ABIM Approves Ten New AQI Pathway Options

Philadelphia, PA, – The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has recently approved quality improvement (QI) projects from ten different organizations for credit in the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program through its Approved Quality Improvement (AQI) Pathway. The AQI Pathway helps reduce the redundancy in physician reporting - giving credit for quality improvement activities that they are already doing that meet ABIM standards and allowing them to get MOC credit for activities that support local improvement priorities.

"Health care organizations are creating robust quality improvement products of great variety and depth and ABIM is very excited to add these programs to our AQI Pathway program," said Elizabeth Blaylock, Senior Vice President, Programs at the American Board of Internal Medicine. "These programs increase the number of options available to physicians enrolled in the MOC program while at the same time link MOC to the quality improvement work physicians are currently participating in, thus creating more relevant quality-focused options physicians to earn MOC credit.

The new AQI approved activities include:

American College of Chest Physicians Performing EBUS-TBNA to Diagnose NSCLC

American Gastroenterological Association's Sedation/Patient Safety Practice Improvement Module(PIM)

ASN Dialysis Performance Improvement Module (PIM)

Boston University School of Medicine's Adult Obesity PI Activity

Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control: Aggressively Treating Cardiometabolic Risk Factors to Reduce Cardiovascular Events

Med-IQ and the Endocrine Society: Performance Improvement Strategies in Diabetes Care

PeerView Institute for Medical Education : Ameliorating Low Back Pain in the Primary Care Setting

The Endocrine Society: The Evaluation of Thyroid Nodules PIM

The National Health Care Transition Center (NHCTC) of Center for Medical Home Improvement (CMHI) : Got Transition - Improving Transitions of Care between Pediatric and Adult Settings

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public health: PAVE PI CME (Partnership for Adult Vaccination and Education)

Research has shown that fewer than 30 percent of physicians examine their own performance data, and physicians' ability to independently self-assess and self-evaluate is poor.

The components of the ABIM MOC program reflect the guidelines of the American Board of Medical Specialties and encompass the six general competencies established by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. In addition, the program includes the practice performance requirement of passing a secure examination in internal medicine or subspecialty, self-assessment of medical knowledge and holding a license in good standing. See full requirements for MOC.

For more information on how an organization can submit a quality improvement activity for consideration into the AQI Pathway, please visit our website to review the requirements.

If you are a physician interested in the AQI pathway, please visit our website for a full list of AQI approved activities and programs.



About ABIM
For more than 75 years, certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine 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.