Physician Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program

The American Board of Pediatrics' (APB) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program elicits an array of emotional responses from providers. Some are excited to embark on a quality improvement project that will benefit their patients and practice. Others are anxious about completing all four parts of the ABP's MOC program on time.

Regardless of enthusiasm, all pediatricians must complete a MOC program every five years. Maintaining licensure and professional good standing, meeting continuing education requirements and completing the exam are relatively straightforward. The quality improvement project portion is arguably the most time-consuming portion, requiring a substantial amount of activity from physicians.

Listen to experts on the ABP's MOC program discuss meeting quality improvement project requirements

The ABP's MOC program, and quality improvement projects specifically, are the topic of today's episode of Charting Pediatrics. We are joined by Dan Hyman, MD, and Heather Howman. Dr. Hyman is the Chief Medical and Patient Safety Officer at Children's Hospital Colorado, and Heather Howman is the MOC Program Manager at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Both of today's guests will share tips pediatric primary care providers can use to get started on a quality improvement project, insights into how long the process takes, barriers to completion and more.

In this episode, our experts discuss:

• The basic premise of the ABP's MOC program, which all pediatric care providers must complete every five years
• The four parts of the MOC program for board-certified pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists
• How to earn the credits needed to maintain certification
• How to choose a quality improvement project for the office
• The best ways to make quality improvement a team effort, including how to identify people to partner within the office
• The length of time needed to complete quality improvement projects
• Some of the most common barriers in a private office setting for these kinds of projects
• The value of leveraging electronic medical records in your practice
• Resources and tools to use while completing part four, the quality improvement project, of the ABP's MOC program
• Consensus-building strategies to use within your pediatric practice to gain support for your chosen quality improvement project

Recognizing our committed physicians at Children's Colorado

The Children's Colorado team includes pediatric providers with a variety of clinical specialties, but every physician is committed to improving health systems within their practice to promote safe and effective patient and care.