ABPN Says It Plans to Make Changes to MOC Exam

The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) announced last month that it plans to make changes to its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.

The announcement appears to be in response to psychiatrists’ widespread dissatisfaction with MOC requirements as currently configured.

“While the ABPN program for lifelong learning and continuing certification must comply with the ABMS [American Board of Medical Specialties] MOC standards and be rigorous enough to meet the needs of professional organizations that credential and pay diplomates, the ABPN is also committed to ensuring that its program is meaningful for diplomates and consistent with the realities of their busy lives,” said ABPN President and CEO Larry Faulkner, M.D., in a statement. “The ABPN welcomes constructive feedback about its program, and it looks forward to working with its diplomates and related professional societies to make that program as good as it can be.”

Regarding the MOC 10-year knowledge exam, the ABPN said that it “plans to collaborate with affiliated professional societies to develop a new pilot alternative to its current” examination. As part of the pilot program, “diplomates will be given the opportunity to complete repeated self-assessment activities based upon specific literature references selected by a committee of peer diplomates.”

Further details about the pilot and its effective date will be available in the coming year, according to the announcement. The MOC examination will continue to be available for those diplomates who elect to complete it instead of the proposed alternative.

“We are encouraged to see that the ABPN is exploring alternatives to the exam, especially since this is something for which APA has been advocating, but the devil will be in the details. We expect to learn more about those details in 2018,” said APA Director of Education Tristan Gorrindo, M.D.

Eight hours of self-assessment CME credit will continue to be waived in each three-year continuous MOC block when diplomates pass an ABPN board certification or MOC examination, get a peer-reviewed grant approved, get a peer-reviewed paper indexed in a scientific journal, complete an ABPN-approved non-CME patient safety self-assessment activity, obtain four hours of documented peer supervision, or have their clinical performance reviewed by an institutional Peer Review Committee.

The ABPN also announced last month that eight hours of self-assessment CME credit will now be waived in each three-year continuous MOC block when diplomates participate in ABPN-approved registries such as APA’s PsychPRO, now in development.

Also, Part IV credit will continue to be offered for diplomate participation in ABPN-approved quality improvement activities, including institutional quality improvement activities, the ABMS Portfolio Program, Joint Commission’s Certified Primary or Comprehensive Stroke Center, Joint Commission–accredited Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation, professional registries, Part IV activities of other ABMS member boards, or selected international MOC activities.

Part IV credit will continue to be offered for diplomate completion of ABPN-approved feedback activities, including peer surveys, patient surveys, institutional surveys, institutional peer review, supervisor evaluations, resident evaluations, or 360-degree evaluations. ■