J Am Board Fam Med
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The American Board of Medical Specialties' Performance in Practice ("Part IV") portion of Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirement provides an opportunity for practicing physicians to demonstrate quality improvement (QI) competence. However, specialty boards' certification of one physician at a time does not tap into the potential of collective effort. This article shares learning from a project to help family physicians work in groups to meet their Part IV MOC requirement. ⋯ Practice-level collaboration, access to a practice coach, flexibility in choosing and focusing improvement projects, tailored support, and involvement with professional affiliations can enhance the Part IV MOC process. Specialty boards are likely to discover productive opportunities from working with practices, professional organizations, and health care systems to support intra- and interpractice collaborative QI work that uses Part IV MOC requirements to motivate practice improvement.
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The objective of this study was to assess the validity of electronic medical records-based diagnostic algorithms for 5 chronic conditions. ⋯ The diagnostic algorithms for diabetes and hypertension demonstrate adequate accuracy, thus allowing their use for research and policy-making purposes. The algorithms for the other 3 conditions require further refinement to attain better sensitivities.