Newsweek Digs Deeper into the ABIM
It is getting nasty. When Kurt Eichenwald initially exposed the ABIM in Newsweek the ABIM came after him trying to discredit and attack him. In his latest opinion column, he settles that in the first paragraph and then proceeds to destroy the ABIM. It is awesome. Here are some highlights but please read the whole thing:
- That told me either ABIM uses the same public relations firm employed by Scientology, or its officials have a lot more to hide. So I decided to dig deeper. The answer? Whoo-boy, does ABIM have a lot to hide.
- What I found suggests that the primary reason ABIM attempted to expand its recertification process—which set off the uprising—is that the organization has been crippled by accounting games and needs a lot more revenue, fast, to avoid a fiscal train wreck.
- I also found misleading or false statements in government filings, attempts to withhold public information, damage inflicted on federal science programs and more. ABIM now even appears to be trying to trick Congress into passing laws that would force doctors to cough up cash to cover the organization’s financial follies. It even benefited from something slipped into Obamacare that seems to have been written by ABIM or its lobbyists.
Doctors, open your altruistic eyes. We are being bamboozled. These MOC groups are not only a joke but are ripping us off. We need to unite and use this as a spring board to defeat them and other members of the axis of evil (Big Pharma, administrators, lawyers, insurance companies, over reaching government, etc).
- So, were are the family doctors on this? Why are we not investigating the ABFM?
- Where is Kevin Pho MD on this? His blog, KevinMD.com, is popular enough to empower us all and kickstart a revolution.
For family doctors, I recommend we stop doing the yearly $75 testing from the ABFM. I have. Sure that shrinks the 10 year recertification process from 10 to 7 but by then hopefully other, less criminal, boards will be acceptable to use. Of course, they wouldn’t have the MOC as a prerequisite.
There are some comments on the AAFP news website concerning this. AAPS is also suing ABMS for basically “bullying” doctors into submission.
http://www.aapsonline.org/index.php/site/article/aaps_takes_moc_to_court/
Love AAPS but where is the AAFP, who I no longer belong to since they sold us out?
Laying low, I think. But many docs in the AAFP are getting fed up.
Great article by Eichenwald, but I’m afraid it focuses too much on the specific financial misdeeds of ABIM and not enough on what MOC has become. I don’t see this article changing the system very much. Not only do the boards have a lot invested but a lot of politicians would have to change their minds in the use of quality indicators. I don’t want to get too political here but I think Democrats are heavily invested in the concept of tying payments to “quality” whether it’s been proven to work or not. That won’t change any time soon.
Correct Randy, because the electorate by in large feels there is a “right” to health care, and thusly elect those who will take money away from those who actually provide the damn care – it’s a diversion from the root causes, and a thug attempt to fix an unfixable mess.