Your Board of Directors, the American Academy of Dermatology’s Priorities Committee, and the organization’s staff were vigilant in 2011 in ensuring that the Academy maintained its financial sustainability, as well as verifying that the Academy's day-to-day actions were well-aligned with our long-term goals as represented by the Strategic Framework.

Our updated reporting process now links our revenues and expenses to the Strategic Framework. This process helps us ensure that we spend our money on the things that matter most to our members. For example, we spent over $3.3 million in support of our communication efforts for community service and heightened awareness of dermatology scope of practice through public service announcements, Shade Structure grants, Camp Discovery, and various skin cancer public education efforts and screenings. Almost $4.0 million was spent on our multi-pronged approach on advocacy, which includes efforts with Congress and state legislatures, federal regulatory agencies, and private payers. Some of the specific programs that helped support these efforts included the Legislative Conference held in Washington, D.C., the costs associated with our RUC team, which defends the fair valuation of dermatologic services, and the administrative costs of our political action committee. In addition, the Academy is also focusing on our future by building up an endowment fund, adding over $1.5 million to this fund in 2011. You can read more about all of these activities elsewhere in this annual report.

Click on the tabs above to see where our revenue came from in 2011 — you’ll note that we had a very successful Annual Meeting in New Orleans and retained about 98 percent of our members — and how our spending relates to the five key priorities on the strategic framework.

Sincerely,

Suzanne M. Olbricht, MD
Secretary-Treasurer