Meetings and Education

What is Maintenance of Certification?

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 here.

SIR is pleased to offer members the following resources and material which pertain to Maintenance of Certification (MOC). The information below is not intended to be comprehensive. If you have questions contact our office at (703) 691-1805 or MOC@SIRweb.org, or the American Board of Radiology.

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

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.

Part 2: Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment

A minimum of 75 AMA Category 1 CME credits is required every three years. At least 25 of these must be Self-Assessment CME (SA-CME). In addition to ABR-prequalified SAMs, the ABR will count all AMA Category 1 CME activities in “enduring materials” (including web-based and print) and “journal-based CME” formats toward the SA-CME requirement. More details about Part 2 can be found on the ABR website.

Part 3: Cognitive Expertise

This part requires passing the most recent summative decision for the online longitudinal assessment or passing a traditional exam in the previous 5 years. Those who need to pass an MOC exam by March 2, 2017 (as indicated on the Part 3 tab in myABR) are still required to take and pass the exam in 2016 to meet the Part 3 requirement. All other diplomates will be deferred from completing the Part 3 requirement and therefore will not need to take the traditional MOC exam until the new MOC Part 3 process is available.

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 available here. Visit the ABR website for additional information.

View your SIR credits

SIR provides a comprehensive portfolio of online learning modules and capabilities through the SIR Learning Center which consolidates all educational activities and recordkeeping required by the American Board of Radiology (ABR) for maintaining certification.

The Learning Center enables members to track credits for SIR educational activities and submit them to the Continuing Medical Education (CME) Gateway, where they are forwarded on to ABR and displayed on the consumer website of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).

Learning Center

Meetings and Education

Maintenance of Certification

Meetings and Education

Patient Center

Member Central

Advocacy and Outreach

Publications

Practice Resources