by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | May 28, 2021
From the May 2021 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
HCB News: Did you hear anything unexpected during your listening tour or was there any confirmation of thoughts you had regarding challenges or opportunities?
SC: I would say there were some common themes that emerged. One would be that AAMI members place high value on and appreciate AAMI staff, the quality of our programming, conference center, the work we did on the pandemic, and our relationships with external organizations including the FDA, the Joint Commission, and other organizations. Those were all reaffirming attributes to the organization.
In terms of areas where we could improve, I heard several comments about improving our IT – website and IT tools to streamline the use of member benefits through our online platforms, which we are working on. In a way, that too was reaffirming, to know current projects are important to members.
The conversations sparked a lot of ideas about how to promote different programs and initiatives to consider pursuing. Our leadership team has gone through notes from those conversations to develop action items to pursue.
HCB News: Were the improvements to online platforms being worked on prior to the pandemic or was the pandemic a catalyst for moving that work onto the list?
SC: These were things being worked on pre-pandemic. AAMI members had a lot of great things to say about our virtual experience during the pandemic — our meetings, trainings and other events. It’s been a very smooth transition.
What I was referring to is that we underwent a major change in our database in 2019, as well as our website and other platforms. Whenever you make significant changes, there are sometimes bumps in the road and those are the issues that we are resolving now.
HCB News: Something like going online to look up continuing education units and that type of thing since the database isn’t linked up the way it was in the past?
SC: Right. Another example is that our corporate members want the ability to maintain their roster of employees who are AAMI members, and there were some hiccups with that process. We want to give them what they want: to be empowered to make their own changes.
We have two primary goals with IT: to make them streamlined and easy to use for members and customers, and to help us grow as an organization.
HCB News: In what ways has AAMI switched gears to support its members during the pandemic?
SC: Before answering that, I want to thank everyone in healthcare for everything they have done during the pandemic. We on the AAMI team are proud to represent them — from the manufacturers of technology to the hospital workers, who have been truly heroic.
