Dr. Wes

Common Sense

2017-07-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

Four years ago, I had to "re-board certify" in cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology or lose my ability to practice medicine at the hospital I have worked since 2001. The "de-credentialing" aspect of failing to participate in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) self-proclaimed "Maintenance of Certification" (MOC) program infuriated me, but I was left with no choice but to "pay

Texas Anti-MOC Compromise Bill to Go Into Effect 1 Jan 2018

2017-06-30T15:34:00.000-05:00

Here's the link to the actions taken on Texas Senate Bill 1148 signed into law 15 Jun 2017: https://openstates.org/tx/bills/85/SB1148/#actions -Wes

Antitrust Suit Against AOA Proceeds to Discovery Phase in New Jersey

2017-06-26T10:38:00.001-05:00

The United States' primary certifying body for osteopathic physicians, the American Osteopathic Association, is set to proceed to discovery in a fraud and antitrust suit in the District of New Jersey after a federal judge in Camden denied the association's motions to dismiss a suit by doctors. The physician-plaintiffs who sued the American Osteopathic Association have sufficiently stated

Do Physicians Have the Right to Work Without Maintenance of Certification?

2017-06-15T06:21:00.001-05:00

A previously ABMS Board-certified physician with 10 years experience fails her Maintenance of Certification examination. Does she have the right to work in the hospital where she has tirelessly and compassionately cared for critically ill patients for years, earned the trust of her colleagues and nursing staff, and taken call every fourth night? According to the American Board of Medical

On Transparency

2017-06-08T07:40:00.002-05:00

"They may carry on the most wicked and pernicious schemes under the dark veil of secrecy. The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them." Patrick Henry Constitutional Ratifying Convention June 9, 1788 *** "I am still processing the myriad allegations in the most recent Newsweek piece. But I want to be

The Alamo Reenacted: Texas Senate Bill 1148

2017-05-30T08:02:00.002-05:00

Texas Senate Bill 1148 was a simple, hardly-noticed bill, one that promised to prevent the age discrimination against younger physicians inherent to the trademarked American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. The bill prevented the proprietary and unproven MOC program from being required for a physician to obtain or maintain hospital credentials,

We Want to Know

2017-05-24T06:32:00.002-05:00

Dear Richard Baron, As President and CEO of the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and its affiliated Foundation, the ABIM Foundation, you are responsible for public disclosure of IRS tax forms 990 to the public. Those tax forms were due at the IRS office 15 May 2017 for the ABIM's 2016 fiscal year (1 July 2015-30 June 2016). Where are they? We

When JAMA Shows Who They Are

2017-05-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

Front and back covers of the May 2nd, 2017 Issue of JAMA on Physician Conflicts of Interest in Medicine In the May 2nd issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the American Medical Association (AMA) discusses the subject of physician conflicts of interest in medicine. This puts them at an interesting juncture when the editor-in-Chief and executive editor of JAMA failed

Caption Contest: Twin Towers

2017-05-18T09:19:00.002-05:00

Adjacent Towers in Chicago (Click image to enlarge) Okay internet: I need a clever caption for the above photo (note the building labels). Have fun! -Wes

Wingman

2017-05-05T14:19:00.000-05:00

There is talk of quality in health care. There is talk of safety. Millions upon millions of dollars are spent on "quality and safety" in health care each year. After all, without "quality" and "safety," how can you have "value?" Business people now call quality and safety "MIPS," "MOC," "MACRA," or "measures." To me, these are not quality, but rather very flawed attempts to define it. Acronyms

What JAMA's Editors Failed to Disclose

2017-05-03T05:52:00.002-05:00

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."- from Hamlet, by William Shakespeare An entire journal dedicated to a discussion of conflicts of interest was published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). There is remarkable irony when the executive editor and editor in chief of JAMA fail to disclose JAMA's ownership by the American Medical Assocation (AMA), a 501(c

Texas: The Latest Front of the Ugly Civil War in American Medicine

2017-04-29T08:03:00.003-05:00

The Alamo, 1894 (from Wikipedia) The ugly civil war in American medicine continues, this time in Texas. This civil war is not a war between the left-right politics of healthcare, as many would hope it be depicted. Rather, it is a war between an emerging left-right alliance that's building to topple health care's increasingly corporate state. On one side of the civil war is the staid old

Teirstein: An Urgent Call to Action

2017-04-18T15:23:00.003-05:00

This important email has been widely circulated today from Paul Teirstein, MD, President of the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS) and is an urgent call to action for practicing physicians. I urge all physicians to take a brief moment and contact your representative as Dr. Teirstein suggests. He's made the process as easy as possible: Dear Colleague, Several states now have

For Texas Legislators: MOC's Myriad Conflicts of Interest

2017-04-17T09:01:00.001-05:00

The American Board of Medical Specialties' (ABMS) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) proprietary continuing education program has a myriad of conflicts of interest. I thought I would assemble a partial list of some of them below: 1) The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the largest ABMS member board responsible for credentialing one-quarter of all US physicians, is increasingly in debt

Dear Legislator

2017-04-14T06:44:00.001-05:00

Physicians, consider providing the following letter (or a modified version) to every state legislator considering anti-MOC legislation. Dear Legislator - Across the country, bills are appearing in state House and Senate chambers regarding a trademarked educational product owned by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) called Maintenance of Certification (MOC). No doubt a team of

An American Sickness and the ABIM

2017-04-12T08:04:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD for the mention of the ABIM/ABIM Foundation controversy in her new book, An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. Sadly, the financial troubles and numerous financial conflicts of interest at the ABIM persist for reasons Dr. Rosenthal articulates well: it's a "testing Ponzi scheme." -Wes

Attention Tennessee Physicians and Physicians Everywhere

2017-04-03T06:50:00.000-05:00

Attention Tennessee physicians and beyond: As you may be aware, the (anti-)Maintenance of Certification legislation (see House Bill HB 413) and Senate Bill (SB 298) is on the calendar on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Commerce and at 3:00 p.m. in House Health Subcommittee. This legislation is highly contested and being opposed by both hospitals and insurance companies. TMA is working hard to

ABIM Gets It Wrong Again

2017-03-31T06:19:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) quietly announced their much-anticipated "modifications" to their Maintenance of Certification program on their blog. As expected, rather than ending the MOC program, ABIM has decided to double down and justify their unproven process using an edited video of Skype sessions from their most fervent (paid) supporters. The ABIM reportedly

Fact Check on ABIM's Director of Investigations

2017-03-21T20:00:00.000-05:00

On 9 February 2017, I received a note from the editor of Philadelphia Medicine magazine requesting that I respond to a letter they received from Sidney Baumgarten, Esq, a friend and counsel for Ariel Benjamin Mannes, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)'s Director of Investigations, whom I had mentioned in their publication dedicated to the ABIM that was released in December, 2016.

Federal Judge Dismisses ABIM Copyright Infringement Suit

2017-03-17T07:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, US District Judge Katherine Hayden dismissed the instant copyright infringement action filed by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) against defendent Jaime Salas Rushford MD because the action was time-barred by its three-year statute of limitations. Background The ruling stems from a December 2009 complaint filed by the ABIM against Rajender K. Arora who conducted a live

MOCA-Peds and Its Conflicts of Interest

2017-03-05T12:35:00.001-06:00

The pediatric Maintenance of Certification (MOC) propaganda machine rolls on - this week in the JAMA Pediatrics. Lewis R. First, MD, MS, David A Gremse, MD, and Joseph W. St. Geme, III, MD join forces to publish their opinion piece entitled "Maintenance of Certification - A Prescription for Improved Child Health" in JAMA Pediatrics on 27 Feb 2017. The only conflicts of interests they disclose

TeamHealth: Medicine's "Big Short"

2017-03-04T16:50:00.000-06:00

Remember Bob Wachter, MD, America's Most Influential Physician Executive in 2015? Remember how he played Elvis and sang "Your Hospitalist Song" at Mandalay Casino while serving on the board of IPC The Hospitalist Company in 2014? Remember how Dr Wachter pivoted to "love" as a quality measure in the New York Times after leaving the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and after he

Bringing the ABMS MOC Program Before the FTC

2017-02-24T16:36:00.001-06:00

Looks like the new Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Maureen K. Ohlhausen might take an interest in the onerous and costly American Board of Medical Specialties' Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program:Testifying on behalf of the FTC before the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, Commissioner Maureen K. Ohlhausen noted that while occupational licensing can help

Why Didn't I Think of This?

2017-02-14T05:44:00.003-06:00

What the public REALLY needs: a credentialer of the credentialers, based in Washington, DC! These guys have it all: An Editorial Committee, an International Task Force, an External Stakeholder Development Task Force, Public Member Development Task Force, Credentialing Careers Task Force, and Emerging Leaders Task Force - oh, and don't forget the Legal Action Fund to pay for hefty strongman

PPA Requests Congressional Hearing, IRS Investigation of MOC Program

2017-02-06T06:34:00.000-06:00

The Library of Congress is a beautiful building in Washington DC. On the North wall of the Library of Congress Member's Room is a beautiful mosaic representing law: It was the perfect setting to deliver the Practicing Physicians of America's debut message to Congress regarding the ABMS Maintenance of Certification program (pdf of slides) last Thursday: -Wes Additional information: