Information from the American Board of Dermatology defines the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) as "a program of educational and professional development designed to assess the competence of physicians on an ongoing basis. The MOC program is based on the six general competencies identified by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS): patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice."

For MOC these six competencies are placed into four components:

• Evidence of Professional Standing (Component 1): License attestation
• Evidence of Commitment to Lifelong-Learning and Periodic Self-Assessment (Component 2):
  Patient safety module
  CME attestation
  Periodic self assessment of general knowledge
• Evidence of Cognitive Expertise (Component 3):
  Cognitive examination
• Evaluation of Performance in Practice (Component 4):
  Patient communication survey
  Peer communication survey
  Practice assessment/Quality Improvement

Currently, the legislative language for incentives based on MOC participation is fairly vague. There are proposed incentives for years 2011-2014, with no mention of an imposed penalty for lack of participation.

Additional MOC resources

• MOC requirements and AAD programs
  
• American Board of Dermatology MOC overview.