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MOC Requirements
The American Board of Radiology has a history of ensuring excellence in the professionals who practice in our field. As the applications, technologies, and methodologies of radiology continue to expand and develop, we understand that lifelong learning is critical to ensure that new information and knowledge are incorporated into clinical practice. We are therefore looking forward with vision.
Our maintenance of certification process (ABR-MOC) is designed to facilitate and document the professional development of each diplomate through its focus on the essential elements of quality care. The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the American Board of Radiology ( ABR), as a member board, have initiated this process. Over the next ten years, ABR-MOC will continue to develop into a comprehensive vehicle through which all diplomates can ensure the public and the radiologic community that they are incorporating new information into their practices, thereby delivering excellence in care.
To view your particular schedule, go to Timelines & Fees.
Here's how it works:
Four Components …
- Professional Standing
- Lifelong Learning & Self-assessment
- Cognitive Expertise
- Assessment of Performance in Practice
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... in Six Competencies
- Medical Knowledge
- Patient Care
- Interpersonal & Communication Skills
- Professionalism
- Practice-based Learning & Improvement
- Systems-based Practice
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Please see the MOC Participation Policy for detailed guidelines used to evaluate acceptable participation.
Part One: Professional Standing
Diplomates are required to maintain active, current, valid, and unrestricted licenses relevant to all locations of practice. All current licenses will be checked at the time the diplomate registers for the computer-based examination. The American Board of Radiology will regularly conduct random sample checks of licensure status amongst diplomates with time-limited certificates.
Part Two: Lifelong Learning and Self-assessment
Lifelong Learning: A minimum of 250 CME credit hours, approved by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), are required over the 10-year cycle, all of which must be in Category 1. Of the 250 hours, a minimum of 70% must be in specialty-specific or related areas. “Specialty-specific” means any credit related to the specialty of radiology, and also to the areas related to the radiologist’s specific practice, such as neurology for the neuroradiologist, urology for the genitourinary radiologist, orthopedics for the musculoskeletal radiologist. The remaining 30% can include specialty-specific material as well as clinically related areas or relevant topics such as risk management, ethics, statistics, the processes of continuous quality improvement, methodologies of outcome of measurement, etc.
Self-assessment: The self-assessment requirement may be satisfied by completing self-assessment modules (SAMs). These are educational venues (e.g., refresher courses, workshops, reading assignments, on-line offerings, etc.), usually offered by the societies, that have been ABR-qualified. All SAMs are also qualified as Category 1 CME, and can serve to fill that requirement as well.
Click here for a list of available SAMs.
Part Three: Cognitive Expertise
The diplomate is expected to maintain the essentials of core knowledge fundamental to specialty practice. Documentation of cognitive expertise requires completion of a computer-based examination within the last 3 years of the 10-year MOC cycle. An exam will be offered by the ABR at least once a year. The proctored examination is a comprehensive test covering the knowledge base required for the practice of neuroradiology. On the day of the examination, the diplomate (the person scheduled to participate in the examination, according to ABR records) must confirm identity by presenting a government-issued photo I.D. and his/her exam confirmation letter.
An ample 4-hour time block is provided for taking the exam.
Part Four: Practice Quality Improvement
ABR articles on Practice Quality Improvement have recently been published for diagnostic radiologists. Click here for details.
The ABR's Practice Quality Improvement - "PQI" - program addresses Part IV requirements. For Diagnostic Radiology, five categories of PQI projects have been defined: 1) patient safety, 2) accuracy of interpretation, 3) report turnaround time, 4) practice guidelines and technical standards, and 5) referring physician surveys. Each diagnostic radiologist decides on a project in one of these categories, working as an individual, within a department or a group, or associated with a national society.
Examples of program resources that you may find helpful in learning about quality improvement include:
- On-line or in-person course (including college, institutional, and commercial courses, e.g., Lean Management, Six Sigma)
- Self-Assessment Module (SAM) on quality improvement
- Society-sponsored CME offering
- Institutional course
Examples of reading resources:
The steps in practice quality improvement are displayed in the chart below.
Please click to access your personal database (PDB).
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Steps in Practice Quality Improvement Project Process |
- Learn about PQI process during year one
- Select project and metric(s)
- Collect baseline data
- Analyze the data
- Create improvement plan
- Collect data, compare to initial data, summarize results
Decision point:
Continue with this project OR choose a new project |
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