Entering September, 91.3% of Online Longitudinal Assessment (OLA) participants had reached their annual progress requirement.

Most diplomates need to answer 52 questions a year to reach their annual requirement. In most cases, the almost 9% who haven’t still can do so. OLA questions are available for four weeks, meaning there are as many as eight that could be answered by a participant at one time.

The goal is to avoid forfeited questions, which are questions that are required but unanswered in a given year. For example, if a diplomate is required to answer 52 questions and only answers 50, the two unanswered questions would be considered “forfeited” and counted as incorrect.

When participants reach their annual progress requirement, they have two choices: opt out of receiving the weekly email and let the questions expire for the rest of the year or keep answering questions and get to the first performance evaluation sooner. There’s no penalty involved with either option, although each question answered counts toward a diplomate’s performance.

Anyone with questions should visit our OLA FAQs or contact a certification services manager at information@theabr.org or (520) 790-2900.