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ForwardUW-Madison ICEP - ABMS Portfolio Program: Supporting Your Continuing Certification (MOC) Needs
Quick Links
- Click here to fill out the intake form.
- Questions: [email protected].
- More info about the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Portfolio Program™: https://www.abms.org/quality-improvement-support/
Welcome
This site is designed to assist you in developing, submitting, and managing a quality/safety improvement activity through UW-Madison ICEP's participation in the ABMS Portfolio Program.
Please check back as we continue to add resources and tools for developing activities and projects.
What We Do
UW Health, in collaboration with UW-Madison ICEP, has provided UW Health clinicians the opportunity to earn continuing certification credit through the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Portfolio Program™ since 2013. As the designated Sponsor, UW-Madison ICEP plays a key role in aligning UW Health’s quality and safety improvement (QI) priorities with the requirements of continuing certification (MOC).
The ABMS Portfolio Program provides streamlined pathways for clinical teams—including physicians, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, and others—to earn credit for their meaningful engagement in QI projects and leadership work. This long-standing partnership improves patient safety, outcomes, and experiences. Crucially, many specialty boards now mandate active engagement in quality improvement as a non-negotiable requirement for maintaining board certification. The Portfolio Program ensures that clinicians remain compliant with their board’s evolving standards while simultaneously driving institutional excellence.
While clinicians can perform QI projects independently, accrediting and certifying bodies require Sponsors or accredited providers to manage project and completion submissions. UW-Madison ICEP provides the infrastructure to ensure "meaningful participation," which requires project oversight assurance, formal self-reflection, and action on data.
UW-Madison ICEP provides:
- Administrative Management: We manage the Sponsor relationship with the ABMS Portfolio Program, ensuring compliance with current standards and policies. We submit projects to the ABMS Portfolio Program for approval.
- Credit Confirmation: We submit clinician completion information to the ABMS Portfolio program, and through the UW-Madison ICEP continuing education program, ensuring members of the clinical team receive credit for their participation in the QI project.
- Methodological Coaching: In collaboration with UW Health Organizational Development Quality and Safety unit, we assist clinical teams with implementing FOCUS/PDCA cycles.
How to Get Involved
Participation in the ABMS Portfolio Program recognizes activities designed to improve your practices and the care of your patients. We can help you identify current work or develop a new QI activity that can qualify for credit. Get in touch with us for guidance on framing the concept of the activity, the quality process around it, and the metrics behind it. You can receive credit for engaging in QI work that addresses nearly any topic related to care. Examples of some activities from other ABMS Portfolio Program Sponsor organizations have focused on:
- Prevention and public health issues (opioid abuse, health disparities)
- Specific diseases (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression)
- Patient safety (sepsis, medication interaction, falls, etc.)
- Resource stewardship (low back pain imaging, “Choosing Wisely” topics)
- Systems issues (transitions of care, reducing readmissions)
- Patient communication
Ready to Get Started?
To begin: Whether you have a completed project or are just beginning, fill out an intake form below.
Click here to fill out the intake form.
Questions? Feel free to reach out to James Eberhard, Continuous Certification & Continuing Education Program Manager with ICEP: [email protected].
To learn more about the ABMS Portfolio Program, please visit:
Important Dates for 2026
To earn credit for 2026:
You must submit: | By this date: |
| Your completed Intake Form AND your completed FOCUS-PDCA (A3) | October 23, 2026 |
| Your completed data and attestation/evaluation form | November 20, 2026 |
New Terminology
The American Board of Medical Specialties Portfolio Program™ is updating some terminology you may be familiar with. These changes will take a while to work through official channels, so you may see both old and new verbiage being used.
- The MOC (Maintenance of Certification) program generally is now referred to as “continuing certification” (small c’s). MOC Part IV credit is now called IHHC (Improving Health and HealthCare).
- MOC Part 2 is now called “Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment.”
FY25 Performance Impact
Our program continues to see robust engagement, demonstrating that clinicians value this integrated approach to professional development.
Metric | FY25 Performance |
Total MOC Credits Issued | 77 |
Unique QI Projects/Efforts | 16 |
Number of physicians | 80 |
Topic Areas & Recent Projects
Our portfolio includes high-impact initiatives that address diverse clinical needs and health equity:
- Preventative Care
- “Stoughton Pediatric Lead Rate Improvement”
- “Spot Vision Screening in 9-Month-Old Infants at Union Corners”
- Chronic Disease Management
- “Improving UW Health Verona Clinic Hypertension (HTN) Control”
- Patient Safety & Transition
- “Standard Guidance for Transitioning Infants from Car Beds to Car Seats”
- “Optimizing Outpatient Follow-up of Non-Emergent Neonatal Echocardiography”
- Equity & Communication
- “Improving In-Person Interpreter use for Hospitalists”
- “Decreasing Weight Stigma in Pediatric Care”
- Clinical Efficiency
- “Improving Pre-Visit Planning, Reducing Time in Pediatric Diabetes Clinic”
- “Improving Anthropometrics in Spina Bifida Clinic”
- “Expanding Care Team in HealthLink (Epic EMR)”
In the coming months, we will implement a program review and QI effort to expand the reach and visibility of the UW/UW Health ABMS Portfolio Program to a greater number of departments, making it easier for more physicians and non-physicians to earn credit for their efforts.
UW Health QI Resources
Guidance around the A3
All projects will require the completion of an A3 in order to receive IHHC (MOC Part IV) credit.
View the A3 Quick Start Guide or read a more in-depth guide to the A3.
Hear from your colleague Dr. Michelle Kelly as she walks through her improvement using an A3.
UW Health Improvement Network (UWHIN) resources
The UW Health ABMS Portfolio Program supports and encourages the use of the UW Health Improvement Network (UWHIN) resources to support the work of all improvement projects. The UW Health Improvement Network (UWHIN) provides a comprehensive set of tools to assist you in your quality improvement effort. From simple tools such as standard meeting agenda and documents for defining roles and responsibilities, to complex tools such as Value Stream Mapping, you will find the tools, examples and instructions you need.
This information can be found on U-Connect (via a UW Health computer).
In addition, UWHIN has several Computer-Based Trainings (CBTs) available. We recommend that you complete the following in order:
- UWHIN: Introduction to Improvement
- UWHIN: FOCUS
- UWHIN: PDCA
Instructions to access these CBTs
If you have further questions, please contact Quality, Safety and Innovations at [email protected]
Publishing with the Health Innovation Program
If you are interested in publishing, go to the Health Innovation Program (https://hip.wisc.edu) website. If you do not already have an account you will be required to create one. Once you login you will have access to the information you need under Resources - QI Publishing Resources.