There are 800,000 physicians in America and more than 65% believe the Maintenance of Certification process, known as MOC, has no clinical value for patients. For the first time in the history of our profession, physicians have a fighting chance to topple a Goliath-esque organization, the American Board of Medical Specialties.
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) eliminated “lifetime” certification to shore up their financial outlook; a modification having little to do with quality and much to do with rate of return. Between 2003 and 2013, the ABMS member boards’ assets ballooned from $237 million to a staggering $635 million, an annual growth rate of 10.4%. MOC is outrageously lucrative. Almost 88% of their revenue came from certification fees.
Physicians must stand up and be counted. Our time is now. Practicing physicians can deliver valuable insight and novel perspective on how to enact change. We must give the power to make healthcare decisions back to the patient and their doctor, rather than to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.
While swiping our credit cards to fund this atrocity known as Maintenance of Certification, maybe your group could take a few moments to streamline your rigid and archaic application process? It is not exactly rocket science or is keeping track of so much money simply too exhausting?
