ABIM announces changes to MOC program

The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced changes last week to the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) process for board-certified internal medicine specialists and subspecialists, effective immediately.

The changes affect the continuous MOC program implemented by ABIM in April 2014. ABIM is suspending its Practice Assessment, Patient Voice, and Patient Safety requirements for a minimum of 2 years and is updating the internal medicine MOC exam to more closely reflect the activities of physicians in practice. In addition, ABIM will change the language used to publicly report MOC status on its website from “meeting MOC requirements” to “participating in MOC.” This change will happen within the next 6 months, the organization said.

ABIM also stated that MOC enrollment fees will remain at or below 2014 levels at least through 2017 and committed to recognizing most forms of continuing medical education approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education by the end of 2015.

ABIM has posted a FAQ on its website regarding ways in which these changes might affect physicians.

An email sent last week by ACP's CEO and executive vice president, Steven Weinberger, MD, FACP, is also available online, discussing the changes and detailing how ACP has been advocating on behalf of its members.