New Maintenance-of-Certification Requirements

Beginning this year, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) is requiring the physicians it certifies to choose from a variety of activities at intervals of two and five years to maintain their certification, states a January 21, 2014, Wall Street Journal article. Participating in maintenance of certification activities is intended to ensure that physicians are up-to-date on their knowledge and care of patients. According to the article, studies show that clinical skills deteriorate over time and that physicians’ overconfidence can lead to diagnostic errors. Patients will be able to check online whether clinicians are board certified at the board’s website, which will begin publicly reporting in April 2014 whether its physicians are meeting the requirements.