Report of the
American Board of Radiology
James P. Borgstede, M.D., FACR
President-Elect
• ABR efforts on behalf of our
diplomates
• ABR of the future
• ABMS of the future
• Integration of ABR within healthcare
and healthcare regulatory bodies
Thanks
•
•
•
•
Gary Becker and ABR staff
David Laszakovits
Jennifer Bosma
My ABR Trustee Colleagues
“To serve patients, the public, and the
medical profession. . .”
“. . .by certifying that its diplomates have
acquired, demonstrated, and maintained a
requisite standard of knowledge, skill, and
understanding. . .”
New ABR Endeavors To Assist
Diplomates
• The ABR is must demonstrate accountability to its
diplomates.
• Without them the ABR cannot implement its mission.
• Relevance of ABMS/ABR certification must be
demonstrated to the public, payers, and the government.
• Medicine is experiencing a fusion of economics, quality,
safety, and reimbursement so our organizations must work
together to effectively project and promote our specialty for
the benefit of our patients.
• Accountability and transparency remain the watchwords for
the new millennium.
New ABR Endeavors To Assist
Diplomates
• Facile Maintenance of Certification (MOC)
• Value enhanced MOC with private carriers
to optimize its benefits.
• Group and institutional MOC
• Advocacy for our diplomates to ABMS for
recognition of focused practice in cardiac
CT in conjunction with ACR
• ABR advisory committees
• Exam centers in Chicago and Tucson
New ABR Endeavors To Assist
Diplomates
• Alignment of ABR processes with other aspects of
our diplomates’ radiology practices
– Affordable Care Act and payment reform
• e.g. ABR has been given provisional CMS
authorization to report MOCP participation
as allowed by authorized ABMS boards
– Credentialing requirements
– Maintenance of Licensure with state medical
boards
A New ABR Primary Certificate
• ABR currently offers 3 primary certificates: Diagnostic
Radiology, Radiation Oncology, and Medical Physics
• Primary Certificate in Interventional and Diagnostic Radiology
would be a 4th and the ABR is seeking approval from ABMS
• Will not be a separate stand alone primary VIR certificate
• Will allow radiology to favorably compete with surgery programs
in vascular interventional training while keeping this training
and skill within the house of radiology
• ABR is responding to request of its diplomates.
• ABR supports the ACR resolution and appreciates ACR support
of this effort.
Dual Certificate in IR and DR
• The IR/DR Dual Certificate positions the ABR
as the home of image-guided interventions
within medicine and solidifies the link to
Diagnostic Radiology competency.
• This will be an additional integrated training
option resulting in identical procedural
competencies as the VIR CAQ; the ABR will
continue to support the VIR CAQ.
The ABR of the Future
• Increased demands to demonstrate relevance of
certification
• Increasing expectations of accountability to our
diplomates
– ABR has established advisory committees
• Increased demands from a more robust
American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)
ABMS of the Future
• More robust
• More legislatively
active
• Continuous MOC
rather than 10 year
cycles
• Involvement and
promotion of
institutional MOC
• Significant presence of
primary care boards in
ABMS governance
• Competition from rogue
organizations for stature
Integration of the ABR
within healthcare and healthcare
regulatory bodies
Specialty
Board
Certification
Credentialing
Accreditation
Health
Plans
Gov’t
Physician
Performance
Private Not-for- Assessment
Profits
State Medical
Licensure
Quality
Organizations Business
Coalitions
Unions
Consumer
Groups
Certification
MOC
Credentialing
Accreditation
Health
Plans
Gov’t
Private Not-forProfits
Physician
Performance
Assessment
MOL
Quality
Organizations
Business
Coalitions
Unions
Consumer
Groups
An Example
• Participation in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) for a 1%
annual bonus payment to each qualifying physician on all
Medicare services they bill. This program is not the same as
ABR/ABMS practice quality improvement projects required for
ABR/ABMS maintenance of certification.
• But if PQRS, then the opportunity for an additional 0.5% bonus
from CMS for participating in the Maintenance of Certification
Program (MOCP) operated by an ABMS specialty board (ABR)
for CMS through the Affordable Care Act. This is where the ABR
and ABMS enter the picture
• Therefore, physicians already participating in MOC to maintain
their ABR certificate can leverage that participation for a 0.5%
bonus.
MOCP Mechanics
• ABMS board e.g. ABR has received provisional approval from
CMS as the “submitter of data” for ABR diplomates to fulfill
both part 4 of MOC for ABR recertification and qualification for
MOCP reimbursement under the ACA.
• ABR MOC participants will be eligible for the additional 0.5%
incentive IF:
– They have met the PQRS requirements
– They have “successfully completed a qualified MOC Program
practice assessment for 2011”
• This is the only pathway by which the MOC PQRS incentive
may be obtained.
• While these small economic percentages may not seem
significant now, they will soon turn into a penalty with a much
greater significance.
Areas of ABR/ACR Synergism
• Focused practice in cardiac CT with
examination at the ACR education center
• ABR interface with ACR education center
• ACR leadership in registry development
“To serve patients, the public, and the
medical profession. . .”
“. . .by certifying that its diplomates have
acquired, demonstrated, and maintained a
requisite standard of knowledge, skill, and
understanding. . .”