We wanted to provide the pulmonary disease community with an update on the work ABIM has been doing to transform and improve its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Recently, the Pulmonary Disease Board and Pulmonary Disease Board Exam Committee held a joint meeting in Philadelphia to discuss their roles in ensuring we continue to work closely with the physician community to enhance the MOC program, including the exam.

Members of ABIM’s Pulmonary Disease Board and Pulmonary Disease Board Exam Committee (L-R): Dean Hess, PhD, FCCP; David E. Ost, MD, FCCP; Peter H. S. Sporn, MD, FCCP; Kevin M. Chan, MD, FCCP; John Allen Cooper, MD; Charles W. Atwood, MD, FCCP; David Au, MD; Serpil C. Erzurum, MD, FCCP; Tommye Lambert, MBA, MDIV; John H. Hansen-Flaschen, MD, FCCP; Nizar N. Jarjour, MD, FCCP; Michael E. Nelson, MD, FCCP; Lynn T. Tanoue, MD, FCCP; and Stanton T. Siu, MD, FCCP. Not pictured are Francis X. McCormack, MD and Mindy S. Shapiro, MD, FCCP.

An important part of the work ABIM as a whole is undertaking is listening to the community so that it can design an MOC program that physicians find more meaningful and relevant. Tangible expressions of this listening are evident in the significant program changes announced by ABIM’s Board of Directors.

A few of the changes, among the others announced, include:

• Recognizing more activities for MOC credit. In an effort to better link MOC with activities that physicians are already doing to stay current, by the end of 2015, ABIM will begin to accept a wider variety of approved CME activities for MOC points and streamline the process for its medical society partners to submit new activities. ABIM is interested in finding ways to recognize meaningful clinical work that you do in your practices to earn CME credit and is particularly interested in recognizing CME activities for which there is evidence that they drive learning and/or change practice.

• New exam Score Report. Results of all examinations beginning with the spring 2015 MOC exam administration will be released in a new, electronic format. For years, ABIM has heard that diplomates want more specific feedback on exam performance. The new Score Report was redesigned and created with the feedback and guidance of ABIM board-certified physicians, including many members of ABIM governance and community physicians. This collaboration led ABIM to the design of a new Score Report, which offers:

• Clearer graphical explanations of exam performance

• More detailed feedback on questions missed

• Less technical jargon in explaining the report

• Links to more in-depth information on the ABIM website

• Updates to the Internal Medicine MOC exam blueprint. Over the past 4 months, the Internal Medicine Board, the Internal Medicine Board Exam Committee, and ABIM staff worked with a representative sample of practicing general internists to review and update the IM MOC exam blueprint. Internists rated blueprint topics for frequency in practice and rated the relative importance of tasks (eg, diagnosis) performed in relation to each of those topics. Their ratings will now inform the exam assembly process for the fall 2015 IM MOC exam. This process will be used in the future for other disciplines, including pulmonary disease.

We encourage you to visit the Transforming ABIM blog to view sample pages from the new Score Report, learn more about how ABIM collaborated with physicians to update the internal medicine MOC exam blueprint and read further about how ABIM came to the decision to change its website reporting language. In addition to the information on the exam Score Report and new blueprint, the blog also provides updates about ABIM’s ongoing discussions with the community, upcoming opportunities to provide input, and more information regarding the changes mentioned above. Subscribe to the blog.

Another way ABIM is collaborating with the physician community is through Assessment 2020, a task force commissioned by the ABIM Board of Directors to develop a vision for the future of assessment for certification (initial and maintenance) in internal medicine and associated subspecialties. The task force is comprised of experts with diverse areas of expertise including assessment, medicine, health policy, education and technology. Visit the site to learn more about how Assessment 2020 is engaging clinicians, patients and other important members of the community to provide feedback on the skills physicians need to deliver the highest quality of care. Additionally, read how ABIM is putting this feedback into action as we look for ways to innovate and enhance the exam experience.

Also, as you might be aware, earlier this year, ABIM suspended the Practice Assessment, Patient Voice, and Patient Safety requirements for at least 2 years. This means that physicians participating in the MOC program are not required to complete these requirements but should still work toward completing the existing Medical Knowledge and MOC exam requirements for their certifications. To learn more about your specific requirements and deadlines, log into www.abim.org to view your MOC Status Report.

We look forward to sharing more updates with you as we continue our work of ensuring the relevancy of MOC to pulmonary disease physicians across the country.

ABIM Incorporates Diplomate Recommendations Into MOC Program