Prometric Chosen to Deliver New American Board of Internal Medicine Hospital Medicine Exam
BALTIMORE, MD. October 26, 2009 – Prometric, a leading global provider of technology-enabled testing and assessment services, today announced that the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has chosen to launch its brand new Hospital Medicine exam through the Prometric global test center network.
Computer based delivery of ABIM's newest exam is slated to begin in October 2010, and will be offered around the world in one- or two-day administrations in Prometric's network of test centers. Certification in Internal Medicine with a Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine includes a requirement for passing an exam in hospital medicine. ABIM developed this program to recognize the specific knowledge, skills and attitudes of general internists who focus their practice in the care of hospitalized patients.
Of the approximately 20,000 hospitalists in the United States, approximately 85% are internists who, up until now, were not offered a certification in their focused area of practice. Eligible internists must be ABIM certified in internal medicine and engage in a practice that focuses primarily on hospital medicine. In addition to the exam, physicians will have to engage in ongoing practice assessment to maintain their certification in this area.
"We developed Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine in response to the growing number of ABIM certified internists who have dedicated themselves to caring for patients in a hospital setting," said Rebecca S. Lipner, PhD, Vice President, Psychometrics and Research Analysis for the American Board of Internal Medicine. "Prometric has shown the ability to conduct and manage high volume testing events occurring in a short window of time, so we are confident they will help make delivery of our newest exam a success."
Bill Murtagh, Prometric Senior Vice President, Client Services and Sales, stated, "We're honored to include the American Board of Internal Medicine's Hospital Medicine exam in the portfolio of high caliber healthcare industry organizations who work with Prometric for exam delivery. We take our role as a trusted testing partner very seriously, and believe that our reputation for top notch exam day delivery and administration is one of the main reasons we can call such reputable organizations our clients."
In addition to ABIM, Prometric administers exams for the Association of American Medical Colleges, the National Board of Medical Examiners, the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics and others.
More information on the ABIM's unique Hospital Medicine program and eligibility requirements can be found on the ABIM website (http://www.abim.org/news/news/focused-practice-hospital-medicine-qa.aspx)
About Prometric
Prometric, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ETS, is the recognized global leader in technology-enabled testing and assessment services. Its comprehensive suite of services, including test development, test delivery and data management capabilities, allows clients to develop and launch global testing programs as well as accurately measure program results and data. Prometric reliably delivers and administers more than seven million tests a year on behalf of 450 clients in the academic, professional, healthcare, government, corporate and information technology markets. It delivers tests flexibly via the Web or by utilizing a robust network of more than 10,000 test centers in 163 countries. For more information, please visit www.prometric.com.
About ABIM
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that grants board certification—a well accepted marker of physician quality—to internists and subspecialists. Certification is a rigorous, comprehensive program for evaluating physician knowledge, skills and attitudes to assure both patients and payers that a physician has achieved competence for practice in a given field. Individual physician certification results may be found at www.abim.org.
