With news that the American Board of Medical Specialties has decided to review and overhaul Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements, the Association of Independent Doctors has made comment.
From Marni J. Carey, AID Executive Director
What other profession requires its members to pay exorbitant fees to prove that they know what they've already proven they know? Lawyers, accountants, real estate agents and teachers get certified once, and that's enough. If they aren't good at what they do, they don't succeed. I'm not a doctor. I am the executive director of the Association of Independent Doctors, a national nonprofit trade association that strives to help independent doctors survive against an assault of forces, the ABMS among them.
America doesn't have enough doctors, and the ones we do have are being driven out by too much regulation, and a payment system that puts them last. The fact that the ABMS is forming a commission of insiders to review the situation is absurd. Believe me, those running this racket do not want to give up their multi-million-dollar boondoggles and Cayman Islands getaways. I've seen the forensic accounting on this. It would stop your heart. And then you might need a cardiologist, who won't be available because he or she will be studying for recertification. MOC is a hoax and needs to stop.
Dr. Judith Thompson, AID Member, General Surgeon, Houston
Real questions are raised about the value and intent of MOC. In what ways does MOC provide for public safety? There in no evidence to support their claim to this end. Never has a patient outcome been related to the MOC product. Where is there a public outcry for recertification? Show us the data. Who of us does not already independently complete more than required Category 1 CME in a way that influences how we treat our patients?
The ABMS business model is wildly successful with earnings by the board of directors in the range of half a million a year, but is it really not-for-profit and is it within the law?
MOC is:
Profiteering
Monopolizing
Work stopping
Reduces patient access to healthcare especially in rural geographic regions where doctors are most needed
Drives up healthcare costs (5.4 billion in expenses every 10 years)
No value added. No evidence to support claims to safety or quality
Undesired
Please support the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons as they lobby to free physicians from tyranny https://nbpas.org/advocacy-center/ and/or Practicing Physicians of America as we raise the voices of working physicians http://practicingphysician.org/
