What ABIM Foundation does

ABIM Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation established in 1989 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It operates as the philanthropic arm of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and is led by President and CEO Richard J. Baron, MD, MACP, with Daniel B. Wolfson serving as EVP & COO. The Foundation's stated mission is to advance medical professionalism to build trust and improve care, and it pursues this through thought leadership, grantmaking, convening events, and public advocacy rather than commercial products.

The Foundation's portfolio centers on four interconnected initiatives. Choosing Wisely, launched in 2012 with Consumer Reports, has assembled 87 specialty societies that have produced more than 600 evidence-based recommendations against unnecessary medical tests and procedures; implementing sites have reported reductions of 20-95% in targeted low-value services. The Building Trust initiative, expanded in 2017, includes the Trust Practice Challenge and the annual Building Trust Essay Contest (now in its fifth year). The Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity grant program, launched in 2021, has deployed more than $1.8 million across 100 projects, including $320,000 awarded to 8 projects in February 2026. The Foundation also publishes the Physician Charter (a foundational 2002 document on medical professionalism), administers the John A. Benson Jr., MD Professionalism Article Prize (16th year in 2025), and convenes an annual Forum (140+ participants). Strategic partners include AcademyHealth, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the American Hospital Association, ABMS, Costs of Care, and Critica.

As a grantmaking foundation, ABIM Foundation has no commercial pricing model and does not sell products or services. Funding flows primarily from parent ABIM and is distributed to internal medicine residents, faculty, health systems, medical specialty societies, and nonprofit collaborators (e.g., AcademyHealth, UT Health San Antonio) through grants, prizes, and convening. The organization employs 1-10 staff, serves a U.S.-focused audience, and distributes content and grant opportunities through its website (abimfoundation.org), blog, press releases, social media channels, and the annual Forum.

Name

ABIM Foundation

Legal name

ABIM Foundation

Website

https://abimfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ABIM Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation affiliated with the American Board of Internal Medicine that advances medical professionalism through grantmaking, thought leadership, and campaigns like Choosing Wisely and Building Trust, serving physicians, specialty societies, and health systems in the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Professionalism & Trust Initiatives

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Corporate Foundations & CSR Grantmaking (BPAGAKAC)

Keywords

• Medical professionalism
• Healthcare trust initiatives
• Choosing wisely campaign
• Health equity grants
• Physician professionalism

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The ABIM Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation that advances medical professionalism to build trust and improve care. It operates through grantmaking programs (such as the Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity grants), national thought-leadership campaigns (notably Choosing Wisely, which has produced 600+ recommendations with 87 specialty societies), annual convening events (the ABIM Foundation Forum), and publications such as the Physician Charter and the John A. Benson Jr., MD Professionalism Article Prize.

Product overview

ABIM Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused on advancing medical professionalism to build trust and improve care. The foundation operates through a portfolio of interconnected programs and initiatives, including the Choosing Wisely campaign (a national dialogue on avoiding unnecessary medical tests and procedures with 600+ recommendations from 87+ specialty societies), the Building Trust initiative (which includes the Building Trust Essay Contest and Trust Practice Challenge), the Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity Grant Program ($1.8M+ invested across 100+ projects since 2021), the annual ABIM Foundation Forum, the John A. Benson Jr., MD Professionalism Article Prize, and the foundational Physician Charter document.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Choosing Wisely: A national campaign to advance a national dialogue on avoiding unnecessary medical tests, treatments, and procedures. Launched in 2012 in partnership with Consumer Reports.
• Building Trust
• ABIM Foundation Forum

Products and services

• Choosing Wisely A national campaign that seeks to advance a national dialogue on avoiding unnecessary medical tests, treatments, and procedures. Partnered with 87 specialty societies that have produced more than 600 evidence-based recommendations, with documented reductions of 71% in pre-operative visits, 75% in chest x-rays, 74% in EKGs, and 55% in lab tests at implementing sites.
• Building Trust Initiative An initiative that elevates trust as an essential organizing principle to guide operations and improvements in health care, encompassing the Building Trust Essay Contest, the Trust Practice Challenge, and the Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity Grant Program.
• The Physician Charter A foundational document on medical professionalism that outlines core principles including maintaining trust, managing conflicts of interest, being honest with patients, and preserving patient confidentiality.
• Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity Grant Program Grant program that supports projects aimed at building trust and improving care in internal medicine education and training. Since 2021, has invested more than $1.8 million across 100 projects, including $320,000 awarded to 8 projects in February 2026 (8 grants of $40,000).
• ABIM Foundation Forum Annual forum bringing together experts, health care leaders, and educators to explore what professionalism means in today's changing health care landscape.
• Building Trust Essay Contest Annual essay contest (now in its fifth year) inviting medical students, residents, and early-career physicians to share perspectives on what professionalism in medicine should look like.
• John A. Benson Jr., MD Professionalism Article Prize Annual prize recognizing articles that advance ethics, equity, and trust in modern medicine; now in its 16th year.
• Trust Practice Challenge An initiative to identify and promote existing practices that have helped build or rebuild trust in various aspects of the health care system, creating a compendium of replicable and scalable measures.
• Medical Professionalism Grant Program New grant program with $250,000 available to support projects that leverage the values of medical professionalism to address pressing challenges in health care including financial pressures, clinician burnout, and technological change.

Quantifiable outcome

• 600+ Choosing Wisely recommendations developed by 87 specialty societies
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• 87 Specialty Societies (Choosing Wisely)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 April 2012The Choosing Wisely campaign partnered with 87 specialty societies to develop 600+ recommendations on avoiding unnecessary medical tests, treatments, and procedures. Specialty societies identify five things that are done too frequently in their fields without evidence of patient benefit.
• AcademyHealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademyHealth, with support from the ABIM Foundation, explores hospital policies and practices focused on reducing medical debt, highlighting evidence gaps and promising approaches for hospitals and health systems to address this growing problem.
• UT Health San AntoniocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThrough the Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity grant program, residents at UT Health San Antonio pair with community health workers to connect health equity with community-building efforts, reaching vulnerable populations through home visits and meaningful community engagement.
• CriticacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCritica prepared a report for ABIM Foundation on countering medical misinformation, providing an outline of significant initiatives in the medical misinformation field, including public health frameworks and key gaps in interventions.
• Costs of CarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Costs of Care on the Choosing Wisely STARS program at Dell Medical School, seeding student efforts to integrate Choosing Wisely tenets into 40 medical school programs.
• American Hospital AssociationcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerABIM Foundation formed partnership with American Hospital Association to advance Choosing Wisely and reduce unnecessary care through hospital system implementation.
• National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser CoalitionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to educate employers and purchasers about low-value care and advance implementation of Choosing Wisely recommendations in workplace health programs.
• ABMS (American Board of Medical Specialties)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerABIM Foundation partners with ABMS on the Visiting Scholars Program, providing opportunities for medical professionals to engage in professionalism research and education.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation: Foundation dedicated to advancing health professions education through grantmaking and convening—directly comparable to ABIM Foundation's role in medical professionalism, physician training, and reform of medical education.
• Commonwealth Fund: Independent foundation conducting research and grantmaking on healthcare system performance and equity. Shares ABIM Foundation's grantmaking-plus-thought-leadership model focused on improving U.S. healthcare delivery and trust.
• Arnold P. Gold Foundation: Nonprofit focused on humanism in medicine, including student essay programs and recognitions for compassionate care. Shares ABIM Foundation's focus on professionalism, trust, and trainee engagement via essay-style programs and awards.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Major U.S. health-focused philanthropic foundation and an active funder of ABIM Foundation's Choosing Wisely implementation. Both organizations fund grants to advance health equity, trust, and value-based care, serving overlapping grantees and audiences.
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI): Nonprofit driving healthcare quality improvement through convening and program initiatives. Comparable to ABIM Foundation in advancing measurable reductions in low-value care and fostering system-level adoption of best practices.
• California Health Care Foundation: Philanthropic foundation funding research and programs to improve California's healthcare system, with significant work on low-value care, equity, and trust—a directly comparable grantmaking-and-thought-leadership model.

Emerging players

• Costs of Care: Nonprofit partnering with ABIM Foundation on the Choosing Wisely STARS program at Dell Medical School. Focused on integrating value-based-care principles into medical training—directly comparable mission in low-value-care reduction and medical education.

Broad incumbents

• American Medical Association Foundation: Philanthropic arm of the AMA supporting medical education, student-residents, and community health. Closely analogous as a professional-society-affiliated foundation funding scholarships, grants, and health equity programming similar to ABIM Foundation's model.
• American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS): Umbrella organization for physician specialty boards and ABIM Foundation's direct partner on the Visiting Scholars Program. Operates in medical professionalism and physician certification adjacent to ABIM Foundation's grantmaking focus.
• Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME): Sets professional standards and accredits residency programs; ABIM Foundation's Building Trust grants fund ACGME-regulated internal medicine residents and faculty. Overlapping scope in graduate medical education and professionalism.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/abimfoundation
• YouTubeyoutube.com/ABIMFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/abim-foundation
• Facebookfacebook.com/theabimfoundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ABIM Foundation