Maintenance of Certification

Maintenance of certification or MOC is the medical profession’s response to the public’s concerns regarding quality of medical care in the United States. Anticipating broad expectations for continual documentation of specialty certification as a measure of medical competency, the American Board of Radiology began awarding 10-year time-limited certificates in radiation oncology in 1995. The ABR program in MOC has subsequently been developed in response to an American Board of Medical Specialties mandate 2000.

Over the past several decades, there has been increasing interest on the part of the public and government agencies in the requirement of greater oversight for physicians. In response to the public's concerns, the American Board of Medical Specialties has decided that all medical specialties should develop MOC programs to replace the current recertification initiatives.

The MOC program will be broader in scope than the recertification program in that it will involve an assessment of a wide variety of parameters, not just cognitive knowledge and clinical skills. It will also involve other organizations, not just the certification boards.

The American Board of Medical Specialties has defined four components of MOC.

1. Professional standing.
2. Lifelong learning and self assessment.
3. Cognitive expertise.
4. Practice quality improvement.