Re: ACOG
From: Gordon Goldman (obgyndoc@swbell.net)
Wed May 30 21:36:32 2007
With all due respect and recognition that some of the complaints
voiced are indeed legitimate, I would respectfully differ in my
opinion regarding much of this.
If you look at what has happened to other specialty boards (ASIM, in
particular) and colleges, they are doing (or in most cases have
already done) what ACOG has been the last to 'cave in' to. Much of
what is being done comes from the Federation of State Medical Baords
and the Board of Medical Specialties. All of them have been 'under
the gun' from government to develop standards to measure 'quality' of
care, lest the government do it for them. However, I do think it has
gone too far and there is a significant financial stake for some of
the Boards in this process. I have personally heard Norman Gant
repeatedly and harshly criticize and publicly denounce the entire
recertification process, attributing much of it to being financially
motivated by some. I have personal knowledge that he has tried to
derail/delay this process for ABOG for the past 6-7 years, while
other Boards have not.
It would be interesting for me to find out how many of us who
complain so bitterly about these things have ever taken the time and
expense to actively participate in our respective ACOG Section and
District Advisory Councils, posing those complaints to the
'leadership' directly, and try to effect change from within. How
many attend and participate in the business meetings of ACOG? Or
volunteer to participate on policy setting committees of ACOG? I
suspect the number would be very small. Is it any different than
complaining about who wins elections when we fail to vote?
With regard to where the membership dues money goes, I would think a
simple telephone request to the ACOG Financial Services Center would
produce any documents you requested.
As has been said so many times before, 'just my opinion, I could be
wrong', but based upon asking the hard questions directly to the
persons and entities involved.
--
Gordon M. Goldman, M.D., FACOG
Private Practice, St. Louis, Mo.
Missouri Section Chair, ACOG
On May 30, 2007, at 7:29 PM, Garry E. Siegel, M.D. wrote:
> It has been a long day with more to do, and the ABOG pamphlet has just
> hit the desk.
>
> It would be nice had there been an "executive summary" at the
> beginning.
> I am hoping that ACOG will have a simplified explanation somewhere,
> but
> it sure looks like we must:
>
> I. Keep our licenses and be nice
> II. Do ABC every year, or at least for a while (unsure on this)
> III. Take a computer based test every few years
> IIII. Do some time of office QI
>
> Oy vey.
>
> Garry
>
> At Wed, 30 May 2007, Lynn Montgomery wrote:
>>
>> 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 me...
>>
>> 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
>> what...
>>
>> 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
>>
>
> --
> Garry E. Siegel, M.D.
> Private Practice
> Roswell, GA
