ABOUT MOCA
Since 2011, we have been working to redesign our Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology (MOCA®) program. The redesign was inspired by diplomate feedback and technological advances that allow us to provide our diplomates with customized learning and assessment. Our focus is on addressing diplomate needs while continuing to meet the ABA’s mission and MOC program standards set by the American Board of Medical Specialties. The new MOCA program, known as MOCA, is an Internet-based, adult education platform that emphasizes ongoing assessment, reflection and learning. The goal is to help diplomates continuously assess their knowledge, identify knowledge gaps and connect to targeted educational opportunities and resources that fulfill their individual learning needs.
We are collaborating with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) to expand the number and diversity of accredited CME activities that meet the Boards’ MOCA requirements for lifelong learning and self-assessment, including its patient safety CME requirement. Additionally, we are streamlining the MOCA CME processes for greater ease and efficiency for accredited CME organizations and board-certified physicians.
All accredited CME providers in the ACCME system already use the ACCME’s Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS) to enter data about each of their CME activities. CME providers that choose to participate will use PARS to attest to their activities’ compliance with MOCA requirements. When physicians complete activities, CME providers will report learner completion through PARS to the ABA.
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR MOCA
MOCA is designed to guide diplomates to educational opportunities that can close knowledge and skills gaps. To comply with MOCA requirements, the CME activity must:
- Be directly or jointly offered by a provider accredited within the ACCME system;
- Be designated for AMA/PRA Category 1 credit;
- Cover one or more topics important to anesthesiology or anesthesiology subspecialties; and
- Not be advertised as a board review or board preparation activity.
In addition, accredited providers will have the ability to designate activities focused on patient safety. To comply with MOCA requirements, the accredited activity must:
- Include key themes in patient safety that cross disciplines and clinical settings. Key themes should include, but are not limited to, epidemiology of error, the effect of the healthcare system on patient safety, human factors, safety enhancing technology, communication, culture of safety, patient safety reporting and methods and tools for evaluating safety events.
- Present a curriculum that addresses key themes and contains learning objectives for each key theme.
- Submit evidence of compliance with the patient safety expectations if the activity is selected for audit by the ABA.
MOCA ACTIVITY INFORMATION
The following information must be provided to the ACCME by the accredited provider to register an activity for MOCA. It is considered public information and; therefore, may be released by the ABA and/or ACCME.
- ACCME Provider ID
- Activity title
- Activity type
- Accredited provider name
- Accredited provider Activity ID
- PARS Activity ID
- Accredited provider contact information (including phone number and website address)
- Joint provider name (if applicable)
- Activity start and end date
- Activity website address
- Hours of instruction
- AMA PRA Category 1 credits
- An indication of which practice area the activity covers (from the following list)
- Ambulatory/Outpatient
- Cardiac Anesthesia
- Critical Care Medicine
- General Operative Anesthesia
- Hospice and Palliative Medicine
- Neuro Anesthesia
- Obstetric Anesthesia
- Pain Medicine
- Pediatric Anesthesia
- Regional Anesthesia/Acute Pain
- Sleep Medicine
- Thoracic Anesthesia
- Trauma
- Activity fee (yes/no)
- Information about whether the activity is open to any learner or has limited registration (e.g., for internal staff only)
- Selection of at least one, but not more than two, topic areas from the MOCA Content Outline to catalogue the activity in the search tool for ABA diplomates seeking such content. Providers will use an expandable list to make their selections. Providers who are batch uploading or using a web service to transmit multiple activities at once should pull the applicable codes from the MOCA Content Outline mapping spreadsheet.
- Optional selection of one tag from a drop down menu displayed for each topic area in the MOCA Content Outline. If an applicable tag is not in the drop down menu, providers can submit their own tag(s) by selecting “Other” in the list of tags. Providers who are batch uploading or using a web service to transmit multiple activities at once should pull the applicable codes from the MOCA Content Outline mapping spreadsheet.
- Information about whether the activity is patient safety CME
In addition, the accredited provider must attest (1) that the activity is NOT advertised as board review or board preparation and (2) that it will report learner completion data to the ABA via PARS in a timely manner. The accredited provider also gives permission for ACCME to provide the following information to ABA: ACCME Provider ID, Activity Provider Name, PARS Activity ID, and Accredited Provider contact information (including phone number and website address).
REPORTING CME PARTICIPATION INFORMATION
As part of MOCA, ABA diplomates are required to report CME activities they complete. For board-certified anesthesiologists on a 10-year cycle, the requirement includes 250 AMA PRA Category 1 CME credits from activities offered by accredited providers, as well as 20 AMA PRA Category 1 credits in Patient Safety accredited activities. When on a five-year certification cycle, the requirement includes 125 AMA PRA Category 1 CME credits from activities offered by accredited providers, as well as 10 AMA PRA Category 1 credits in Patient Safety accredited activities. The accredited provider is responsible for the development and administration costs of the activity and must report diplomates’ completion of the activity to the ABA through PARS.
Use of Participant Data
If participant data will be shared with the funder of the activity or any other commercial entities, whether individually or in aggregate, this must be disclosed to participants prior to the beginning of the activity. This transparency allows participants to decide if they wish to participate in activities that provide their data and/or data about their clinical practice to commercial entities.
Participant Completion Information
The provider must have systems, resources and processes in place to:
- collect the participant completion data described in Table 1;
- obtain permission from the participant to share the completion data with ACCME; and
- transmit the completion data to ACCME on behalf of the participant.
Participant data is governed by the ABA’s Data Privacy and Security Policy available in our Policy Book at www.theaba.org. Identifiable patient data should not be provided to ACCME or the ABA by any organization or participant.
PROGRAM FEES/PARTICIPANTS FEES
We will not charge a fee to providers that register activities through PARS for MOCA credit at this time. We may revisit our fee structure in the future.
Providers are responsible for all costs associated with developing and operating the activity. We have no policy that precludes the provider from charging a fee for participation in the activity; the Board will not reimburse fees charged by the provider to participants.
DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY COMPLIANCE
Providers are responsible for ensuring that the appropriate data privacy and security safeguards are in place and conform to all relevant regulatory and industry requirements.
DIPLOMATES’ PORTAL
The following information will appear in physicians’ secure portal:
- Activity title;
- AMA PRA Category 1 credit, including patient safety CME designation, if applicable; and
- Activity completion date.
ABA PROMOTION GUIDELINES: MOCA COMPLIANCE
The following guidelines should be used when referencing the ABA, and its programs and requirements.
1. The first reference to “The American Board of Anesthesiology®,”
“Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology® program” or “MOCA®” should include the “®” registration symbol in superscript. On the same page with the first usage of Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology® program or MOCA®, the following language should appear:“Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology® and MOCA® are registered certification marks of the American Board of Anesthesiology®.”
2. When promoting patient safety activities, this language must appear on all electronic or print promotional materials after the above language in section 1:
“This activity contributes to the patient safety CME requirement: Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment of the American Board of Anesthesiology’s (ABA) redesigned Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology Program® (MOCA®). Please consult the ABA website, www.theaba.org, for a list of all MOCA requirements.”
3. The ABA does not use the terms “MOCA candidates” or “MOCA diplomates.” The approved terms are:
- ABA diplomates
- ABA diplomates participating in MOCA