Practice Improvement Activity Options

Modules

ABOG Practice Improvement Modules are available through your ABOG portal. You can select a topic that is relevant to your practice from the list of modules offered.

 

There are two phases to each module:

• Phase 1 of the module generally involves reviewing up to 10 patient records and answering relevant questions. Some topics may require a policy review instead of examining patient records.
• Phase 2 of the module process will occur one month later. You will receive an email from ABOG and must complete follow-up questions to finish the module.

 

Requirements

• If you decide to complete a module, you must open and complete Phase 1 of that module each year during the six-year CC cycle. Phase 2 will be accessible one month after completing Phase 1.

• All modules must be completed by the end of Year 6 in the CC program.

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1. Submit a Quality Improvement application by November 1, 2025, including details about the activity and the sponsoring organization. You can access the application in the Part IV section of your ABOG portal.
2. The ABOG staff will assess your application. During this review period, you may be requested to clarify details about your activities. Please allow up to four weeks for the review process to be completed.
3. You must submit a list of participants by November 1 each year to ensure processing before the CC deadline on November 15, 2025.

 

1. Have leadership and management at the project level capable of ensuring adherence to participation criteria. This means that the project must track who is participating, their dates of participation, and their role with respect to the definition of meaningful participation.
2. Address care you can influence in one or more of the six Institute of Medicine quality dimensions (safety, effectiveness, timeliness, equity, efficiency, and/or patient-centeredness).
3. Have a specific, measurable, specialty-relevant, and time-appropriate aim for improvement.
4. Use appropriate, relevant, and evidence-based performance measures that include measurements related to patient care at the appropriate unit of analysis (physician, clinic, care team, etc.).
5. Include appropriate interventions to be tested for improvement.
6. Include appropriate prospective and repetitive data collection and reporting of performance data to support effective assessment of the impact of the interventions over two or more improvement cycles.
7. Represent an attempt at translation or implementation of an improvement into routine care or the dissemination or spread of an existing improvement into practice.
8. Possess sufficient and appropriate resources to support the successful conclusion of the activity without introducing a conflict of interest.

 

1. Attest that you have meaningfully participated in the approved QI effort
2. Have your attestation cosigned or reported to ABOG by the project leader
3. Reflect on the QI effort

 

1. The QI effort is intended to provide clear benefits to your patients and is directly related to your clinical practice of obstetrics and gynecology.
2. You're actively involved in the QI effort, including, at a minimum, working with care team members to plan and implement interventions, interpreting performance data to assess the impact of the interventions, and making appropriate course corrections in the improvement effort.
3. You're able to personally reflect on the activity, describing the change that was performed in your practice and how it affected the way care is delivered.

 

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Multi-Specialty Portfolio Approval Program

Many physicians already participate in quality improvement (QI) efforts in their local practice. The Multi-Specialty CC Portfolio Approval Program (Portfolio Program) is an alternative pathway for healthcare organizations that support physician involvement in QI and CC to allow their physicians' QI efforts to be approved for ABOG CC Part IV credit.

 

• Most Portfolio Program QI activities are sponsored by the institution or hospital QI departments.
• QI projects may be multidisciplinary or specialty-specific in obstetrics and gynecology.
• The projects must meet the Portfolio Program standards and be approved by ABOG through the program.
• If you meaningfully participate in the QI efforts, you'll meet CC requirements for a year.
• An individual project participation and CC credit may extend for up to two CC years.
• Longitudinal projects may be renewed for longer QI activities.

 

To find out more about the Portfolio Program, visit their website.

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1. Submit a Simulation application by November 1, 2025, including details about the activity and the sponsoring organization. You can access the application in the Part IV section of your ABOG portal.
2. The ABOG staff will assess your application. During this review period, you may be requested to clarify details about your activities. Please allow up to four weeks for the review process to be completed.
3. You must submit a list of participants by November 1 each year to ensure processing before the CC deadline on November 15, 2025.

 

Simulation Course Standards

• A minimum of four hours of total course instruction
• Active participation in realistic simulation procedures or scenarios
• Management of relevant patient-care scenarios with an emphasis on teamwork and communication, if appropriate
• Assessment of technical skills, if appropriate
• Feedback or post-scenario debriefing, if appropriate
• One instructor must be an ABOG Diplomate
• The instructor-to-student ratio must be no greater than 1:5

 

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Quality Improvement Publications

ABOG awards Continuing Certification credit for authorship or co-authorship of published articles related to quality improvement (QI) or enhanced safety in healthcare. To be eligible for CC credit, articles must:

1. Be published in a peer-reviewed journal
2. Adhere to SQUIRE guidelines for published QI articles
3. Be published during the current CC cycle
4. Be approved by ABOG

 

• The specific aim of the QI project
• Measures align with the PDSA Cycle. (PDSA cycle stands for Plan-Do-Study-Act).
• The process for improvement 
• The progress toward or results of achieving the specific aim
• A discussion of whether the aim was achieved, factors that affected success, and the next steps
• Be approved by ABOG

 

1. Upload the publication, abstract, or poster through your portal.
2. Complete the attestation form.
3. Provide a copy of the publication or presentation.
4. Staff will review and approve completed submissions. You may be asked to clarify information during the review process.
5. Please allow up to four weeks for the review and notification.

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Clinical Research

Clinical research is valuable by different from QI. Typically, the following will not earn CC credit:

• Research publications, including comparative trials, before-and-after studies, and other studies intended to answer a clinical or scientific question
• Descriptions of studies to assess whether an intervention is effective
• Quality-measure development
• Retrospective studies of administrative claims data

 

Not Clinically Active

Diplomates no longer in clinical practice must notify ABOG of their status. This status is intended for diplomates working in an administrative setting who no longer see patients (e.g., Deans, administrators, researchers, etc.).

• Individuals with a Part IV exemption cannot treat patients in any capacity, including telehealth, and must not supervise residents or others in patient care.
• Diplomates with exemptions from Part IV must complete all other CC requirements by November 15, 2025.
• ABOG must approve any requests for exemption from Part IV requirements.

Diplomates who require an exemption for Part IV of their certification process can conveniently download the necessary form directly from their online portal.

For additional information, please contact the Continuing Certification Department at continuingcert@abog.org.

 

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