Maintenance of Certification (MOC) is an integral part of the quality movement in healthcare. Patients, your physician peers, and your colleagues all value MOC because it demonstrates your support for continuous quality improvement, professional development, and quality patient care.
The American Board of Radiology oversees the MOC process. In 2012, the ABR implemented a new MOC process, known as Continuous Certification, for all participating MOC diplomates. Every year on March 2, the ABR reviews the previous three calendar years to determine if each diplomate is meeting the requirements of MOC. For more information about Continuous Certification, visit the ABR page.
MOC Requirements
Essential areas of MOC
The MOC program evaluates, on a continuous basis, the SIX ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES as defined by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS):
- Medical knowledge
- Patient care and procedural skills
- Interpersonal and communication skills
- Professionalism
- Practice-based learning and improvement
- Systems-based practice
Four parts of MOC
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Part 1: Evidence of Professional Standing
This part requires valid, unrestricted licensure in all states of practice. A diplomate must report any state board action against a license to the ABR within 60 days. For more information visit the ABR website.
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Part 2: Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment
All dipolomats will need to complete 75 Category 1 CME credits in the previous three-year period, but SA-CME will no longer be required for OLA participants. The OLA annual progress requirement is the number of questions a diplomate needs to answer earch year. For most, this is 52 questions per year, but it will vary depending on how many certificates you are maintaining.
For diplomats not participating in OLA, at least 25 of those credits must be from Self-Assessment CME activities. SIR provides these credit types by offering enduring material, such as Annual Meeting On-demand, JVIR CME activities, and other self-paced education with self-assessment questions. More details about Part 2 can be found on the ABR website.
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Part 3: Cognitive Expertise
This part requires passing an Online Longitudinal Assessment (OLA) performance evaluation or a Continuing Certification Exam for each maintained certificate every five years. Each maintained certificate has a certification evaluation date at the end of a five-year cycle. An OLA performance evaluation meeting or exceeding the standard in year five or a Continuing Certification Exam with a passing result in year four or five is required to continue maintenance and start the next five-year cycle. More details about the Part 3 and the OLA process can be found on the ABR website.
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Part 4: Practice Quality Improvement (PQI)
To satisfy Part 4, diplomates complete at least one Practice Quality Improvement (PQI) Project OR Participatory Quality Improvement Activity every three years. A PQI project or activity may be conducted repeatedly or continuously and may include an individual only, a group of diplomates, or an institutional multidisciplinary collaboration. The ABR honors each diplomate’s privilege to choose PQI activities or projects that are pertinent to his or her practice. For complete details, see the ABR website.
This information is also available as a brochure. Visit the ABR website for additional information.
