Physicians in the Department of Medicine will soon be able to receive ABMS Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credits for quality improvement (QI) activities right at Stanford. This is a result of the Department’s recent approval as a Portfolio Program sponsor within the Multi-Specialty Portfolio Approval Program of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Paul Heidenreich, MD (professor, Cardiovascular Medicine) leads the new program.

The process by which doctors maintain their specialty certification has changed substantially over the past decade. Most specialties that are members of the ABMS require recertification every 10 years during a physician’s career; several require more frequent recertification. In the intervals between recertification exams, diplomates of ABMS Boards participate in other certification activities. The part of the MOC process that is relevant to the Department’s new position as a portfolio sponsor is Part IV, Practice Performance Assessment, in which QI activities are a significant factor. According to Heidenreich, “the Department can now help our physicians earn MOC points for their participation in quality-related projects.”

As the process by which QI activities will be proposed, vetted, approved, and publicized is being refined, Heidenreich plans to make it as simple and transparent as possible. He explains: “Department of Medicine faculty members can submit an ‘application’ describing the QI programs on which they are working. In the future we hope to have all of these listed on a website where faculty who are looking for a project can find and select ones that are seeking additional faculty members.”

It is difficult to measure the exact impact of these QI programs on the community. Heidenreich estimates that they could affect thousands of patients over several years. For instance, he says, “a project that helps improve phone calls for patients after discharge may impact all discharged patients.”

There are currently nearly 70 ABMS Portfolio Program sponsor organizations, with more than 8,000 physicians from medical institutions, state health departments, medical societies, and large medical groups or clinics participating in practice improvement activities. These organizations participate as sponsors to be able to create, approve, and run QI programs locally for their physicians. Having a local portfolio sponsor makes it simpler to gain needed MOC credits for practice-relevant work. These local QI activities will be open to all members of the Department of Medicine.