Starting in 2020, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) will offer a two-year assessment option, called a Knowledge Check-In (KCI), as an alternative to the 10-year maintenance of certification (MOC) exam in sleep medicine.
According to the Knowledge Check-In page on the ABIM website, the KCI takes about three hours and includes access to UpToDate® during the exam without the need for a personal subscription. Physicians choosing the KCI can take it in a test center or online, such as from their home or workplace. If taking it in a test center, the experience is like the traditional 10-year MOC exam, with the main difference being the shorter testing format.
ABIM reports that the 2020 administration of the sleep medicine KCI will be considered “no consequences,” meaning that physicians who are unsuccessful on one or more attempts of the KCI will get another opportunity to take and pass the KCI two years later. These physicians will continue to be publicly reported as certified if they are meeting all other MOC requirements. However, if you wait to take the KCI the year it is due (not in the inaugural year) and fail, you may have to take the traditional MOC exam the next year.
Physicians who take the KCI may have the option to receive their exam results immediately. All physicians will receive their complete score report —highlighting how they performed in different areas of the exam — within three to four weeks of taking the KCI.
Registration opens for all 2020 ABIM sleep medicine maintenance of certification assessments on Dec. 1, 2019. The sleep medicine KCI will be offered Oct. 7 or 10, 2020. The ABIM sleep medicine MOC exam will be offered Nov. 18, 2020.
ABIM also recently announced that it is going to develop a longitudinal assessment option for its MOC program. For additional information about sleep medicine MOC assessments, call ABIM at 1-800-441-2246 or use the online ABIM contact form.
As a benefit of membership, the AASM offers free MOC self-assessment exams for sleep physicians. Learn how to become an AASM member.
Compare the Knowledge Check-In to to the Traditional MOC Exam. Image from ABIM.org. Accessed Sept. 19, 2019.
