The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) have expanded their collaboration to recognize more accredited continuing medical education (CME) for Maintenance of Certification (MOC). With this expansion, accredited providers are now able to register activities that meet ABIM’s requirements for Medical Knowledge and/or Practice Assessment MOC.
ABIM and ACCME expanded their collaboration to increase the number and diversity of accredited CME activities that earn both CME credit and MOC points in support of physicians participating in lifelong learning and quality improvement to make a meaningful difference in patient care.
While ABIM has extended its decision to not require Practice Assessment in its MOC program through December 31, 2018, MOC points are still available to physicians who complete Practice Assessment activities.
Additionally, using the online CME Finder tool, physicians can choose from over 3,000 accredited CME activities that count for ABIM MOC.
Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of ABIM, noted, “In less than two years, ABIM’s collaboration with ACCME has resulted in over 3.3 million MOC points earned by more than 68,000 physicians for accredited CME activities they are already doing to stay current and improve the care they provide. As our collaboration expands we want to offer physicians even more choice and convenience for how they fulfill ongoing education and certification requirements. With this expansion, many new types of activities that combine lifelong learning and quality improvement will also be available for dual credit.”
A Simpler, Unified Process
Accredited CME providers can now use the ACCME Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS) to register CME activities that are offered in any format, similar to what they have been doing for Medical Knowledge activities. Activities may be registered for a single type of ABIM MOC credit or for combinations of credit types, including Medical Knowledge and Practice Assessment, so long as they meet the guidelines described in the ABIM MOC Assessment Recognition Program Guide.
Building on Success
The expansion builds on the ongoing success of the ABIM/ACCME collaboration. Since the collaboration’s launch in 2015, the number and diversity of accredited CME activities that count for ABIM MOC has increased substantially, as has learner participation. More than 240 accredited CME providers registered over 7,000 activities that count for ABIM MOC in PARS.
Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, President and CEO of ACCME, stated, “We celebrate the expansion of our collaboration with ABIM, because it will generate many more opportunities for accredited CME providers to support physician engagement in education that focuses on quality and safety improvement. Since its inception in 2015, our collaboration has succeeded in making a real and meaningful difference to physicians and educators who are working every day to improve healthcare in their communities. I look forward to building on that success and continuing to work together with ABIM, accredited CME providers, and physicians to leverage the power of education to optimize care for the patients we all serve.”