Re: ACOG
From: Meenan, Anna (annam@uic.edu)
Wed May 30 16:48:47 2007
Congratulations. ABFM handed me a packet as I
walked out of my recert exam back in '03, telling
me that I was now part of the first group members
to experience the revised recertification
procedure, which of course involves considerably
more work and expense on my part, but so far not
much benefit. The biggest change was an annual
"SelfAssessment Module" to be completed on the
computer. The first attempt to complete this
involved HOURS on the phone with tech support,
ironing out bugs, starting with the fact that
they didn't even make it clear to folks starting
the module that only certain operating systems
and certain browsers were supported, which
involved a complete upgrade to my system before I
could even BEGIN the module. I suggested several
times that they ought to give the first group a
break on price as payement for beta testing the
thing for them. *sigh*
Good luck with it, guys, it's the wave of the future.
Anna Meenan, MD, FAAFP
>I feel I must vent here a little and y'all are
>my sounding board. I have been a member in good
>standing of ACOG since my second year of
>residency. Over the course of the years, I have
>paid my dues, totally expecting that this is
>"my" organization and it would look out for my
>best interest as a practicing obstetrician in
>the trenches. I continued my membership despite
>practicing with a grand old partner who never
>belonged and was freely professed that he would
>never give money to an organization who would do
>nothing for him. I was proud when I passed my
>boards and could now be officially known as a
>fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and
>Gynecology.
>
>All that said, I must have missed the memo
>regarding ACOG's initiative with ABOG regarding
>the re-vamping of the boards and recertification
>program. In the recent pamphlet I received from
>ABOG there is an extremely hard to follow
>description of the new recertification process.
>In that pamphlet, it clearly states that both
>ABOG and ACOG cooperated in designing this
>process. I, as a "fellow" certainly was not
>allowed to have a say in changing this process.
>If this is a collegial organization, why is the
>"membership" asked whether or not they desire a
>change in any certification process. Maybe
>these are mandates set forth by the collective
>medical boards, but could not our organization
>have communicated the proposed changes,
>requested input and then described what the
>changes will entail. I am certainly not alone
>in this in that several months ago, I inquired
>of this list if anybody was aware of the changes
>coming and got no response. Further, my young
>partner had no idea regarding the changes until
>recently.
>
>So, I currently spend my approximate $600/year
>for fellowship dues and my approximate $600/year
>for recertification so that Norman Gant can have
>a fancy building in Dallas for testing - when
>every other "board" entity is moving toward
>computer testing held in multi-use "testing
>centers" located across the country. Further, I
>attend obstetric medical management meetings and
>continually hear how OB/GYN is behind other
>specialties in coding initiatives (I am familiar
>with this acutely in MFM coding, while Neo has
>all of their codes). In addition, I repeatedly
>see reports regarding excessive charging on the
>part of medical liability insurance companies
>and the reporting groups are not ACOG, but
>rather other interest groups.
>
>Rather than deal with the issues that directly
>reflect on my day-to-day practice, ACOG spends
>its time coming up with "immediately available",
>mandating prenatal testing for ALL pregnant
>patients, mandating hep B vaccination for ALL
>pregnant patients, mandating CF testing for ALL
>obstetric patients. How about mandating some
>protections for meŠ
>
>I know it has been said here before, but I must
>say it again - "ACOG, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME
>LATELY?" Maybe we should start with some
>financial accountability - how much of our dues
>goes to the top and for whatŠ
>Lynn
>
>Lynn D. Montgomery, M.D.
>Obstetrics & Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine
>The Birth Center/Rocky Mountain Women's Health
>1211 S. Reserve St.
>Missoula, Montana, 59801
>406-549-0978
>fax 406-549-0987
>e-mail: apgar10@thebirthcentermt.com
>
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