The practice of medicine continues to change dramatically and we as hematologists must maintain control of our destiny as best we can. Recertification is a fact of life for practicing hematologists who were certified after 1990. Amid the stress of a high-stakes, time-consuming exam, it can be daunting to try to fulfill the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) self-evaluation requirements as well. In order to ease this process and ensure that the practice community is provided with fair and relevant criteria to measure performance, ASH has created hematology-specific practice improvement modules (PIMs). Now, the Society is pleased to announce the creation of its newest module — the ASH idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) PIM. This benign hematology module joins the malignant hematology ASH PIMs for myelodysplastic syndromes and multiple myeloma. The volunteer hematologists on the ASH Pay-For-Performance Task Force, of which I am a member, are hopeful that the ITP PIM will be the first of several common benign hematologic conditions such as anemia, thrombophilic disorders, and bleeding disorders that may serve as future PIMs.
As Dr. Serody details in the adjacent piece, requirements for hematologists enrolled in the ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program have changed. The new recertification requirements for physicians include the need to secure 100 self-evaluation points with 20 points earned in medical knowledge, 20 points gained through an evaluation of practice performance improvement, and 60 elective points. We the members of ASH are looking forward to demonstrating to the ABIM the high quality of care our members strive to achieve.
Each ASH PIM awards 20 practice improvement points, the number required for recertification, as well as 20 AMA category 1 credits. Each set of measures on the ASH Web site is accompanied by physician resources and educational materials. I must admit that even with my prehistoric computer skills I found the PIM Web site highly user-friendly and wish all our post-1990 members the best of luck.
