EVANSTON, Ill. - Dec. 18, 2007 - The American Board of Medical Specialties® (ABMS) has redefined terms associated with a physician’s clinical active status to better indicate a physician’s participation in patient care activities. This change also includes guidelines for physician reentry and procedures for public reporting.

Following the recommendations of the Maintenance of Certification Task Force, a designation of “clinically active” refers to any amount of direct and/or consultative patient care that a physician has provided in the preceding 24 months. “Clinically inactive” describes a physician who has provided no direct and/or consultative patient care in the past 24 months. Information on clinical activity status is self reported by the diplomates to their certifying board(s) and is made available to the public by the Member Board.

For additional information about how this new policy is being implemented, contact the individual ABMS Member Board.

About ABMS
The American Board of Medical Specialties is the preeminent medical organization overseeing physician certification in the United States. It assists its 24 Member Boards in their efforts to develop and implement educational and professional standards for the evaluation and certification of physician specialists. ABMS Member Boards provide physician certification information to ABMS for its certification verification service programs. ABMS is recognized by the key healthcare credentialing accreditation entities as a primary equivalent source of board certification data for medical specialists. Patients can visit www.abms.org or call toll-free 1-866-ASK-ABMS to see if their physician is board certified by an ABMS Member Board. For more information about ABMS visit www.abms.org or call (847) 491-9091.