Proposal Ties Certification and Quality Reporting
Spencer Vibbert | October 15, 2012
Closer alignment between physicians’ specialty board recertification requirements and federal performance reporting activities will have a positive effect on quality improvement across the nation, according to an op-ed from two leading physician executives, published September 12th in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The authors note that all 24 medical specialty boards in the U.S. now endorse periodic recertification, with only 23% of physicians younger than 70 years of age not required to and not choosing to recertify with specialty boards. At the same time, the authors note that the “relatively small payments” available to physicians who voluntarily report performance on federal quality measures has resulted in reduced participation rates among small physician groups and solo practitioners. Aligning board recertification requirements with performance reporting “could lead to more meaningful information available to consumers as well as greater opportunities for meaningful quality improvement…” according to the authors. To access “Engaging Physicians and Leveraging Professionalism” by Patrick H. Conway, MD, MSc and Christine K. Cassel, MD, MSc, visit www.jama.com. Dr Conway is Chief Medical Officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr. Cassel is President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine.