EL CAJON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Over 200 physicians nationwide have taken collective action and written to the President and CEO of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), Thomas Nasca, MD, to demand urgent change to its program requirements for academic faculty throughout the United States. Leading the effort is the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS), which is harnessing physician voices to demand that the ACGME and its partner organizations remove the mandated physician participation in ABMS Maintenance of Certification (ABMS MOC™), a program that is unproven, burdensome, discriminatory, and worsening access to care.
NBPAS reports overwhelming physician response to its call for action, noting the personal and moving stories of harm shared by many physicians. Judith L. Bateman, MD, a practicing rheumatologist in southeastern Michigan, cited MOC as a direct cause for retirement. Bateman noted, “Three colleagues in my area have just retired at relatively young ages, each pointing to MOC as one of the factors which weighed in their decision.”
Others, such as Nizar Senussi, MD, a practicing Gastroenterologist in Washington State, stated, “It is imperative for the ACGME to disentangle itself from this monopolistic certification model, as MOC not only lacks empirical validation but also runs counter to the esteemed standards upheld by academic medicine.”
ACGME accredits and controls all graduate medical education for MDs and DOs in the United States, and requires the purchase of and participation in ABMS MOC, a product sold by its partner organization, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). NBPAS believes it is critical to highlight the entrenched conflicts of interest among the arms of organized medicine that are exacerbating the known and growing physician shortage.
NBPAS also believes the public should know that a physician’s board certification credential is largely funded by $15+ billion of taxpayer dollars annually, a credential and public investment that is now being arbitrarily stripped and made worthless by a nonprofit organization lacking real oversight or public accountability. Up to 40% of U.S. physicians historically have been exempted (“grandfathered”) from the costs and burdens associated with MOC, another sticking point for younger physicians impacted by MOC’s inequitable burdens on physicians who are more diverse of age, race, and color.
NBPAS President Paul Teirstein, MD, believes that these physician voices need to be heard.
“We’re on a mission to ensure the public, policymakers, physicians, and beyond, are aware of the complicated web of players that support and entrench the MOC monopoly,” said NBPAS President Paul Teirstein, MD. “The uptick in interest for taking action against ACGME, ABMS, and its partners is encouraging and underscores that physicians want and need options when it comes to continuous board certification. We look forward to continuing to provide physicians with the necessary information to make informed decisions about their careers and livelihoods.”
NBPAS now publishes “The Monthly Dose” exactly for this purpose – to uncover the players in the physician certification monopoly while supporting actions physicians can take to make change and be sure that their collective voices are heard.
NBPAS was started by physicians in response to the demand for a continuous certification pathway based on practice-relevant and specialty-specific Continuing Medical Education (CME). NBPAS meets national accreditation requirements for hospitals and health plans and currently certifies more than 13,000 physicians at over two hundred institutions in all 50 states including hospitals, health systems, academic hospitals, telemedicine companies, major payors, and the VHA system.
NBPAS recently announced the acceptance of its continuous board certification program by Mid Coast Health System, which will reduce physician burnout and improve the rural physician shortage across Texas. Mid Coast is one of over 200 hospitals nationwide that support evidence-driven, clinically relevant CME by recognizing physicians certified through NBPAS.
To read the NBPAS “Monthly Dose,” click here. For more information on certifying with or introducing NBPAS to your healthcare organization, please visit nbpas.org.
About The National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS)
Established in 2015, the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS) is a non-profit, physician-led organization which provides a pathway for continuous certification in all of the broadly recognized areas of specialty medical practice. NBPAS is led by a board of unpaid physicians, thought leaders in clinical and academic medicine, and is the only continuing certification board that strictly prohibits the discriminatory practice of time-unlimited "grandfathering.” To learn more about NBPAS’ mission and offerings, please visit nbpas.org.
