profession
Patients see board certification as important
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 30, 2011
Most Americans believe it's important for their physicians to maintain board certification, and 45% would look for a new doctor if they learned a physician wasn't doing so, says a survey by the American Board of Medical Specialties.
Ninety-five percent of more than 1,000 adults who responded to the December 2010 survey said it is important for doctors to participate in a maintenance-of-certification program. If they learned that a doctor wasn't maintaining his or her certification, 41% of respondents said they would stop referring family and friends to that doctor, said the study (link).
"Today's patients are savvy health care consumers," said ABMS President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin B. Weiss, MD, MPH. "Board certification and participation in an ABMS [maintenance-of-certification] program demonstrates to them that their doctor has met and continues to meet the qualifications to provide quality care in his or her medical specialty."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/05/30/prbf0530.htm.
