ABIM Introduces New and Improved Self-Assessment Tools for QI Activities

(Philadelphia, PA), The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announces the launch of its redesigned Self-Directed PIM and its new Completed Projects PIM as tools to assist board-certified physicians who are performing quality improvement (QI) activities.

Physicians with access to data that will be used to begin a new QI project can use the updated Self-Directed PIM to earn CME and meet the requirements of ABIM's Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. The redesigned module includes a measures library that has a wide range of sources for evidence-based measures, including quality improvement initiatives, societies and registries. The measures library is compiled with over 500 clinical measures from a wide range of QI organizations and societies such as The Joint Commission, Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, American College of Physicians, American Society of Clinical Oncology and The American Society of Hematology. Providing enhanced customer service, the streamlined module offers a user-friendly PIM interface, delivers an improved QI guidance plan, and requires less time to complete.

For ABIM diplomates who have recently completed a QI project or initiative using nationally recognized measures, the Completed Project PIM enables them to meet the requirements of the MOC program. Designed to help reduce redundancy, the module will allow physicians to report on QI projects that were completed within the past 24 months.

ABIM PIM Practice Improvement Modules® are web-based tools that guide physicians through the collection of patient and practice infrastructure data to identify gaps in care and ultimately implement a quality improvement plan for their practice. ABIM's Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program requires physicians to complete a QI activity, and PIMs are one way to fulfill that requirement. Having the ability to complete a PIM using clinical data that has already been collected is added benefit for the diplomate.

"If physicians are already engaged in rigorous quality improvement activities, we want them to receive Maintenance of Certification credit for that work and the new Self-Directed and Completed Project PIMs are how we accomplish this," said Elizabeth Blaylock, Vice President of PIM Development at the American Board of Internal Medicine. "These new PIMs are designed to support physicians in their ongoing efforts to measure and improve patient care."

As part of MOC, ABIM requires board-certified physicians to re-assess their medical knowledge and engage in quality improvement activities every ten years.

About ABIM
For 75 years, certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)has stood for the highest standard in internal medicine and its 19 subspecialties and has meant that internists have demonstrated – to their peers and to the public – that they have the clinical judgment, skills and attitudes essential for the delivery of excellent patient care. ABIM is not a membership society, but a non-profit, independent evaluation organization. Our accountability is both to the profession of medicine and to the public. ABIM is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties. For additional updates, follow ABIM on Facebook.