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  • Assessment of the ABO’s Maintenance of Certification Part 4

    By Peggy Denny and edited by Neil M. Bressler, MD
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    Journal Highlights

    JAMA Ophthalmology, September 2016

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    Improvement in Medical Practice is Part 4 of the Maintenance of Certifi­cation (MOC) program established by the American Board of Ophthalmology (ABO). Wiggins and Etz assessed the effectiveness of MOC Part 4 in help­ing ophthalmologists to improve their practice. They analyzed the perfor­mance of ophthalmologists before and after completing the activities and found significant improvement in a number of designated areas and outcomes.

    The authors conducted a retrospec­tive analysis of the performance of 1,046 ABO diplomates on MOC Prac­tice Improvement Modules (PIMS) completed between Sept. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2014. The mean scores for each process or outcome measure on a medical record abstraction were calculated at baseline and after the diplomate completed the activity, and paired t tests were used to assess the improvement. Diplomates’ comments and ratings of the usefulness of the activity were also reviewed.

    The authors analyzed improvement on those measures that were selected by at least 20 diplomates: Improve­ment was seen in 24 of the 30 (80%) individual process measures, and in 7 of the 18 (38.9%) individual outcome measures. Analysis of the mean results for each diplomate on process mea­sures chosen for improvement showed gains occurring in 9 of 12 modules. In outcomes measures chosen for improvement, mean results showed gains in 6 of 12 modules. Diplomates rated 826 of 1,115 modules (74.1%) as good to excellent; positive comments outnumbered negative ones by a ratio of 5 to 1.

    The authors concluded that the ABO’s MOC Part 4 can help diplo­mates improve quality in process measures and, to a lesser extent, in outcome measures. However, the au­thors also noted that about one-quar­ter of the diplomates did not find the process useful, and they suggested that the results of this study could pro­vide insights on how to improve this activity.

    The original article can be found here.