Thread by @doctorwes

Good morning all. With the upcoming "Doctors Day," I thought I'd put up a brief tweettutorial on efforts to end MOC by @PPA_USA and what doctors can do about it.

mentions@PPA_USA First, some important disclosures:

mentions@PPA_USA When it comes to #MOC, there is nothing new under the sun:

mentions@PPA_USA Now, some background on board certification and how MOC came to be:

mentions@PPA_USA The costs for #MOC have skyrocketed over the preceding 18 years, and the problem only appears to be getting worse:

mentions@PPA_USA In 2015, internists incurred a cost from MOC, on average, of $23,607, every 10 years. Cumulatively that cost was estimated to cost US physicians $5.7 billion over 10 years in 2015 dollars.

mentions@PPA_USA Despite that cost, the harms to physicians as a result of #MOC mandates have never been studied.

mentions@PPA_USA Alongside the growing cost of MOC, there has been a simultaneous growth in payroll and benefits at @ABIMcert (data from Form 990 tax disclosures)

mentions@PPA_USA At the same time, there have also been an unusual increase in litigation fees paid by @ABIMcert (and hence, diplomates) since the introduction of #MOC

mentions@PPA_USA We should understand that the ABMS certification/re-certification enterprise earns about $1 billion dollars annually and @ABIMcert is the largest member board of that enterprise.

mentions@PPA_USA Some thoughts on #MOC: Why can I be trusted to independently care for patients, but can't be trusted to decide which CME is best for my clinical needs? Sure CME costs money to create, but it should not be career-ending, profit-churning, employment bureau

mentions@PPA_USA Here's a list of just come of the litigation against @ABMSCert and @ABIMcert and its member boards currently underway, many of which involve antitrust allegations:

mentions@PPA_USA Is this depressing? (You bet!) But this anti-MOC movement is not about a bunch of complainers. This program has been a carefully researched by many, many clinical physicians nationwide.

Here’s the link where folks can donate to the PPA GoFundMe campaign to support litigation to end MOC’s stranglehold on our profession gofundme.com/practicing-phy…