| Option 1 |
*Popular* Develop a COVID-19 Project |
| Time Commitment |
At least 30 days |
| Availability |
Application accessible via your Status Page |
| Description |
Earn ABO credit for implementing measures to protect against COVID-19. For example, your project could focus on improving in-office hygiene, virtual patient check-in and check-out, mitigation for transmission in clinic, social distancing for patients and staffing in light of COVID19, and future infectious disease threats. For other project ideas related to the coronavirus, view the collection of Sample Project Applications submitted by your colleagues or refer to: Lai, T.H.T., Tang, E.W.H., Chau, S.K.Y. et al. Stepping up infection control measures in ophthalmology during the novel coronavirus outbreak: an experience from Hong Kong. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol (2020) and the AAO's Coronavirus Resource Center. |
| Option 2 |
Use the Quarterly Questions® Article Pathway |
| Time Commitment |
3-8 hours |
| Availability |
Online, on-demand via your Status Page |
| Description |
Increase the value of your Quarterly Questions participation when you use it to count as one Improvement in Medical Practice activity. To qualify, answer the 40 available knowledge questions for the year, then head to your Quarter 3 Article Library. Within your minimum of five article selections, choose the three articles labeled “Quality Improvement” and answer two questions about each article. This option is available from 2019 forward only. If you have already completed the DOCK Exam during your current cycle, you can skip the knowledge questions and move straight into the quality articles. The Quarterly Questions article pathway may be used as one improvement activity per cycle. |
| Option 3 |
Complete 1 of 11 Designated AAO CME Courses |
| Time Commitment |
Varies based on course |
| Availability |
Online through the American Academy of Ophthalmology |
| Description |
The AAO offers 11 online CME activity options which have been approved for Improvement in Medical Practice credit by the ABO. Completing any one of these AAO activities will satisfy the ABO requirement and provide you with the ability to claim CME. If you are an AAO member, access to these activities is included in the price of your membership. Current activity options include: Building Best Practices for Informed Consent; Choosing Wisely: Leading Patients to Recommended Care; Anisometropic Amblyopia; Anti-VEGF Therapy in Patients with Neovascular AMD; Assessing Risk of Glaucoma Progression; Improving Outcomes in Cataract Surgery: Targeting Best Corrected Visual Acuity; Improving Outcomes in Cataract Surgery: Targeting Uncorrected Visual Acuity; Improving Vision after Retinal Detachment Repair; Laser and Injection Therapy in Patients with DME; Treatment of Uveitic Macular Edema; and When to Change Glaucoma Therapy and Why Patients Might Fail. Activity completion is reported to the ABO by the AAO on a weekly basis. For more information, view the activity guide. |
| Option 4 |
Design an Individual Project or Use a Project Template |
| Time Commitment |
Typically several months |
| Availability |
Application accessible via your Status Page |
| Description |
To begin, you will use an online application form based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology to build an improvement project proposal. The focus of your project must be based on improving processes and/or outcomes within your actual patient population. Following approval of your proposal, you will implement your plan in your practice and report out on your results. Your project is not scored, but you will be asked to submit a reflection statement on the process and what you learned. Diplomates have created a variety of successful projects to address clinical and non-clinical topics. |
| Option 5 |
Create a Group or Team-Based Project |
| Time Commitment |
Typically several months |
| Availability |
Application accessible via your Status Page |
| Description |
Create or adopt a project developed by a group practice, a department at an academic institution, a healthcare system, or a local, regional, or national medical society or organization. To begin, you will use an online application form based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology to build an improvement project proposal. The focus of your project must be based on improving processes and/or outcomes within your actual patient population. Following approval of your proposal, you will implement your plan in your practice and report out on your results. Your project is not scored, but you will be asked to submit a reflection statement on the process and what you learned. Diplomates have created a variety of successful projects to address clinical and non-clinical topics. |
| Option 6 |
*New* Select an Amblyopia Project Template |
| Time Commitment |
3-12 months |
| Availability |
Application accessible via your Status Page |
| Description |
Select from two templates created for pediatric ophthalmologists. Projects should be focused on newly diagnosed patients with amblyopia with best corrected visual acuity of 20/50 or worse in the amblyopic eye. One version of the template is designed specifically for users of the American Academy of Ophthalmology's (AAO) IRIS Registry. On the project application, choose from the following project options: 1) A best corrected interocular visual acuity difference < 2 Snellen/Sloan/Lea/HOTV lines 3-12 months after first diagnosis of amblyopia; 2) an improvement in the corrected visual acuity of the amblyopic eye of 3 or more Snellen/Sloan/Lea/HOTV lines 3-12 months after first diagnosis of amblyopia; or 3) A final visual acuity in the amblyopic eye equal to 20/40 or better 3-12 months after first diagnosis of amblyopia. Learn more. |