Steps to Provide MOC to Your Learners
MOC. It’s everywhere in the medical education world! Physicians seem to hate it, your colleagues are confused by it, and you have a mandate from your director to “figure it out.” Where to start?
1. Visit the ABMS website.
http://www.abms.org/Maintenance_of_Certification/
Of particular interest are the pages entitled, “The Value of MOC” and “ABMS Evidence Library.” These pages include information that will help you understand and provide evidence to demonstrate that a Maintenance of Certification program does link to improved clinical performance and outcomes.
2. Review the Four Parts to MOC.
If you work in a CME Office, you are probably being asked to provide CME that meets Part II or Part IV requirements for MOC. Part II is life-long learning and self-assessment or, “Educational and self-assessment programs determined by your Member Board.” Part IV is practice performance assessment or, “Demonstrate your use of best evidence and practices compared to peers and national benchmarks.”
Part II can sometimes be accomplished through the addition of an assessment at the conclusion of an activity.
Part IV is sometimes accomplished in conjunction with the Quality Department, if you have one at your institution. Many medical specialty societies have launched Part IV programs (visit ASTRO’s website to see an example that satisfies the American Board of Radiology’s requirements.)
3. Visit the relevant Board website.
Depending on the specialty, every Board has their own rules.
This is where it may get more complicated. Some Boards, such as the American Board of Pediatrics, have a formal application for approval for 1 program at a time. Other Boards, such as the American Board of Surgery, allow providers to demonstrate compliance with their requirements.
4. Consider a vendor.
Many vendors provide useful services to simplify this for your learners. I have investigated many and have found a few that I really like. You can demo one vendor, the World Continuing Education Alliance, by accessing my free educational site here. You can create a free account and play around with the system. Let me know if you have any questions!