ACP's Role & Professional Accountability

ACP recognizes the medical profession's responsibility to ensure quality medical care and supports the concept of lifelong learning and the need for ongoing physician accountability. ACP's Professional Accountability Principles outline the important attributes and standards for any organization that is involved in assuring physician accountability.

Because a wide variety of attributes contribute to a physician’s competence and quality of care, ACP believes that participation in programs for physician accountability such as maintenance of certification (MOC) should not be an absolute prerequisite for licensure and credentialing including acceptance into health plan networks, reimbursement, hospital medical staff privileges, medical liability coverage, and/or state licensing bodies, and other purposes.

ACP's Position Statement on Regulation of Credentialing and Licensing outlines a variety of issues, including the potential for adverse unintended consequences, for consideration regarding legislation to regulate MOC. The primary determinants should be demonstrated performance for providing high quality, compassionate care and a commitment to continuous professional development.

ACP Advocates to Improve MOC Process

ACP is working aggressively to address the concerns about ABIM's MOC program expressed by our members and the internal medicine community, and to achieve reform through active discussion with ABIM at many levels. Based on the accountability principles and the feedback from ACP members, advocacy efforts with ABIM have focused on the need for MOC to be more relevant, more valuable, less burdensome, and less time-consuming. ACP will continue to represent the concerns of members to ABIM to assure that the MOC process evolves to increase relevance and value to our members.

Statements from ACP About MOC