Maintenance of Certification: American Board of Anesthesiology Ends 10-Year Exam; ABIM Considers New Continuous Testing Model As Well

Recently, the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) announced it will become the first medical board to restructure its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. The Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology Program, or MOCA, has required physicians to take a recertification test every 10 years. It will be replaced by a program known as “MOCA 2.0,” which will allow anesthesiologists to continuously assess themselves and identify knowledge gaps through an online portal, including a "MOCA Minute" that allows physicians to answer multiple-choice questions at their own convenience. This shift is noteworthy because over the past few years, the MOC recertification process has been under a great deal of scrutiny by specialists who have expressed dissatisfaction in the process. Hospitals often require their specialists to be board certified; however, the recurring exams are time consuming, costly, and--according to many physicians--often test on topics with little relevance to their own practice. For example, last year thousands of doctors signed a petition for the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to recall changes to their MOC activities that would further increase the testing frequency. Further, a series of Newsweek articles criticized the ABIM's certification process and financial decision-making.  ABIM and the ABA are both part of the American Board of Medical Specialties' (ABMS) 24 specialty member boards. ABA is the first specialty to officiall...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs