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ABIM Approved Quality Improvement (AQI) Pathway and HIVQUAL-US

January 2011 -- New York State Department of Health, AIDS Institute, HIVQUAL-US (HQ-US) has received approval from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to be part of ABIM’s Approved Quality Improvement (AQI) Pathway. Internal medicine physicians who are engaged in quality improvement through HIVQUAL can earn Maintenance of Certification (MOC) practice performance credit.

HIVQUAL-US is a capacity building model among HIV ambulatory care programs funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration HIV/AIDS Bureau. The HIVQUAL model adapts three basic components of quality management (QM) - performance measurement (PM), quality improvement (QI) and the quality management program (QMP), implemented through coaching and mentoring, peer learning and patient involvement.  

ABIM is an independent, not-for-profit organization that grants board certification – a well accepted marker of physician quality – to internists and subspecialists. Certification is a rigorous, comprehensive program for evaluating physician knowledge, skills and attitudes to assure both patients and payers that a physician has achieved competence for practice in a given field. ABIM requires that physicians periodically recertify through the ABIM’s MOC program.

“If physicians are already engaged in rigorous quality improvement activities through their hospital or another organization we want them to receive Maintenance of Certification credit for that activity,” said Elizabeth Blaylock, Vice President of PIM Development at the American Board of Internal Medicine. “HIVQUAL-US has built a program that supports physicians in their efforts to measure and improve patient care.”

Guidelines and procedures for enrollment and participation in HQ-US as an ABIM AQI Pathway are available HERE.

A quality improvement initiative funded through a cooperative agreement with the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau. Terms of Usage