• Michael R Peabody, Aaron Young, Lars E Peterson, Thomas R O'Neill, Xiaomei Pei, Katie Arnhart, Humayun J Chaudhry, and James C Puffer.
• M.R. Peabody is senior psychometrician, American Board of Family Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky. A. Young is assistant vice president, Research and Data Integration, Federation of State Medical Boards, Euless, Texas. L.E. Peterson is vice president of research, American Board of Family Medicine, and assistant professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky. T.R. O'Neill is vice president of psychometric services, American Board of Family Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky. X. Pei is senior research analyst, Federation of State Medical Boards, Euless, Texas. K. Arnhart is senior research analyst, Federation of State Medical Boards, Euless, Texas. H.J. Chaudhry is president and chief executive officer, Federation of State Medical Boards, Euless, Texas. J.C. Puffer is president and chief executive officer emeritus, American Board of Family Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky.
• Acad Med. 2019 Jun 1; 94 (6): 847-852.

PurposeLack of specialty board certification has been reported as a significant physician-level predictor of receiving a disciplinary action from a state medical board. This study investigated the association between family physicians receiving a disciplinary action from a state medical board and certification by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM).MethodThree datasets were merged and a series of logistic regressions were conducted examining the relationship between certification status and disciplinary actions when adjusting for covariates. Data were available from 1976 to 2017. Predictor variables were gender, age, medical training degree type, medical school location, and the severity of the action.ResultsOf the family physicians in this sample, 95% (114,454/120,443) had never received any disciplinary action. Having ever been certified was associated with a reduced likelihood of ever receiving an action (odds ratio [OR] = 0.35; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30, 0.40; P < .001), and having held a prior but not current certification at the time of the action was associated with an increase in receiving the most severe type of action (OR = 3.71; 95% CI = 2.24, 6.13; P < .001).ConclusionsDisciplinary actions are uncommon events. Family physicians who had ever been ABFM certified were less likely to receive an action. The most severe actions were associated with decreased odds of being board certified at the time of the action. Receiving the most severe action type increased the likelihood of physicians holding a prior but not current certification.

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