Board Certification Status: Considerations for Maintenance of Licensure and the Specialty of Pediatrics

Abstract

ABSTRACT The growing emphasis on board certification in medicine in recent years has prompted studies on its impact on medical care. As analyses of the impact of board certification continue, the consequences of board certification status should be examined to evaluate its effect on physician practice characteristics. We studied the effects of board certification on the practice characteristics of general pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists, and pediatric surgical specialists and examined the impact of noncertification on Maintenance of Licensure (MOL) and state medical and osteopathic boards. The study utilized the subset of pediatrician respondents to the 2009 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Survey of Primary Care Physicians. This mail survey was fielded in three rounds in the second half of 2009. The adjusted overall response rate for the survey was 37.6%, but was 49.5% for pediatricians. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0. The study found that board certification status is significantly associated with key practice characteristics such as capacity, practice location, and hours worked, and there are differences in the practice characteristics of board certified versus non–board certified general pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists, and pediatric surgical specialists. Consequently, advocating for increased levels of board certification may have unanticipated implications for patient access to care. As the majority of pediatricians are board certified, workforce planners should consider and acknowledge these differences when engaging in planning initiatives, particularly in the context of Maintenance of Certification (MOC), MOL, and the expansion of access to care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).