MOC Part IV

MOC stands for Maintenance of Certification and Part IV refers to the Practice Performance Assessment component of MOC. Here are the 4 parts of MOC defined by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

• Part I Licensure and Professional Standing: Hold a valid, unrestricted medical license
• Part II Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment: Educational and self-assessment programs determined by your Member Board
• Part III Cognitive Expertise: Demonstrate your specialty-specific skills and knowledge
• Part IV Practice Performance Assessment: Demonstrate your use of best evidence and practices compared to peers and national benchmarks

Depending on your medical specialty, you may have noticed recent changes to Part IV. In fact, these changes have generated significant confusion (and controversy) among physicians who are not accustomed to the routine practice of individual performance assessment and quality improvement.

The American College of Cardiology Foundation has put together a nice MOC Part IV Activity Decision Tree. You'll notice that if you're not currently engaged in direct patient care, you may contact ABIM to see if you are entitled to a waiver for Part IV.