ABIM and MOC: The Epic Debate With Richard Baron and Aaron Goodman

A lot has been stated about the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) implemented by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM,) and many physicians, regardless of specialty, have been opposed to the MOC as it adds cost, burden, and takes away from patient care. This led Dr. Aaron Goodman from UCSD to start a petition to end the MOC, which gathered unwavering support with over 10,000 signatures in 2 weeks. In response, Dr. Richard Baron, the president and CEO of ABIM, has agreed to come on the show to address the concerns raised by physicians and to answer questions that have flooded all social media channels since the petition started.

What is the history of certification, recertification, and MOC? What is the “Grandfather” rule? What about data? COI? Cost? Burnout? Does the MOC really lead to better patient care? Why not stick to state-regulated CME courses? These issues are top-of-mind for a large number of physicians who are certified by the ABIM.

You will not want to miss this heated, yet respectful and civil, discussion.

In the podcast, there is a mention of COIs. The ABIM has provided links to their COI. https://www.abim.org/about/boards-and-committees/board-policies/financial-conflict-of-interest/
and https://www.abim.org/about/boards-and-committees/board-policies/academic-conflict-of-interest/

Dr. Baron's specific COI are also listed.
https://www.abim.org/about/leadership/#baron

The ABIM Board of Directors page lists all of their COIs as well. https://www.abim.org/about/boards-and-committees/governance/board-of-directors/

Here is the page for all the Specialty Boards. https://www.abim.org/about/boards-and-committees/

View the petition.
https://www.change.org/p/eliminate-abims-moc-requirement

Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/

Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA