Get ABIM Credit for ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative
Are you currently involved in ASCO's Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®)? Did you know you can use that data to complete an ABIM PIM? By incorporating data and measures from this quality improvement program into ABIM’s Self-Directed PIM, you can earn 20 points in Self-Evaluation of Practice Performance toward maintaining your certification, earn 20 Category 1 CME credits and reduce reporting redundancy in the process.
Francis Senecal, MD, chief of staff at St. Francis Hospital in Tacoma, Wa., has been involved with QOPI for the past two years, adopting it into his practice because “it gave us a map to quality.” Though he has time-unlimited certification in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology, Dr. Senecal enrolled in the ABIM Maintenance of Certification program and is using QOPI data to complete the Self-Directed PIM.
Use QOPI data to get self-evaluation credit:
- After enrolling in the program, order the Self-Directed PIM.
- To complete the PIM, use at least five performance measures with data from 10 or more patients and complete a Practice System Inventory. QOPI is the only oncology-specific program that has been approved by ABIM as a PIM data source.
- Once you’ve completed the PIM, you will receive a report in which ABIM identifies areas for practice improvement, allowing you to choose the one you’re most interested in addressing. Just pick a target for improvement and implement a change.
- Collect data again to measure the impact of your change and report your results to ABIM.
Dr. Senecal said that using QOPI data to complete the Self-Directed PIM was a natural fit. “ABIM helps to identify certain areas for practice improvement and gives physicians options,” he explained.
Dr. Senecal is in the process of incorporating an electronic medical record (EMR) into his practice and, in doing so, is imbedding QOPI measures so data can be extracted quickly, cutting costs and making chart analysis and PIM completion easier.
As more hospitals, health insurers and others require physicians to report on quality care, Maintenance of Certification provides a means to respond while reducing redundancy. “I think we need to embrace the opportunity Maintenance of Certification offers and seriously look at our practices,” he said. Using QOPI and the ABIM Self-Directed PIM are steps in the right direction.
