May 4th, 2010 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
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As a practicing family doctor, it’s easy for me to figure out how to choose a great doctor. Let me tell you the secrets in finding the best one for you and what I tell my family and friends. Look for the following:
— Board certification
— Report card on quality
— Licensing/public reporting
As a doctor, I know many doctors who have great bedside manner but aren’t particularly reliable in giving the right medical care you deserve, and these traits separate the so-so doctors from the truly excellent ones. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
April 9th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor, News, Opinion
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Remember when you were a child and an offer to be a member of a special spy club appeared on your morning cereal box? You knew — yes, KNEW — that the offer was the real deal. All you had to do is send in 3 cereal box tops and you’d be sent all the prerequisite items. Of course, when the plastic trinkets arrived weeks later, there always seemed to be the air of buzzkill when the reality of what you received for your efforts was revealed.
This could never happen with board certification for doctors, could it?
Yesterday we learned that this year every specialist has to recertify to maintain their status as a board-certified specialist. In the past, this was a voluntary process that doctors participated in to show a jury of their peers that they had the right stuff to practice medicine at the highest level possible. It was a respected term. Doctors generally knew that a board-certified specialist meant something.
Even though doctors pay thousands of dollars to the American Board of Internal Medicine for the opportunity to study for and take the certification exam, once passed doctors were proud to hang that certificate on their wall. In effect, it is the crowning achievement of one’s career.
But what if that certificate on the wall had the value of certificate purchased from a cereal box top spy club? Doctors might be pretty upset, right? Well guess what. Although the majority of those certificates hanging on the wall are the real deal, many are not. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
March 4th, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, Opinion
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The American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) describes itself as:
Welcome to the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) public website. ABEM certifies qualifying physicians who specialize in Emergency Medicine and is a member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). ABMS certification is sought and earned by physicians on a voluntary basis. ABEM and other ABMS member boards certify only those physicians who meet high educational, professional standing, and examination standards. ABEM and other ABMS member boards are not membership associations.
The thing I’d like to bring your attention to is that it’s a Voluntary organization. For a voluntary organization they’re adding lots of requirements without asking members… Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
November 24th, 2009 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Opinion
2 Comments »
This post at The Central Line caught my eye:
The Texas Medical Board ruled on Oct. 20 that physicians certified by the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) could advertise themselves as board certified to the public.
The ABPS is the certifying body of the American Association of Physician Specialties (AAPS). The ABPS sponsors 17 boards of certification, including the Board of Certification in Emergency Medicine (BCEM).
For a number of years, ABPS, in conjunction with AAPS, has been seeking recognition from various state medical boards, requesting that they allow physicians certified through an ABPS board to advertise themselves as board certified. The organizations were successful in Florida in 2002 but were recently rebuffed by the State of New York due to the lack of residency training as a qualification for ABPS board certification.
ACEP does not recognize BCEM as a certifying body in emergency medicine. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
