Workshop Overview

The Fifth Summit in the Physician Accountability for Physician Competence series was held December 5 - 7, 2007 in Dallas, Texas.  The 77 participants in the Summit included representatives from a broad range of medical, consumer, academic, and regulatory organizations interested in a forward thinking process focused on determining, measuring and assuring the public of Physician competence throughout the life of the Physician.

The Summit was organized into three major tracks of work:

Track 1: Sustaining the Effort
This track built on work that took place at Summit IV in St. Petersburg in January 2007, with a particular emphasis on reaching consensus about the feasibility of forming an Alliance for Physician Competence. Participants in this track agreed that the Alliance should establish a stronger identity but avoid creating a formal organization and structure. The "Alliance process" of convening and dialogue among participants is central to the value proposition. The participants developed a model for organizing the Alliance for the next 18 months, including staffing and funding models. They propose using Alliance funds to pay for a full-time staff person to coordinate Alliance activities. The group recommends the formation of a "sponsor group" from participating organizations to help guide the Alliance. The membership of this sponsor group should change regularly and represent the diversity of the participating organizations, but the final selection process has yet to be determined. Finally, the group developed a draft "Participant Agreement" for organizations that participate in the Alliance.

Track 2: Measuring Competencies
This track focused on the continued evolution of the Good Medical Practice - USA document. Participants developed a version of GMP-USA with several sections - one simplified aspirational component and one section explaining the aspirational section in more detail. They developed a draft version of pre-amble and purpose statements for these different sections and also began to explore various uses of GMP-USA through the eyes of a number of stakeholder groups. A small group began to explore the development of guidelines for developing assessments for the competencies articulated in GMP-USA and another small group developed a communication plan.

Track 3: Infrastructure for Information Exchange
This track focused on developing an infrastructure for exchanging data from multiple sources, with a specific focus on models, technologies and implications.  Participants developed the concept of the trusted agent organization, dubbed THINC, Trusted Hub Incorporated.  THINC would be a data exchange portal or facilitator that would serve as an intermediary between data providers, such as State Licensing Boards, and physicians who need to provide their records to various other regulatory boards and agencies.  Building on the success of the CLAF pilot, they developed models of the organization, membership, and operations of the THINC organization.  They also developed a detailed list of possible services or applications that could take advantage of the Trusted Hub infrastructure, and explored the eFolio model in detail.

Overall, significant progress was made in all three tracks.  Many important issues were discussed in detail, and greater clarity achieved on many key points.  At the conclusion of the Summit the participants discussed who should be invited to to participate in the future, and it was agreed that keeping the process open was an important aspect of the project.

Building on the success of this Summit, a sixth Summit is planned for the summer of 2008. 

On behalf of all the conveners, our sincere thanks to all participants for the spirit of open dialog that was evident throughout the Summit.

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