The certification process is an important assessment tool for enhancing the quality of health care and protecting the public. Certification demonstrates a standard of excellence for osteopathic physicians, including quality of services and commitment to lifelong learning. In addition, many health care facilities and insurers require physicians to be board certified.
Since its establishment in 1939, the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (BOS), the official certifying body of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), has issued 49,058 certifications, including primary certifications, subspecialty certifications, and certifications of added qualifications (family medicine and preventive medicine only). As of December 31, 2017, a total of 31,762 osteopathic physicians were certified by the AOA and held a combined total of 36,982 active certifications, representing a 7% increase over the number of active certifications held in 2016 (34,555).
The
Table provides the total number of new certifications and osteopathic continuous certification (OCC) completions processed in 2017, as well as the total number of active certifications. This information is provided by specialty and in the aggregate. In total, 2206 certifications were processed in 2017, as follows:
In addition, 1357 OCC completions were processed in 2017.
Since 2013, the number of active board certifications held has risen steadily (
Figure). This number is expected to continue to rise in the future.
In January 2017, the AOA empaneled the AOA Certifying Board Services (CBS) Task Force II to address the directive of enhancing board certification services and marketability to make AOA board certification more attractive and competitive. Specifically, the Task Force was charged with addressing the following goals:
■ Align board leadership structure to strengthen physician-led, professionally managed relationships. The demands on CBS have grown substantially, and the expectations placed on the CBS are more than the current system can handle. The goal is to have working physicians serve as the backbone of AOA certification while allowing them to focus on specific tasks that require a physician's skill set and expertise. Nonphysicians can thus provide administrative support to those efforts.
■ Unify the certifying boards through common practices, bylaws, reporting processes, operational alignment, and expenses.
■ Develop uniform, reasonable, and competitive examination fees.
The Task Force presented its recommendations to the BOS at its midyear meeting on April 8, 2017. Several of these recommendations are currently being implemented by CBS. For example, board meetings are being aligned into a cluster-based system to facilitate communication. Initiatives to standardize operations to ensure consistent products are also underway.