"I am writing to give the physicians’ perspective on bill H5247/S301 that gives physicians a choice, by medical staff vote, on “maintenance of certification.” (MOC) The organization that sells this certification says it is voluntary, but in fact, for most physicians, is mandatory. Maybe 100 years ago, when this testing began and there was absolutely no supervision of physicians, this “certification” served a purpose.Rhode Island physicians can also help by supporting the litigants who filed a class action lawsuit against the American Board of Internal Medicine because of MOC.
But that is not the case today. We have the Department of Health, Department of Medical Licensure, malpractice attorneys, the health-insurance companies, the newspapers, social media and the Internet, and hospital credentialing and specialty departments waiting to pounce on any mistake or misstatement we make, never mind ever more informed and empowered patients and families.
Until recently, physicians tolerated the initial certification as just another traditional “hoop” to jump through, but this recent attempt at “maintenance” of certification went overboard. Being a doctor is much more than filling in the dots on a computer screen. We find the huge number of hours of read-a-paragraph and fill-in-the-dot testing a huge waste of time. Physician burn out is already a problem, and this testing is just one more straw on the camel’s back.
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I urge fellow physicians to contact their legislators and the Rhode Island Medical Society to tell them to vote in favor of bill H5247/S0301. I also urge our legislators to talk with their own physicians to understand the negative impact this required maintenance of certification testing has had."
-Wes
Yes ,, nice well thought out post. MORE docs need to be involved ,,,, take more control . I continue to observe the stress in clinics
ReplyDelete( I am not a doc , but , spend/ spent three decades with docs ,,all over world ). I worry about the young ones . My older MD friends are throwing in the " towel " early. Please --- we support you . But , more docs need to step up . Thank you .
When a physician graduates they should be certified for life at that time -- yes, for life. CME is already required by the states and territories. This is more than enough along with the daily study that continues anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe ABMS is an over-the-top cartel of politically motivated activists who use their positions to self-deal and control the labor force for the medical industrial complex and their stakeholders.
Nobody has really studied/addressed all of MOC's menacing issues surrounding physicians' professional and personal lives. From depression and suicide to endless stress fatigue leading to infertility of many affected families. As more women enter medicine the latter and former points need to be studied together as I know many families have suffered tremendously. It is akin to serving in the military when you see how lives of doctors are disrupted from med school to residency, fellowship and seeking job opportunities. The average position for a physician is now held no more than five years.
ReplyDeleteThe medical specialty boards have grown thick skins. It is unconscionable for them to manipulate markets and create MOC mandates as they have been/are doing. They live in their heads.
There is an eerie journalistic chill that has settled over the ABIM and topic of MOC.
ReplyDeleteThe CEOs of the ABIM and ABMS have said nothing of substance and ABIM's BS attorneys haven't adequately responded to the civil (and criminal) complaints.
The ABIM's communications team led by mainstream media veterans have the right to remain silent, but silence has been their modus operandi for decades. Nothing has changed there. It's the same old tactic of stonewalling.
It's so ironic. The ABIM works opaquely hiding behind a farcical platinum star.
ReplyDeleteABIM claims their "platinum star" (pasted on their web pages by their own tech teams) is for achieving financial transparency. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality their platinum star represents executive greed and the lust for political power. Their lustrous star, achieved by a simple formula/algorithm, in reality stands for the intrusion of privacy and destruction of constitutional guarantees.