Yes, the AMA has clear policy on MOC and opposes MOC discrimination and abuse. Getting them to act and support physicians who are harmed, well, that’s another story.
AMA Principles on Maintenance of Certification (MOC)
1. Changes in specialty-board certification requirements for MOC programs should be longitudinally stable in structure, although flexible in content.
2. Implementation of changes in MOC must be reasonable and take into consideration the time needed to develop the proper MOC structures as well as to educate physician diplomates about the requirements for participation.
3. Any changes to the MOC process for a given medical specialty board should occur no more frequently than the intervals used by that specialty board for MOC.
4. Any changes in the MOC process should not result in significantly increased cost or burden to physician participants (such as systems that mandate continuous documentation or require annual milestones).
5. MOC requirements should not reduce the capacity of the overall physician workforce. It is important to retain a structure of MOC programs that permits physicians to complete modules with temporal flexibility, compatible with their practice responsibilities.
6. Patient satisfaction programs such as The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) patient survey are neither appropriate nor effective survey tools to assess physician competence in many specialties.
7. Careful consideration should be given to the importance of retaining flexibility in pathways for MOC for physicians with careers that combine clinical patient care with significant leadership, administrative, research and teaching responsibilities.
8. Legal ramifications must be examined, and conflicts resolved, prior to data collection and/or displaying any information collected in the process of MOC. Specifically, careful consideration must be given to the types and format of physician-specific data to be publicly released in conjunction with MOC participation.
9. Our AMA affirms the current language regarding continuing medical education (CME): “Each Member Board will document that diplomates are meeting the CME and Self-Assessment requirements for MOC Part II. The content of CME and self-assessment programs receiving credit for MOC will be relevant to advances within the diplomate’s scope of practice, and free of commercial bias and direct support from pharmaceutical and device industries. Each diplomate will be required to complete CME credits (AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM, American Academy of Family Physicians Prescribed, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and/or American Osteopathic Association Category 1A).”
10. In relation to MOC Part II, our AMA continues to support and promote the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award (PRA) Credit system as one of the three major credit systems that comprise the foundation for continuing medical education in the U.S., including the Performance Improvement CME (PICME) format; and continues to develop relationships and agreements that may lead to standards accepted by all U.S. licensing boards, specialty boards, hospital credentialing bodies and other entities requiring evidence of physician CME.
11. MOC is but one component to promote patient safety and quality. Health care is a team effort, and changes to MOC should not create an unrealistic expectation that lapses in patient safety are primarily failures of individual physicians.
12. MOC should be based on evidence and designed to identify performance gaps and unmet needs, providing direction and guidance for improvement in physician performance and delivery of care.
13. The MOC process should be evaluated periodically to measure physician satisfaction, knowledge uptake and intent to maintain or change practice.
14. MOC should be used as a tool for continuous improvement.
15. The MOC program should not be a mandated requirement for licensure, credentialing, recredentialing, privileging, reimbursement, network participation, employment, or insurance panel participation.
16. Actively practicing physicians should be well-represented on specialty boards developing MOC.
17. Our AMA will include early career physicians when nominating individuals to the Boards of Directors for ABMS member boards.
18. MOC activities and measurement should be relevant to clinical practice.
19. The MOC process should be reflective of and consistent with the cost of development and administration of the MOC components, ensure a fair fee structure, and not present a barrier to patient care.
20. Any assessment should be used to guide physicians’ self-directed study.
21. Specific content-based feedback after any assessment tests should be provided to physicians in a timely manner.
22. There should be multiple options for how an assessment could be structured to accommodate different learning styles.
23. Physicians with lifetime board certification should not be required to seek recertification.
24. No qualifiers or restrictions should be placed on diplomates with lifetime board certification recognized by the ABMS related to their participation in MOC.
25. Members of our House of Delegates are encouraged to increase their awareness of and participation in the proposed changes to physician self-regulation through their specialty organizations and other professional membership groups.
26. The initial certification status of time-limited diplomates shall be listed and publicly available on all American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and ABMS Member Boards’ websites and physician certification databases. The names and initial certification status of time-limited diplomates shall not be removed from ABMS and ABMS Member Boards’ websites or physician certification databases even if the diplomate chooses not to participate in MOC.
27. Our AMA will continue to work with the national medical specialty societies to advocate for the physicians of America to receive value in the services they purchase for Maintenance of Certification from their specialty boards. Value in MOC should include cost effectiveness with full financial transparency, respect for physicians’ time and their patient care commitments, alignment of MOC requirements with other regulator and payer requirements, and adherence to an evidence basis for both MOC content and processes.
Reference:
https://policysearch.ama-assn.org/policyfinder/detail/MOC?uri=%2FAMADoc%2FHOD.xml-0-1902.xml