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Gastroenterology Board Meeting Summary | Fall 2024

December 6, 2024  |  Posted by ABIM  |  Specialty Board Meeting Summaries

Kenneth R. DeVault, MD, Chair, ABIM Gastroenterology Board

The Gastroenterology Board—which meets twice a year and is responsible for oversight of policy and assessment in the specialty—held its fall meeting on September 12, 2024. The Specialty Board discussed updates on ABIM’s work in a number of key areas and pressing issues in the field. In addition, guests from the following organizations joined the conversation for a portion of the meeting*:

  • The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD)
  • The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)
  • The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA)
  • The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE)
  • The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Liver Transplant Program

The following is a summary of the fall meeting. For reports of prior meetings, visit the ABIM Blog.

Contents:

ABIM News and Conversation with the President*

Prior to the meeting, members and guests of the Gastroenterology Board had the opportunity to view a recorded video update from Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH, who assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ABIM and ABIM Foundation on September 1, 2024. Dr. McDonald reflected on current transitions for ABIM as well as key topics for the Specialty Board’s consideration and awareness:

  • A proposed pilot model for “exceptionally qualified” international medical graduates (IMGs) pursuing accredited subspecialty fellowship in the U.S. or Canada to become eligible for ABIM Board Certification: ABIM invited commentary from the diplomate community throughout September for the ABIM Council to consider before making a final decision early in 2025, and Dr. McDonald noted that this timing coincides fortuitously with—but is distinct from—similar initiatives for state medical board licensure. Learn more through a video and FAQs on the ABIM website.
  • ABIM’s progress in engaging more closely with early career physicians (diplomates who earned initial certification less than 10 years ago): a task force of Governance members is making plans for the coming year to convene early career physicians, create a platform for their perspectives and provide opportunities for them to be more directly involved in ABIM.
  • The continued popularity of the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA®), high rates of reported satisfaction and ongoing enhancements: on average, 80% of eligible diplomates continue to choose the LKA over the traditional, 10-year Maintenance of Certification (MOC) exam, and 70.7% of survey respondents agreed with the statement, “I am satisfied with my LKA experience so far.” Still, Dr. McDonald noted, ABIM continues to evolve and improve the assessment based on diplomate feedback. In addition, ABIM is gathering self-reported practice data so that the Gastroenterology Board can determine whether there are common practice profiles that should be reflected in the Gastroenterology LKA blueprint, thereby creating assessment options that enhance the relevance of the LKA to gastroenterology practice. Most recently, ABIM announced plans to launch two versions of the Hematology LKA, with further plans to explore in several other specialties; see below for more information.
  • The recently announced removal of the requirement to earn some MOC points every two years to be considered “Participating in MOC.” With the availability of more activities that earn physicians MOC points (e.g., continuing medical education for MOC, UpToDate®, the LKA), the Council determined that the two-year point requirement was no longer needed and that its removal would benefit physicians by making the program simpler. The requirement to earn at least 100 MOC points every five years remains in effect.

The conversation continued around early career physicians as well as patients and the public. The aforementioned task force has conducted focus groups to gather their input and plans to create an opportunity for early career physicians to gather in person to discuss their perspectives on ABIM policies and programs. In addition, ABIM has made opportunities for early career physicians to be actively involved in governance and item-writing. ABIM is also investing resources in including patient and public voices to better inform policy and program decisions serving the public – as we make the program of value to physicians – we also are looking for ways that the program provides value to the patients/public as they make healthcare decisions.

The group also discussed the proposed IMG pilot program and the existence of a similar special consideration pathway for osteopathic-trained program directors of accredited training programs under the Single Graduate Medical Education Accreditation System.

Diplomate Professional Profile*

In summer 2023, ABIM invited a pilot group of diplomates to complete the newly developed Diplomate Professional Profile (DPP), a questionnaire required of all diplomates that is built into the ABIM Physician Portal. The questionnaire relates to clinical work and practice patterns and serves to inform ABIM’s ongoing efforts to update assessment options and exam blueprints and develop policies for initial certification and MOC. Since last year, ABIM has continued to invite all remaining eligible diplomates on a rolling basis to complete the DPP. Diplomates receive a prompt to complete their professional profile when they sign in to their Portal.

Siddharta G. Reddy, MPH, Senior Research Associate at ABIM, reported to the Specialty Board that 31% of diplomates overall have completed their DPP; he also reviewed profile questions specific to gastroenterology. One Specialty Board member raised the idea of sharing pertinent aggregated data with specialty societies, and Mr. Reddy clarified that this could be explored in the future after sufficient time has passed to collect all the data.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives at ABIM*

Natalie S. Plummer, Esq., Manager, DEI Programs at ABIM, and Pamela Browner White, Senior Vice President, Communications, and Chief DEI Officer, reported on the work of the DEI team at ABIM and recent advances in ABIM’s DEI initiatives. These include:

  • ABIM’s work with participating medical society partners, which led to the formation of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Collaborative Network. The goal of the network is to share best practices, coordinate resources and create strategies to support and move diversity work forward as a community dedicated to this work.
  • Improvements to the ABIM Physician Portal that now allow diplomates to more accurately self-identify their race/ethnicity and gender with an expanded list of options. This also aligns with ABIM’s efforts to increase diversity in governance and eliminate bias in assessment questions. Since this effort began, ABIM has seen consistent growth in the number of physicians supplying information, with more than 77,000 diplomates updating their information.
  • A report led by Dr. Sara Ray, a medical historian from the University of Pennsylvania, to study the governance records of ABIM. The goal of this project was to determine whether ABIM’s practices within the context of the past caused harm to historically disadvantaged groups and whether that might require restorative action and transparency.

In conversation, the team clarified that individual race and ethnicity data will not be shared publicly. Donald Palmisano, Jr., JD, CAE, Chief Executive Officer of ASGE, added that DEI remains a priority for ASGE, and that the society has held summits during Digestive Disease Week in host cities in order to generate interest in pursuing the medicine as a career and gastroenterology in particular.

Update on Developing Focused Assessments in Gastroenterology*

At its spring 2024 meeting, the Gastroenterology Board discussed plans for exploring focused versions of the Gastroenterology LKA, similar to what was done with the Hematology LKA. Rebecca S. Lipner, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Assessment and Research, updated the Specialty Board on work that ABIM is doing to identify common practice profiles in the discipline in order to provide enhanced clinical content on the assessment pertaining to a subspecialty area of practice, while still testing across the general gastroenterology blueprint. ABIM distributed a survey to gastroenterologists to help inform the development of unique profiles, which will eventually determine whether to proceed with creating a focused version of the assessment. The gastroenterology societies—AASLD, ACG, AGA and ASGE—informed their members that ABIM was conducting the survey to help ensure broader participation.

The goal of practice profiles is to utilize a data-driven approach to potentially identify common practice profiles that can form the basis of focused blueprints for the LKA. Following the diplomate survey, ABIM researchers perform cluster analyses on the data and an analysis of Medicare data to see whether feasible practice profiles are present. ABIM also reviews the data and analysis with society partners and the Gastroenterology Board prior to the latter’s decision.

Dr. Lipner noted that a decision in favor of developing a focused assessment would create a need for more item-writers in the discipline—ABIM is currently accepting applications for the Gastroenterology Item-Writing Task Force.

The Gastroenterology Board met again in November and approved plans to develop a new version of the Gastroenterology LKA with a focus on liver disorders. ABIM has announced a potential target launch of July 2026, and more information will follow over the coming months, including reminders to diplomates who will be eligible to enroll in the LKA in 2025 or 2026.

Update from ASGE*

Mr. Palmisano offered a brief update on news from ASGE, including internal discussions about advanced endoscopy, whether it meets the criteria to be considered a practice profile and ASGE’s work developing a curriculum in that area. He noted that it is an ongoing process slated to take place over the next few years.

Society guests departed at this point in the meeting.

Recommending Candidates for the Specialty Board to ABIM Council

Each year, ABIM initiates the process to recruit candidates for open seats on the Specialty Boards; each member serves a three-year term with the option for one renewal, and positions open on a rolling basis. ABIM posts all openings on its website and shares them with diplomates and other stakeholder groups. The Specialty Board pays close attention to its own present and future composition, namely how practice setting and region, career stage, educational background (U.S., international) and race and ethnicity are represented among its members. The ABIM Council makes final selections based on the Specialty Board’s top two recommendations for each open seat.

In June, ABIM issued notice about openings on the Gastroenterology Board for a gastroenterologist practicing in a non-university/community setting and an interprofessional health care team member (e.g., RN, BSN, CGRN, PA, TPN Pharmacist, Pharm.D.) with experience in gastroenterology, with terms beginning July 1, 2025. At the fall meeting, the Gastroenterology Board discussed the candidates they had interviewed and voted on two for each position to recommend to the Council. ABIM will announce the final appointees in spring 2025 prior to the start of their terms.

Visit ABIM’s website for a full list of current openings. ABIM posts Specialty Board openings in the summer of the year prior to term start dates. ABIM posts Approval Committee openings in the fall.

Review of the Transplant Hepatology Blueprint

The blueprint is a document that defines the scope of content to be tested on ABIM assessments. It serves as a study guide for physicians preparing for an assessment and as a tool for item-writers and exam development staff creating the assessment. The Specialty Board and Approval Committees in each discipline work together to update the blueprint periodically and ensure that changes reflect diplomate and society input, and that assessment content remains relevant to current clinical practice.

Over the last year, ABIM began the blueprint review process for Transplant Hepatology, which included input from the Transplant Hepatology Approval Committee, gastroenterology societies and the Gastroenterology Board.

Marwan S. Ghabril, MD, Chair of the Approval Committee, reviewed proposed changes to the blueprint that include reorganized topics, new topics and nomenclature updates. The Specialty Board discussed additional revisions of considering new nomenclature for extrahepatic portal vein thrombosis (splanchnic vascular disorders) and noncirrhotic portal hypertension (porto-sinusoidal vascular disease) and asked the Approval Committee to consider whether coagulopathy and its correction prior to procedures would be covered in the blueprint. The Specialty Board approved the suggested revisions to the Transplant Hepatology Blueprint.

Next steps include asking diplomates to provide feedback on the blueprint in Spring 2025. During this process, diplomates will rate each blueprint topic for frequency of performance and criticality. The Approval Committee will propose the new blueprint, including the percentage of exams questions allocated to each content area, based on ratings provided by diplomates. The Specialty Board will approve the final blueprint based on this external blueprint review process in Fall 2025. Assessments will be administered based on the revised blueprint beginning in fall 2026.

Learn More

The Gastroenterology Board values the feedback and commentary of the entire medical community, including diplomates and society partners.

Are you interested in getting involved?

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Do you have questions? Contact ABIM directly:

*Indicates that society representatives were present for this agenda topic.

ABIM governance, gastroenterology, Gastroenterology Board, Gastroenterology Board Summary, Summary Report

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