Banning the MOC

ABMS-Logo-9-2014

This just happened in Oklahoma:

“Nothing in the Oklahoma Allopathic Medical and Surgical Licensure and Supervision Act shall be construed as to require a physician to secure a Maintenance of Certification (MOC) as a condition of licensure, reimbursement, employment or admitting privileges at a hospital in this state. For the purposes of this subsection, “Maintenance of Certification (MOC)” shall mean a continuing education program measuring core competencies in the practice of medicine and surgery and approved by a nationally recognized accrediting organization.”In other words, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed SB 1148 into law and killed the ABMS MOC.  This article, by Med Edison MD, makes the some great points:

  • The law legislates exactly what ABMS says about board certification: that it is voluntary.
  • ABMS has long claimed “board certification is a voluntary process, and one that is very different from medical licensure.”
  • But for those of us on the ground, it’s very clear that it is NOT voluntary. We can quickly lose our jobs, our hospital privilidges, and our insurance participation if we choose not to participate in any portion of MOC.

This is great news.  This may end up killing the corrupt ABMS.   Adding to Oklahoma is bills in Missouri, Michigan, and Kentucky.  If you are a doc, support this fight and let’s get something done in our favor.

I was just thinking, isn’t it interesting that the AAFP and the AMA, who are always looking for money, isn’t trying to help us here?   Hmmmm.