New education director discusses ASHE offerings

The American Society for Health Care Engineering’s (ASHE’s) new Director of Education Adam Bazer, MPD, comes to the organization with an extensive background, including almost 18 years at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). This month, he talks about his role and future plans.

The Adam Bazer File

CV

• Current director of education at the American Society for Health Care Engineering, Chicago.
• Senior technical manager for health information technology standards at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Chicago.
• Senior manager for chapter relations at HIMSS.
• Senior manager for user experience at HIMSS.
• IHE USA liaison at IHE USA, Chicago.
• Curriculum designer for multimedia at After School Matters, Chicago.
• Market research associate at HIMSS.

Education

• Master’s of engineering in product design and development management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.
• Bachelor’s degree in video production, Columbia College Chicago.

What is your background in adult learning and development?

I’ve spent the last 20 years developing and delivering adult learning and thought leadership. Those educational resources all focused on supporting those on the front lines and behind the scenes of health care delivery, whether they were in-person conference sessions, live and on-demand virtual education, web resources or podcasts. I’ve worked with technicians and clinicians, C-suite executives, patient advocates and others to develop education that helps to transform health care in areas such as production implementation, integration and interoperability, value-based care, regulatory compliance, health care user experience and more. Unlike primary and secondary education, adult learning, especially in the association space, has unique needs. It must be highly topical and support the learner’s day-to-day responsibilities. It must be practical and help the learner advance their career. Finally, it must be sharable, so that the learner can also be a teacher to their colleagues.

How and why did you get involved in the health care field?

Well, to age myself, I got started in the health care field by answering a job ad on Craigslist back in 2004. HIMSS, a former professional membership group of the American Hospital Association, was seeking support for their health information technology market research team. This entry-level position was a perfect place for me to gain a rapid understanding of the health care landscape in North America, working with hospital and health system professionals to gain an understanding of the health information technology they were leveraging or considering as part of the technology stack that provided seamless, and sometimes not so seamless, delivery of key data insights to support the delivery and administration of health care. From that role, I moved forward into leading teams at HIMSS, developing and delivering education through in-person as well as virtual formats. This was another great opportunity to learn about the most important topics of interest for health care professionals across the field as it related to the rapidly transforming health care landscape. From there I moved into subject matter expertise roles focused on value-based care, health care user experience and product interoperability. In those roles, I worked to develop tools and resources, regulatory analysis and thought leadership podcasts to help advance the understanding of these important areas of the care delivery experience.

What attracted you to ASHE?

It was the opportunity to be of service to health care facility professionals as well as those focused on the planning, design and construction of health care facilities. As patients, we only really focus on the most public-facing components of the care experience: the nurses and doctors we interact with and the administrative staff that help manage the care spaces we walk into when we are sick and in need of care. But there are so many people inhabiting so many roles in the care experience that aren’t public facing who dedicate themselves to ensuring the seamless delivery of care can take place. 

Health care facilities professionals as well as those who plan, develop and construct health care environments have a huge impact on patient safety and keeping healing environments operating sustainably. Being able to support those individuals in their day-to-day activities and in their career growth is an incredible opportunity, and one that I didn’t want to miss out on. What has increased my interest and attraction to ASHE has been the opportunity to work with an incredible team of colleagues focused on education, member services, publications and subject matter expertise. Finally, the wonderful ASHE members that I have had the honor to meet illustrate why this is the best place to focus my time, energy and spirit.

How will you be applying your experiences to your role at ASHE?

Over my two decades serving health care professionals, I have learned the importance of delivering education and thought leadership in formats that make it easy for busy individuals to improve their understanding of the factors that impact their daily experience and help advance their careers. And while the customer need has remained constant, the form and format of the delivery of that thought leadership has changed with advances in technology and advances in adult learning methodologies. In my role as director of education, I will be bringing that embracement of enduring goals and the innovative expression of those goals to the work ASHE does to help optimize healing environments. So, stay tuned for unique TikTok videos on water management and infection control.

What are some of ASHE’s current educational offerings?

ASHE has a great educational product portfolio of in-person conferences and tradeshows, hosted programs, live online training and On Demand e-learning courses. Wherever and however health care facility professionals (including those in the planning, design and construction of health care facilities) want to connect to their peers as well as experts in the field on topics of timely importance to them, ASHE has the material and method to connect them with their educational needs. ASHE provides a number of educational products across all formats focused on key areas such as regulatory compliance and infection control as well as the management of systems that support care delivery, such as medical gas and water. 

We also support education that provides opportunities to review highly relevant information related to several health care facility and construction certifications offered by the American Hospital Association, as well as other key partners. While many of the topics we cover are enduring areas of interest, we are always seeking insights from members, partners and other stakeholders about emerging topics to bring to our audience.

What new offerings are you planning to introduce to ASHE members?

From a topic perspective, we are excited to expand our programming related to infection control, an already important topic that only became timelier to all of us as we collectively experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. 

From an event experience, we are excited to bring back the ASHE Academy launched in 2022 into our overall in-person conference portfolio in 2023. We are looking forward to working with supporting organizations in the development and delivery of the 2023 International Summit & Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction as well as heading to San Antonio for the 2023 ASHE Annual Conference. 

Along with these in-person events, we will be expanding our virtual programming on topics such as physical environment survey readiness, water management, and door inspection and maintenance. 

In 2023, we will be working to align these educational offerings with ASHE’s core competency frameworks for health care facilities management and health care construction to help professionals engage with our education. This will provide a formal career path to help develop their skills, their careers and their opportunities to engage with peers across the ASHE member community. HFM