Dear Members,

Today, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced that they will not require Practice Assessment, Patient Voice and Patient Safety in its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program through December 21, 2018.

Physicians will still need to take and pass an examination every 10 years and earn 100 MOC points every five years, as well as complete some MOC activity every two years to participate in the program.

Input from SCAI and other specialty societies greatly influenced today’s announcement and have led to several significant programmatic changes over the last two years:

MOC Requirements

• Approving more CME activities for MOC credit
• Discontinuing the requirement to maintain double certification

Examinations

• No longer require taking general cardiology exam to qualify for interventional cardiology exam
• Providing better feedback to exam takers
• Instituting a one-year “grace period” for physicians who do not pass an MOC exam

Fees & Enrollment

• Reducing the MOC exam retake fee
• Unlinking MOC enrollment from certification status

Public Reporting

• Changing language in public reporting of MOC status

Governance & Finances

• Ensuring that all levels of ABIM governance include physicians in non-academic clinical practice
• Expanding financial transparency

During the last 12 months, there have been a number of significant changes to the MOC program, due largely in part to the commitment of our members. SCAI would like to thank the MOC Working Group, led by Alan Yeung, MD, FSCAI, and Charles Chambers, MD, FSCAI, who have played a key role in ensuring that the Society’s voice was heard early on. Your tireless efforts prove that effective change is possible through continuous effort.

The SCAI Quality Improvement Committee is steadily working to develop MOC-compatible tools to help our members improve practices while earning MOC credits. View the Quality Improvement Toolkit.

Thank you,

James C. Blankenship, MD, MHCM, MSCAI
SCAI President, 2015-16