Every three years, the College embarks on a strategic planning process to provide a framework to support and engage our members, advocate for our patients and increase public understanding of our specialty. The current strategic plan, Vision Forward, is in its third year, and the College is actively planning for the 2027-2029 phase to address major issues allergists are facing today.
The first step in the process is a survey of all College members. In the coming weeks, you’ll be asked to complete a survey that will assess what you need from the College. We use the member survey results to guide our strategic planning process. Your feedback and insights are vital, so please take a few minutes to ensure our offerings continue to align with your needs and priorities.
Each ACAAI strategic plan is member-value focused. ACAAI membership is always front and center when we’re designing programs and initiatives.
Once a strategic plan is implemented, then what? For the College, it’s a “living” document with specific tactics that are refined from year to year, to ensure we stay responsive to our members’ needs.
Vision Forward prioritized five areas:
- Advocacy
- Education
- Governance
- Public Awareness & Marketing
We’ve made great strides in all of these areas in the past few years, using the strategic plan as a guide. Here are a few examples:
Advocacy – The College‘s Advocacy Council has been diligently addressing issues that affect practicing allergists, including insurance reimbursement, working with MACs, downcoding, and more at the local, state and national levels.
Education – The College created a blueprint to guide its planning of educational content and formats for delivery based on member needs and preferences.
Governance – The College continues to host its Leadership Summit to fortify its pathways to leadership, while offering practical tools our participants can apply in their committee work as well as their day-to-day practice. We’ve also been focusing on building synergies across our committees and enhancing engagement with Fellows-in-Training and early-career allergists.
Pathways to Practice, the College’s newest initiative launched in 2025, is funding 16 new allergy and immunology fellows over the next five years. We are directly addressing the need for more spots for fellows in allergy, and we will continue to expand our efforts in this critical area.
The CAPE and CA2PER programs foster collaboration between community-based allergists/immunologists, and they offer wonderful opportunities for FITs to start their own research. The SPARK program introduces medical students and residents to our specialty through a mentorship program that has proven to create new pathways for future leaders. Two of our most recent FIT Representatives to the Board of Regents participated in the SPARK program as residents and became active members of the College.
Practice Management – The College established the new AI and Technology Subcommittee, which falls under the Practice Management Committee and recently joined the AMA AI Specialty Collaborative. The new Employed Allergist Toolkit provides resources unique to those who practice as employed allergists. Four new prior authorization appeal letters for SMART/Asthma, Xolair/Food Allergy, Neffy/Anaphylaxis and AYVAKIT/Mast Cell Disease help our members and patients access needed medication. Plus, we continue to update our more than 25 practice management toolkits with the latest resources our members need.
Public Awareness and Marketing – Media coverage of the 2025 ACAAI Annual Meeting was successful – more than 290 stories ran in international, national, regional, and local news outlets. The College created a patient version of the Food Allergy eYardstick to provide the latest updates in food allergy treatment options and information on how patients can use the shared decision-making process with physicians. We’ve also added new web content for patients and HCPs, plus new online patient brochures in the past year.
We’re listening! Help us make the College responsive to your needs. Complete the membership survey when you get the email. Your responses will help the College develop nimble, efficient and timely resources so you can provide the best patient care.
