The National Committee for Quality Assurance and the American Board of Internal Medicine will offer a new program to physicians seeking to maintain their ABIM certification and the opportunity to more easily earn a new distinction: recognition from NCQA and its partners. The agreement will allow physicians to simultaneously renew their ABIM certification and seek recognition from the NCQA, which has become increasingly desirable as more health plans highlight recognized physicians in their directories and online.

“By aligning our requirements with ABIM, we can keep the recognition bar high but lower the burden,” says NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “It’s a more efficient way for us to identify top physicians and make sure they’re getting appropriate credit from their patients, partners and the community. This will open up the program to thousands of physicians who will be able to participate as a simple ‘next step’ associated with maintaining their certification.”

For more information, visit www.ncqa.org.

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