American Board of Thoracic Surgery

Legal name: American Board of Thoracic Surgery Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364111028
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
312-202-5900
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,230,721
Expenses
$3,327,956
Assets
$27,173,841
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CAMERON D WRIGHT MD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • DAVID A FULLTERTON MD (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID A FULLTERTON MD (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $389,469 total reported compensation
  • CAMERON D WRIGHT MD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $323,740 total reported compensation
  • PATRICIA L WATSON (ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR): $197,525 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The American Board of Thoracic Surgery is an independent nonprofit organization founded in 1948 to provide board certification to surgeons who have met a defined standard of education, training, technical skills and knowledge in the field of thoracic surgery.

What it reported doing in 2024

Continuing certification - since 1976, the american board of thoracic surgery has required its diplomates to complete a recertification program every 10 years. Starting in 2008, the american board of thoracic surgery changed its recertification program into a maintenance of certification process (moc) process that required the diplomates demonstrate every five years that they meet standards in professionalism, life-long learning and self-assessment, cognitive expertise and performance in practice. In 2024, the process of continuing certification replaced moc, and diplomates must continue to demonstrate the above mentioned standards every five years to maintain certification.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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: 79
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 39
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -49.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.17; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 40.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $389K · 29 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 10 of 10 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.