Press
  Releases

American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Commends IOM P4P Report, But Encourages a More Expansive Definition of Physician Quality

Philadelphia, September 22, 2006
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) recognizes the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for its thoughtful, insightful report on accelerating improvements in Medicare via pay-for-performance (P4P). We particularly commend the call for a phased approach to implementation, acknowledging the operational issues that physicians, especially those in small practice settings, will face, and for addressing the need to promote shared accountability for care coordination through innovative strategies such as common reward pools.

However, we encourage further efforts to align Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and private sector efforts, so that physicians and consumers get consistent and reinforcing messages about what is important. In this regard, we believe it is important that CMS recognize the value of board certification and active maintenance of certification in any recognition/reward program, as an increasing number of private payers (Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, and several Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans) recently have done.

Evidence establishes that board certification is a credential associated with improved health care outcomes and one that is highly valued by physicians as a marker of professional distinction. For these reasons, we encourage CMS to study how it may make board certification part of its recognition and reward programs. We also encourage continued dialogue and exploration into ways to reward well coordinated, high quality efficient care.

ABIM is committed to enhancing health care quality, and we look forward to continued work with physicians, policy makers, insurers and other stakeholders to build a health care delivery system that works effectively and efficiently – providing the high quality of medical care that every patient deserves.

About ABIM Foundation

The ABIM Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to reflecting and supporting medical professionalism, physician leadership, science-based medicine, and health care of the highest quality. Its mission is to advance medical professionalism and physician leadership in quality assessment and improvement by: exploring what it means for physicians to be professionals; stimulating physicians to become involved in quality assessment and improvement; bringing diverse groups of leaders together to enable dialogue and consensus; and promoting research into the science of quality evaluation and improvement.

Top