Press Releases

ABIM Introduces Tool for Internists to Review Diabetes Care

Philadelphia, PA, November 10, 2003 – The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) introduced today an innovative self-evaluation tool that certified internists and subspecialists may select toward credit for recertification. The new tool guides physicians through a review of the care they provide to patients with diabetes.

Diabetes is the second in a series of these new tools, known as Practice Improvement Modules. As a physician who participated in a field test explained, "The module reinforced important information and provided an opportunity to update my knowledge base. It revealed problems in my practice that I was not aware of." Another field tester said, "I had not yet evaluated my practice with my patients, so this has instilled in me the desire to do so more often and use the feedback accordingly. Thank you."

Practice Improvement Modules are computer-based and help ABIM-certified internists evaluate themselves with complete confidentiality. Each module leads physicians through a review current clinical practice guidelines and their own practice. Physicians who select the diabetes module will understand better how they currently help patients prevent and manage diabetes. A field test participant commented, "The module was well organized and easy to follow. It provided great insight into management of the diabetic patient."

To begin, physicians will collect data from at least 10 patient charts, request anonymous feedback from 10 to 25 patients, and conduct a self-review of their practice system. Next, through data exchange over the internet, physicians will submit the their findings to the ABIM and will receive in return a synthesized report that also includes aggregated patient feedback. This summary will enable physicians to see the strengths and weaknesses of their practice at a glance, making it easy to develop a personalized plan for improvement. Finally, physicians will explain what quality improvement action(s) they intend to test, implement that plan, and report the results. The ABIM awards credit for the module upon receiving the results.

Data is free of patient identifiers, is treated as completely confidential, and is HIPAA compliant.

Unlike traditional ABIM evaluation tools that test medical knowledge, Practice Improvement Modules contain no multiple-choice questions and no pass/fail standard. "I enjoyed this method of learning," a field tester said, "topical and clinical [appealed to me] more than straight questions."

The ABIM has created links from the module to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines and other nationally-recognized educational resources. These links facilitate efficient learning about diabetes, and help with the module. A physician who completed a field test commented on this feature, "The links to the ADA and other sites were useful."

The ABIM released the first Practice Improvement Module, focused on preventive cardiology, in March 2003. The ABIM is developing modules focused on other clinical conditions, including asthma, general prevention, hypertension, and heart failure. For additional information regarding ABIM’s Practice Improvement Modules, see Improve Your Practice with PIMs.

About ABIM
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that grants board certification—a well accepted marker of physician quality—to internists and subspecialists. Certification is a rigorous, comprehensive program for evaluating physician knowledge, skills and attitudes to assure both patients and payers that a physician has achieved competence for practice in a given field. Individual physician certification results may be found at www.abim.org.