Completing PIMs with Colleagues

Physicians may complete PIMs with their colleagues or trainees rather than individually, thereby sharing the task of data collection and benefitting from increased learning through collaboration.

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Physicians Completing PIMs as a Group

Requirements:

A combination of internists and subspecialists and/or ABFM-certified family physicians can complete a PIM together as long as they care for a group of patients together at one location, i.e. office, hospital, ICU or clinic. (One ABIM-certified physician orders the PIM on behalf of the group.)
Each ABIM-certified physician will earn the full number of Maintenance of Certification points and CME credits available for the selected PIM. (Physicians certified by ABFM will earn credit toward MC-FP. CME credit is not available to family physicians.)
In order to receive MOC and CME credit, participants must be enrolled in ABIM's MOC program at the time the PIM is ordered.

Completing the data collection:

Patient surveys (a requirement of several PIMs) – The group distributes surveys to appropriate patients in the practice, with the goal of receiving confidential responses from a minimum of five patients per physician. If this number is not feasible, ABIM will accept a minimum of 25 surveys for the group. For groups with fewer than five participants, a minimum of 25 surveys are required.
Chart reviews – Each participant reviews 10 patient charts. For groups with fewer than three participants, a minimum of 25 charts are required.
Examine systems survey – Together the group answers a series of questions related to practice design and processes. (There is considerable added value in having nursing and administrative staff present to discuss the issues raised in the survey.)

In most cases, the data collection portion of the PIM should be completed within 90-120 days of placing the PIM order.

Developing and implementing an improvement plan:

Request report – When data collection is complete, request a summary report using the PIM Main Menu. In most cases, the report will be available within two business days.
Develop improvement plan – Use the interactive summary report to identify outcomes, processes and systems of care that could be improved. ABIM must receive one improvement plan from the group.
Pilot improvement plan and report results – The group will pilot test its improvement plan and report the results of the changes made to ABIM. Implementing a change in the practice and measuring the selected outcome may take from a few weeks to several months.
Submit completed module – Participants who were enrolled in ABIM Maintenance of Certification when the PIM was ordered will receive credit toward MOC and CME credit.

In most cases, the improvement plan should be developed and submitted to ABIM within 30-60 days of downloading the summary report. The group has up to two years to pilot the improvement plan, perform focused re-measurement to determine if the changes made led to improvement, and report their results to ABIM. Groups are encouraged to complete the impact statement and report their results at the time they assess the outcomes of their intervention.

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Physicians Completing PIMs with Trainees

Program directors, supervising physicians and attending physicians enrolled in MOC have the option of completing the Clinical Supervision PIM, a PIM created especially for faculty that evaluates competency, performance in practice and provides feedback on supervisory skills and gets their residents involved in quality improvement.