Dr. Steven E. Weinberger, executive vice president and CEO of the ACP agrees that the ABIM’s timing was pretty poor. He said that there had been a "low to medium level of concern" about MOC for years, but the new requirements announced in January catalyzed the complaints and were "an important tipping point." Added Dr. Weinberger, "To some extent, this was in part the straw that broke the camel’s back."
The ABIM is making a handful of changes to address some of the concerns, including "broadening the kinds of educational activities that can count for self-assessment of knowledge (Part 2)," said Dr. Baron. That is, the ABIM will be broadening the continuing medical education that will count toward the MOC requirements.
Dr. Steven E. Weinberger
There have also been a huge number of complaints about the self-evaluation of practice assessment. There will be less direct data collection by the ABIM and more of a focus "on improvement activities doctors may already be doing in their practice," Dr. Baron said.
Among other things, ABIM is also looking at changes to the secure exam and whether it needs to change how it describes on its website whether physicians are meeting MOC requirements.
Critics are still not satisfied.
"This is nothing more than offering band-aids for gaping wounds," said Dr. Jonathan Weiss, an internist in Middletown, N.Y. "This is the ABIM trying to throw some bones to quiet down the rabble, given the unexpectedly strong pushback they are trying to deal with," he said, adding that he believes that the current process "is too flawed to be fixed."
Dr. Ron Benbassat, an internist in Beverly Hills, Calif., and a founder of Change Board Certification, goes even further. "No one is drinking the ABIM’s Kool-Aid," he said. "We’re on the right side of the truth here, and they know it," he said, adding, "The momentum is increasing and I believe we’re reaching the tipping point. As to what form it will take – widespread noncompliance or political or legal – I don’t have the answer. But we’re getting there."
Dr. Teirstein was a bit more muted in his criticism. "They are certainly taking many good steps. But, the devil will be in the details." He, like many physicians, said that he still sees the ABIM’s fees as a big problem. "To reestablish credibility, ABIM will need to roll back its fee schedule," said Dr. Teirstein.