The American Board of Ophthalmology’s primary responsibility, as summarized in its mission and guiding principles, is to the public. To help track progress toward key initiatives, the ABO uses a scorecard similar to the Balanced Scorecard developed by Robert Kaplan of Harvard Business School and his associate David Norton. As illustrated in the accompanying figure, the scorecard includes four quadrants: stakeholders, internal processes, learning and growth, and finance. Each activity on the scorecard must be measurable.
The ABO’s stakeholders include not only patients and their families, but importantly the diplomates and candidates who care for them as well as other organizations with whom we collaborate or who have an interest in our credential. Internal processes relate to how we conduct our work and whether we do it successfully. The learning and growth sector emphasizes the need for continuous improvement. And, of course, without prudent financial management the old adage “no money, no mission” would quickly be realized. The financial quadrant is often given priority by for-profit entities. For the ABO, a not-for-profit entity that exists to serve the public and the profession, it is not surprising that the stakeholder sector is the most prominent.
Details about the scorecard’s goals and measures can be accessed here. Please direct any questions to the ABO office. Thank you.