What it Means to Have a Board-Certified Physician

When visiting your doctor’s office or doing research to look for a new provider you may have noticed that some doctors note that they are “board-certified”. This distinction may be something you normally don’t pay much attention to, however seeing a board-certified physician has many benefits for patients.
The process of becoming a doctor is lengthy, after graduating from medical school a physician must also complete their residency, and get a medical license in the state in which they choose to practice. The completion of a residency program in a specialty or subspecialty can last three to four years after medical school and at the end of this training a test must be completed and passed to become board certified.
Currently there are 24 certifying boards that are members of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), a group that oversees the certification process. According to the American Board of Medical Specialties website, “Member Boards of ABMS were founded by their respective specialties to assess and certify doctors who demonstrate the clinical judgment, skills, and attitudes essential for the delivery of excellent patient care.”
If you note that your provider has the designation of “board eligible”, it means that a he or she has completed their residency program, but has yet to pass the test. Recently, the American Board of Medical Specialties passed a rule that forbids providers from posting the board eligible status for their entire career. Now, after completing an approved residency program a doctor will have only a few years to pass the certification exam or they must remove the designation from their title.
As a healthcare provider, becoming board certified is a voluntary process that lets physicians decide whether or not they want to complete the testing necessary to become certified within their area of specialty.
“We require that all of our physicians are board-certified or board eligible,” said AnnaMaria Rosado, Director of Medical Staff Services at CompleteCare Health Network. “Once a board eligible physician starts working for us they have a year to complete their board certification. This helps CompleteCare achieve a high level of quality for our patients and maintain a staff that is up to date with the latest advances in medicine.”
The choice to become board certified also means that additional training and education is required throughout the provider’s career. This process is called maintenance of certification and focuses on ongoing professional development that involves a set number of hours of continuing medical education each year. Maintenance of certification is focused on having providers demonstrate the following skills:
• Patient care
• Medical knowledge
• Interpersonal and communication skills
• Professionalism
• Systems-based practice
• Practice-based learning and improvements
“Being able to offer our patients access to board-certified providers is an extremely important part of our mission at CompleteCare,” said Curtis Edwards, President and CEO of CompleteCare Health Network. “It lets our patients know that the care they receive here is top notch and that our doctors are well-versed in the changes that happen in medicine each year. It also shows that our doctors are held to a high level of professionalism and patient care. It is something I am extremely proud of.”
To find out if your physician is board certified in their field you can visit the American Board of Medical Specialties website at http://www.abms.org/member-boards/contact-an-abms-member-board/. From there you can visit the ABMS member board websites to determine certification in a specific specialty.
CompleteCare Health Network is proud to offer a staff of board-certified and board-eligible physicians at three Cape May County locations. To learn more about our services or request an appointment visit www.CompleteCareNJ.org or call 609-465-0258.