Group PIMs
- Overview of Group PIMs
- Signing Up for a Group PIM
- How to Order a Group PIM
- How to Work on a Group PIM
- Completing the Group PIM – Data Collection
- Completing the Group PIM - Developing an Improvement Plan
- Group PIM Fees
Overview of Group PIMs
The Group PIM option allows two or more physicians who work in the same practice to collectively engage in quality improvement activities while meeting ABIM’s Maintenance of Certification requirements. When physicians reflect on their practice data and decide to make changes in their practice systems as a group, they may have more success in implementing these changes. The insights gained through the Group PIM experience can lead to meaningful reengineering of operations in an office practice, intensive care unit or other setting.
In completing a PIM as a group:
- Each participating physician earns Maintenance of Certification credit*
- Each participating physician earns CME credit*
- Physicians abstract their own patients’ charts individually (a minimum of 10 charts per physician)
- The group completes the Examine Systems and Develop Improvement Plan sections together
* Each physician will earn the full number of Maintenance of Certification points and CME credits available for the selected PIM. For more information, select a module from the Choose a PIM page.
TopSigning Up for a Group PIM
Participant Requirements
- ABIM-certified physicians must be enrolled in Maintenance of Certification.
- Internists and subspecialists in a practice can participate in the Group PIM together provided they are all enrolled in Maintenance of Certification.
- Groups may be housed in any setting (office, hospital, ICU, clinic), but must care for a group of patients together at one location
- Some practices include a combination of internists, subspecialists and other doctors, such as family physicians. Other physicians can participate in a Group PIM through sponsorship agreements with other American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) member boards. Sponsoring boards must sign up in advance. Become a Sponsoring Board.
How to Order a Group PIM
One ABIM-certified physician enrolled in the Maintenance of Certification program will place the order* on behalf of the group of physicians who will take part. The physician will follow these steps:
- Go to Physician Login Home Page
- Go to the My Maintenance of Certification Program area and click on Order Practice Improvement Module
- In Related Information box at left, select the link to Order a Module to be Completed as a Group.
- Select a PIM and hit continue. Follow the instructions to place an order.
- The primary doctor will list all participating physicians. If other board-certified physicians from other boards are taking part, the name of the sponsoring board must be entered as well. In order to receive Maintenance of Certification and CME credit, all participants must be enrolled in Maintenance of Certification at the time the PIM is ordered. Additional physicians cannot be added after the PIM order is complete.
* All Group PIM orders are final. Cancelled modules or deleted participants are not refunded. Additional participants cannot be added. Please be sure about your choice before placing your order.
TopHow to Work on a Group PIM
ABIM-certified physicians can work on a Group PIM from within their Physician Login Home Page.
TopCompleting the Group PIM – Data Collection
- Patient Surveys (included with several PIMs) – The group will distribute 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 will review 10 patient charts. For groups with fewer than three participants, a minimum of 25 charts are required.
- Examine Systems Survey – Together the group will answer a series of questions related to practice design and processes. Having nursing and administrative staff present to discuss the issues raised in the survey will add value to completing the PIM.
In most cases, the Data Collection portion of the PIM should be completed within 90 to 120 days of placing the PIM order. If this is not feasible, extensions can be requested from ABIM.
TopCompleting the Group PIM - Developing an Improvement Plan
The Improvement Plan portion of the PIM consists of the following steps:
- 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 Maintenance of Certification and CME credit.
In most cases, the Improvement Plan should be developed and submitted to ABIM within 30 to 60 days of downloading the summary report. The group has up to two years to pilot the Improvement Plan, perform focused remeasurement 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. Within 30 days of a module's expiration, a "request extension" link is added next to the listed module on the Physician Login Home Page. Clicking on the link extends the module's expiration date by 30 days.
TopGroup PIM Fees
- For ABIM-certified physicians enrolled in Maintenance of Certification, Group PIMs are available at no charge.
- For sponsoring organizations and potential sponsors, the fee for Group PIMs is dependent on the negotiations between the sponsoring organization and ABIM. For more information on becoming a sponsoring organization call 1-800-441-ABIM, ext. 3567 or send an e-mail to QualityImprovement@abim.org.
- For sponsored participants, please contact the sponsoring organization, since fees are dependent on the sponsoring organization.
