ACC issues 'urgent' message, but to whom?

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) leadership, troubled by the “complex situation” presented by the changes in re-certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), issued an “urgent message” yesterday on their blog.

This message hinted at the ACC’s pathway forward: to create a “second task force” to “aggressively” explore “whether an alternative board should/could be developed by ACC for our members.” They then add a cautionary note, stating “while working as rapidly as possible, we want to be cautious, realizing the great complexity of the situation.”

So what are cardiologists and cardiac electrophysiologists to think of this latest “urgent message?”

It is clear that the ABIM’s MOC program as it exists can no longer be considered legitimate. However, the ripple effects of the scandal of the ABIM and its Foundation are so far reaching that every single member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties’ MOC constructs’ twenty-four member boards will open themselves to scrutiny once the financial genie leaves the bottle. It is not easy to unravel a monopoly when it’s found to be (1) scientifically unfounded, (2) corrupt, and (3) profitable to the many leaders of these unaccountable non-profit organizations’ leadership.

The era of the gilded age of non-profit organizations controlling medicine is coming to an end and every one of the scientific non-profit organizations that have hid behind their secretive walls for so long know it.

That’s why this message was so “urgent.”

-Wes