The American Board of Dermatology and 10 other medical boards recently began publicly reporting whether physicians are up to date on their maintenance of certification requirements.
The trend toward disclosing maintenance of certification (MOC) status started in August 2011 when seven medical specialty boards, including the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, the American Board of Family Medicine, and the American Board of Surgery, began making the information publicly available – at the consumer-focused website of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).
Now only six ABMS member boards do not publicly post the MOC status of their diplomates. That list includes the American Board of Internal Medicine and American Board of Pediatrics.
However, all ABMS member boards are expected to publicly report MOC status by early 2014, according to Dr. Lois Nora, ABMS president and CEO.
The move to make MOC information readily available to the public is an important part medical professionalism, Dr. Nora said in an interview. "We have a covenant with the public that we will act in their best interest."
Consumers seem to be interested in learning whether their physicians are board certified and whether they participate in MOC. Since the launch of the certificationmatters.org site in February 2011, more than 1.1 million people have visited the site, according to ABMS. The site allows individuals to search for board certification and MOC status by physician name, location, or specialty.
If the physician’s certifying board is 1 of the 18 that publicly discloses its members’ MOC status, consumers will also see "Yes," "No," or "Not Required" displayed next to their MOC status. The "Not Required" response relates to physicians who have a lifetime certification with their board.