Understanding the
  Health Care Environment

Medical Subspecialty: Society Involvement in Performance Measurement

Efforts to measure physician performance are currently limited by the availability of valid and reliable measures of performance; this is especially true outside of primary care. To try to understand why and, in particular, whether medical societies were beginning to engage in the process of measures development, the ABIM Foundation sponsored research by Dr. Tim Ferris and his colleagues at the Massachusetts General Hospital. This study, “Physician specialty societies and the development of physician performance measures” Health Affairs. 2007;26(6):1712-1719., highlights that medical societies are at different points in their interest in and commitment to the development of performance measures, but that all are becoming more interested and more committed. The study suggests that the profession is responding to the gap in measurement capacity, and that the number of professionally developed measures will increase rapidly over the next few years.

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Study of Health Plan and Credentialing Policies and Practices Regarding Internal Medicine Certification and Recertification

Board certification is an important credential, used by health plans in their network management programs. But how often, and just how, is it used? To answer this, the ABIM Foundation commissioned work by Dr. Gary Freed and his colleagues at the University of Michigan School of Medicine to survey health plans about their policies regarding board certification and Maintenance of Certification. Data are currently being analyzed and will be submitted for publication shortly.

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Study of Hospital Policies and Practices Regarding Internal Medicine Certification and Recertification

Board certification is an important credential, used by hospitals as they award admitting privileges to physicians. But how often, and just how, is it used? To answer this, the ABIM Foundation commissioned work by Dr. Gary Freed and his colleagues at the University of Michigan School of Medicine to survey hospitals about their policies regarding board certification and Maintenance of Certification. Data are currently being analyzed and will be submitted for publication shortly.

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