Do professional development programs for Maintenance of Certification (MOC) affect quality of patient care?

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between physicians' completion of American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) modules and the quality of medical care delivered.

Physicians from the Electronic National Quality Improvement and Research Network (eNQUIRENet) were enrolled. Data from their electronic health records were compared before and after they completed one or more MOC modules for family physicians (Self-Assessment Module [Part II MOC] and Performance in Practice Module [Part IV MOC]; SAM/PPM). Process data and other quantitative clinical measures for all adult patients with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes were gathered from each study physician. General linear mixed effects models were used to analyze data before and after the MOC modules, adjusting for clustering of patients within physicians.

Physicians participating in SAM/PPM activities demonstrated greater improvements over time in 11 of 24 measures in process and intermediate outcome measures related to type 2 diabetes care compared with non-SAM/PPM participants. All groups demonstrated improvements over time.

Participation in SAM/PPM activities is associated with greater improvements in care, but the association between activity undertaken and specific improvements is difficult to demonstrate.