Maintaining Hospice and Palliative Medicine Certification
Emergency Medicine physicians certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) are not required to maintain their EM certification, but must meet all the requirements of the HPM continuing certification process. This includes passing the Hospice and Palliative Medicine MOC Examination.
HPM Requirements by Certification End Date
Personal Page
HPM-certified physicians have an ABEM Personal Page, a secure portal used to perform tasks related to the continuing certification process.
Sign in to your ABEM personal page
- Learn your requirements and status, and review completed activities and LLSA test results
- Provide medical licensure information
- Review LLSA readings, as well as register for and take required LLSA tests
- Attest to completion of IMP Practice Improvement activities
The requirements of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine continuing certification process are being phased in, so individual requirements may vary.
To renew certification, clinically active physicians must meet all ABEM continuing certification requirements. Clinically inactive physicians must meet all ABEM continuing certification requirements except IMP.
HPM-certified physicians must meet one or more Hospice and Palliative Medicine ABEM continuing certification requirements before reaching their five-year deadline. To regain status, they must make up missed requirements before the end of their ten-year certification period.
HPM MOC Exam
Exam Process
The Hospice and Palliative Medicine MOC Examination is offered every other year in even-numbered years.
Eligibility
The Hospice and Palliative Medicine MOC Examination is open to HPM-certified physicians in years sixthrough ten of their certification cycle.
Register
To register for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine MOC Examination, HPM-certified physicians complete the current year’s UHM MOC Examination registration form, which is available from the ABEM office.
The following must be submitted for an application to be complete:
- Completed and signed current-year MOC Examination registration form
- Additional items included in the materials or referred to in the registration instructions, if applicable
- Registration fee and examination fee in U.S. funds
The registration fee is an administrative fee that covers the cost of reviewing and authorizing the examination registration and submitting that authorization to the board that administers the examination, and cannot be refunded.
By signing the registration form, physicians give ABEM permission to verify information submitted.
ABEM emails a receipt when the registration and examination fees are received, and a notification when the examination authorization has been sent to the administering board.
Scheduling
Physicians will receive information about how to schedule an appointment to take the exam.
Taking the Exam
The Hospice and Palliative Medicine MOC Examination is an approximately ten-hour, computer-based, single-best-answer, multiple choice exam consisting of approximately 240 multiple choice questions.
All candidates achieving a final score of 60 or higher will pass the examination.
Content Specifications
The exam outline for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine MOC Examination is available on the ABFM website.
Results
ABEM sends candidates the results of their examination in writing. Results are also posted online.
Regaining Certification
HPM-certified physicians who lose their certification will have the opportunity to get it back. [The Policy on Regaining Subspecialty Certification] describes these opportunities in detail.