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Maintenance of certification and the financial status of the medical boards
Miriam R Lieberman, Daniel M Siegel1
1SUNY Downstate Medical Center.
Insights
The Maintenance of Certification program has financially benefited most medical boards. Further research is needed to determine if this impacts physician education and patient care.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Physician Certification
Background:
- The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) implemented the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program in 2006.
- This program affects all board-certified physicians, making their financial status a relevant topic.
- This study examines the financial status of Medical Boards (MB) to inform the MOC discussion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the financial status of the ABMS and its member boards.
- To provide data on the financial impact of the MOC program on medical boards.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed yearly revenue, expenses, net gain/loss, and end-of-year balances.
- Utilized IRS Form 990 data from 1997 to 2012 for the ABMS, 24 MBs, ACGME, AOA, and ACCME.
Main Results:
- 87% of medical boards reported increased end-of-year balances between their first and latest reported years.
- The ACGME, AOA, and ACCME also reported financial increases.
- Notable financial trends were observed from 1997 to 2012.
Conclusions:
- The majority of medical boards have experienced financial gains due to the MOC program.
- The impact of these financial benefits on physician education and patient care requires further investigation.
Background:
The Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program proposed by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) gained approval in 2006. The implementation of this program will impact all physicians who are board certified. Therefore, The Financial Status of the Medical Boards is an increasingly relevant topic of discussion amongst all physicians and those interested in medical education and certification. With this study we aim to bring greater attention to the already publicly available financial status of the Medical Boards (MB) so that it can become part of the ongoing discussion of MOC.
Method:
We analyzed the yearly revenue, expenses, net gain or loss and end of year balance for the ABMS and its 24 MB, additional member boards, as well as the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) organizations.
Results:
We have commented on notable trends based on the available IRS Form 990s spanning from 1997 to 2012. When comparing the most recently available reported end of year balance to the first available reported end of year balance, 87% (27/31) of the member boards have reported an increase. All three of the additional organizations studied, ACGME, AOA and ACCME reported an increase as well.
Conclusions:
It is clear from the data and analysis that the majority of MB have financially benefited from the MOC program. It remains to be proven whether or not this economic benefit will translate into an improvement in physician education and patient care.
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