Internal Medicine Board Exam Scores and Quality of Care

Educational systems often assume that higher test scores translate into higher competency. Researchers tested this premise by evaluating whether the scores of 3602 physicians on maintenance-of-certification exams in internal medicine were associated with the quality of care provided to 220,000 Medicare beneficiaries. Quality of care was measured by assessing the proportion of patients with diabetes who received annual eye exams, annual lipid tests, and twice-yearly glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) tests; the proportion of eligible women who underwent annual mammography screening; and the proportion of patients with coronary artery disease who received annual lipid tests. Three of the study authors are employed by the American Board of Intern…