Oklahoma imposes legislative constraints on MOC

On April 12, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law senate bill (SB) 1148, which moves to bar healthcare entities in the state from requiring physicians to maintain board certification in order to gain medical licensure, reimbursement, or admitting privileges. The bill is the latest—and most ambitious—in a spate of physician-driven state legislative offensives against the American Board of Medical Specialties' (ABMS) embattled maintenance of certification (MOC) program. Earlier in April, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin signed into law SB 17, which focuses more narrowly on preempting any attempt to require ongoing certification as a condition of medical licensure in the state. Missouri and Michigan also have pending bills that would hem in the jurisdiction of MOC, a program that many physicians call costly, time-consuming, and out of step with their typical practice.

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