We asked Michael Blaiss, MD, FACAAI, executive medical director, to comment on the College’s plans for 2019 and where he sees opportunities for committee involvement.
Q: What are some of the highlights of the College’s strategic plan for 2019?
The College has some exciting initiatives for 2019 that are specifically focused on supporting the practicing allergist. Some of the highlights include expanding our Practice Management Center and developing telemedicine resources for our members. We plan to continue to enhance our public website for more public exposure, to increase the value of our Find the Allergist Tool and to provide updated patient information. The member website will also go through a major update starting in 2019. We will also be adding a toolkit for allergists to use with patients with food allergy. These are just a few of the initiatives we have planned for 2019.
Q: What role do the College’s committees have in implementing the plan?
Many of our committees will be instrumental in various facets of these projects, especially our efforts to enhance the College’s public and member websites. Our Practice Management Committee will take the lead in developing new programs to keep the allergist up-to-date on running an allergy practice. We will be reaching out to Science Council committees to develop our new patient toolkit. We will be calling on other committees for implementation of other aspects of our strategic initiatives for 2019.
Q: What advice would you give committees that are brainstorming ideas for projects in 2019?
The College needs our committees to develop more project proposals for possible implementation in 2020. At the Seattle meeting, the BOR will vote on funding exciting proposals from two of our committees, which were submitted as part of the College-wide budget planning process. Hopefully next year we will have more projects from committees to consider for funding. When brainstorming projects with your committee, think about some of the major issues allergists are facing today. What can your committee propose to do to help with these issues? Are there resources that the College can develop to help with those issues? Are there webcasts or other media that could help with those issues? Think outside the box. The College relies on its committees to move the organization forward with cutting edge projects. Everything is worth considering. If it is important to you, it is important to the College. I am always available to discuss any projects with you.
Need more insights? Feel free to email Dr. Blaiss with any additional questions you may have.
