and complexities of the MOC process. The College will continue to fight to make the MOC less burdensome.
Read the December 16, 2015 statement from ABIM here
Earlier this fall, ACG joined in a multi-society communication to the ABIM outlining GI’s response to their recent report “2020 Task Force Report” advocating for the following key principles:
- MOC needs to be simpler, less intrusive and less expensive
- We support ending the high-stakes, every 10-year exam
- We do not support closed book assessments as they do not represent the current realities of medicine in the digital age
- We support the principles of lifelong learning as evidenced by ongoing CME activities, rather than lifelong testing
- We support the concept that, for the many diplomates who specialize within certain areas of gastroenterology and hepatology, MOC should not need to include high-stakes assessments of areas where the diplomate may not practice