CMS to Include American Board of Internal Medicine's Maintenance of Certification Program for Additional Bonus in 2012

Philadelphia, PA, The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) today announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will include ABIM's Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program in the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Maintenance of Certification Program Incentive for 2012, enabling ABIM board certified physicians to earn an additional bonus payment beyond the PQRS incentive for participating in MOC.

PQRS is a federal quality reporting program that enables physicians to earn an incentive payment equal to 0.5% of their total Medicare Part B Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) allowed charges for covered professional services. Physicians can earn the quality reporting bonus by satisfactorily submitting information to CMS on a designated set of quality measures. Detailed information on the PQRS program is available on the CMS website.

The PQRS Maintenance of Certification Program Incentive is an additional, voluntary program that enables physicians who are certified by a participating member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and who successfully report PQRS quality measures to CMS to earn an additional 0.5% bonus by also participating in their board's MOC program more frequently than is required. In order to receive the additional PQRS Maintenance of Certification Program Incentive, ABIM board certified physicians have to be enrolled in MOC and earn MOC practice assessment and medical knowledge points in 2012. Physicians who choose not to participate in the PQRS Maintenance of Certification Program Incentive program will not be penalized by either ABIM or CMS.

"The inclusion of ABIM's MOC program in this CMS initiative is evidence of the value that important stakeholders - including the federal government - are beginning to place on professional Maintenance of Certification and the commitment to continuous learning and improvement that it embodies. The PQRS Maintenance of Certification Program Incentive provides our diplomates with an exciting opportunity to gain additional benefits from active participation in MOC," said Dr. Christine K. Cassel, president and CEO of ABIM. "We are deeply gratified that public policies are beginning to explicitly recognize the work that board certified physicians already are doing to improve quality and aligning incentives to support that work."

To receive the bonus for 2012, ABIM board certified physicians must complete the following by December 31, 2012:

Practice Assessment: This requirement can be met by completing one of the ABIM PIMs Practice Improvement Modules or one of the ABIM Approved Quality Improvement (AQI) pathway programs of other organizations.

Patient Survey: Many ABIM PIMs already include a patient survey. Physicians can also meet this requirement through the survey tool provided on the ABMS MOC Matters portal.

Medical Knowledge: This requirement can be met by completing an ABIM Medical Knowledge module or a third-party module approved by ABIM.

MOC Matters, a Web-based portal created to help physicians enroll in PQRS Maintenance of Certification Program Incentive and report their MOC activity, will be available to ABIM board certified physicians later this summer. Developed in collaboration between ABIM and ABMS, the portal features tools that allow physicians to participate in PQRS Maintenance of Certification Program Incentive as well as complete the PQRS requirements. Additional information on ABIM's PQRS Maintenance of Certification Program Incentive requirements can be found here.


About ABIM
For 75 years, Certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has stood for the highest standard in internal medicine and its 19 subspecialties and has meant that internists have demonstrated - to their peers and to the public - that they have the clinical judgment, skills and attitudes essential for the delivery of excellent patient care. ABIM is not a membership society, but a non-profit, independent evaluation organization. Our accountability is both to the profession of medicine and to the public. ABIM is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties. For additional updates, follow ABIM on Facebook and Twitter.