“Trouble is going to come up, when patients say, ‘What the hell? I had a doctor,’ ” he says, if hospitals jettison physicians as a result of a lapse in MOC."

Maintenance of certification: inside the physician revolt

Physicians will pressure hospitals to change their bylaws to get rid of recertification requirements , predicts Paul Kempen, MD, an anesthesiologist with Trinity Health System in Steubenville, Ohio. “Trouble is going to come up, when patients say, ‘What the hell? I had a doctor,’ ” he says, if hospitals jettison physicians as a result of a lapse in MOC. “There will be a big, freaking lawsuit, not against ABIM but against the hospital ordering [MOC].”