American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
366000057
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Phone
9199297103
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,772,508
Expenses
$13,273,792
Assets
$60,771,157
Liabilities
$6,514,963

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHARLES L NELSON MD (PRESIDENT)
  • GREGORY P GUYTON MD (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
  • LISA A TAITSMAN MD MPH (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID F MARTIN MD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MICHAEL S BEDNAR MD (ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID F MARTIN MD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $807,401 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL S BEDNAR MD (ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $319,291 total reported compensation
  • KRISTIN CABA (MANAGER, ASSESSMENT DEVELOPMENT & ADMINISTRATION): $196,175 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To serve the best interests of the public and of the medical profession by establishing educational standards for orthopaedic residents and by evaluating the initial and continuing qualifications and competence of orthopaedic surgeons.

What it reported doing in 2025

Initial certification of orthopaedics: educational requirements, peer review, a written examination and an oral examination are required to become board certified. There were 754 new orthopaedic surgeons certified in the fiscal year ended in 2025. Candidates who satisfy the certification requirements become a diplomate of the organization for 10 years. The organization has a total of 29,516 diplomates during the most recently completed fiscal year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 78% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.1%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.58; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $807K · 30 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $2.5M reported
  • Consistency: 13 of 13 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 24 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.