Earlier this year, the Association’s House of Delegates passed a resolution formally opposing additional Maintenance of Certification requirements as dictated by the American Board of Medical Specialties and the American Osteopathic Association. While it was agreed that the need for continuing medical education to improve the quality of care, the expense and clinically irrelevant process of MOC often proved overly burdensome. Now, the Association has joined with other state associations to send a message to ABMS expressing concerns about MOC and have requested a meeting later this year to discuss the issues.
As discussions concerning MOC mounted during the June AMA meeting, a small group of national medical specialty society and state medical society CEOs furthered the discussion with a high-level summit that recently took place to discuss these problems, and a meeting this December with the American Board of Medical Specialties, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, and state medical societies to directly share our views and seek agreement on how to reshape the MOC process to the betterment of our physicians and the patients in their care.
In the letter to ABMS, the groups were quick to explain that the intention is not to diminish patient care or physician training. However, the letter addressed that not only had many state legislatures addressed the issue of maintenance of certification either successfully passing new laws or laws that were pending but that this trend of legislative interference was another threat to a physician’s right to professional self-regulation. Along with the exorbitant costs of the MOC process and the lack of transparent communication from certifying boards have damaged the integrity of the MOC brand, all of which presents an opportunity to realign the process.
The Medical Association has begun to address this situation, and with the formation of this new joint initiative, will continue to be active in discussions to create a long-term solution for MOC. The joint meeting is currently scheduled for early December.