Poll results indicate WIDESPREAD dissatisfaction with MOC

Check out this poll results on Sermo! with over 1,000 polled to date! https://app.sermo.com/md

Poll of the Week

It's generally agreed that physicians need to keep current with new information and diagnostic and treatment guidelines, but the MOC process has been widely criticized. What, specifically, makes the MOC process so onerous?

64%	Too expensive (1174/1843)
55%	Medical boards should focus on content, not revenue (1017/1843)
53%	Too time-consuming (985/1843)
49%	Shouldn't be tied with maintaining board certification (895/1843)
48%	Process too complicated(888/1843)
42%	Not relevant to my daily practice(778/1843)
35%	I do my own self-study (638/1843)
4%	Nothing, the MOC process works well (70/1843)

Data on the costs of medicine-it is NOT doctor pay!

Please see this article which clearly describes the costs of healthcare-it is the CEOs of insurance and hospital industries!:

Doctor’s Salaries Are Not the Big Cost

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/sunday-review/doctors-salaries-are-not-the-big-cost.html?_r=1 

By ELISABETH ROSENTHALMAY 17, 2014

Who Makes What

National average annual salaries in 2013 for health-related job titles. Figures do not include bonuses or incentives, which can be far greater than base salaries.

C.E.O. of health/disability insurance firms

$583,700

Hospital C.E.O.

Avg. base salary for all insurance industry C.E.O.s: $544,100

$386,000

Hospital administrator

$236,800

General physician

$185,000

Family-pra

Dayton signs bill giving some nurses more authority to practice medicine independently

 

SEE: http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/05/13/dayton-signs-bill-giving-nurses-more-authority?from=health 
Lorna Benson · St. Paul, Minn. · May 13, 2014

Some highly-trained nurses in Minnesota will no longer be required to have a physician supervise their work.

Gov. Mark Dayton has signed a bill that gives advanced practice registered nurses the authority to practice independently.

The licensing change, which takes effect Jan. 1, applies to nurse-midwives, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and registered nurse anesthetists. That makes Minnesota the ninth state to grant full practice and prescribing autonomy to all four categories of advanced practice nurses.

The practice of medicine has been given to the nurses there-no oversight from the state medical board OR the great ABMS either. More reasons to take MOC and shove it! YOu don't NEED any education just permission from the state and THAT is now a nursing license!

Maintenance of Marriage (MOM)-now a little lighter MOC

Posted by grobodoc  on May 13, 2014 - 03:53PM EDT
Author Specialties: Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine

https://app.sermo.com/posts/posts/218068

Thinking about starting a new business. With the institution of marriage failing, it is time for some group to take action to save couples from themselves. We know that when a marriage certificate is issued, it is valid for life, with no requirement for recertification or continuing marriage education. Sadly, it is generally accepted that roughly half of marriage certificates fail. The reasons for this are multiple, but couples all too often neglect to remain current with the successful marriage literature and procedures. My company will be named The American Board of Marriage Sustainability (ABMS). Dues will, of course, be required. In addition, annual testing (for an additional fee) and proof of Continuing Marriage Education (CME) will be required of all participants so that they can be labelled as having completed the reuirements for maintenance of marriage (MOM). If reqirements are not met, the marriage certificate would not be revoked, but rather be reclassified as having not met MOM. Qualifying credits could be obtained by attending expensive, boring, and non-informative courses at near-exotic locations, all at additional financial gain for ABMS. As CEO of this righteous and moral company, I would be entitled to an exhorbitant salary but would keep administrative expenses to less than 20%. The remainder could be distributed to advisory board Sermo members with full transparency of the excessive ill-gotten gains assured. By way of full disclosure, I should mention that I am currently unmarried. Revolt via hashtag is not anticipated, for few would be willing to be # anti-MOM. Anyone care to join me in this venture?

Backlash grows against MOC process from: Internal Medicine News

http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/specialty-focus/practice-trends/single-article-page/backlash-grows-against-moc-process/376e81d9cf7ff3e8126c8ec627a9beaa.html

Backlash grows against MOC process

By: ALICIA AULT, Internal Medicine News Digital Network

Resistance against the American Board of Internal Medicine’s maintenance of certification process is growing, with an online petition to overturn the board’s most recent changes having collected more than 13,000 signatures at press time.

Physicians who commented on the petition did not agree.

Dr. Jesse Naghi, a third-year fellow at the University of California, San Diego, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, wrote, "Asking for more money on top of our already high recertification fees seems rather greedy."

"This is an arm-twisting and money-making scam by our own board," said Dr. Garrett Sanford, of Little Rock, Ark.

"We do recognize that there is a cost – for the large majority of our physicians, the entire program costs from $200 to $400 per year," said Dr. Baron, in his statement. "Our fee structure covers the costs of developing and administering the secure, computer-based exams at test centers nationwide, as well as the ongoing development and release of all ABIM self-assessment products," he said, adding, "I encourage the petition signers to visit ABIM’s revenue and expenses [Web page] for more information."

When We Reward Regulators More Than Doctors-That darn MOC again!

Here is a chart Dr. Wes made of the top 10 board members' annual income compared to the same subspecialty physician salaries in 2011 as reported by Medscape, See: http://drwes.blogspot.com/

and concludes:
Clearly, the US physician credentialing system as it exists now overwhelmingly rewards people with regulatory oversight rather than those who provide patient care.  Was this the intent?  More specifically, was the intent of the ABIM's "medical professionalism" manuscript to line the pockets of the ABMS member boards in lieu of social justice?  What kind of justice is this?

Are you a rebel against MOC-see;

http://rebel.md/ 

ABIM to Physicians: Screw You.

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Meg Edison MD • 1 Comment

Over 12,000 physicians signed a petition asking the ABIM to suspend Maintenance of Certification, otherwise known as a money-making scheme to change board certification into an expensive, time consuming, continuous process....................