40 Under 40 The Class of 2015

Lindsay Doak

Director of Education and Marketing, Fazzi Associates; Age 38

Lindsay Doak

Lindsay Doak

At a time when the population is getting older and tens of millions of Baby Boomers head into their retirement years, the work Lindsay Doak is doing is more critical than ever.

Specifically, Doak — director of education and marketing at Fazzi Associates, a home-health and hospice consulting and research firm — designed the National Healthcare Learning Center, an online education delivery system utilized by healthcare organizations throughout the world. “It has really taken off,” she said. “We have more than 50,000 logins to the center every month, everyone from IT coding to management.”

Her latest initiative is work with community colleges and other institutions to deliver training that will fully certify home-health coders — an important project because of a national shortage of medical coders. The targeted program allows low-income workers the opportunity to move beyond minimum-wage jobs.

“There’s a huge need for coders because the code set is changing so much,” she said of the healthcare industry’s move from the ICD-9 standard to ICD-10, set to launch this fall.

In addition, the educational alliances Doak has built at Fazzi with state and national organizations like the National Assoc. for Home Care, the National Physical Therapy Assoc., and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization are helping improve care and reduce rehospitalization for the growing population of American seniors.

“The Baby Boomers are now entering home health care, and with healthcare reform, home health has become a big player to reduce costs and keep people out of hospitals,” she said. “When we can take care of patients at home, we really reduce those costs. And the need for these services is going to expand exponentially.”

Meanwhile, Doak makes time to volunteer in the community, including work with the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts and a former spot on the board of the Hampshire Regional YMCA. She’s also a board member at Whole Children, an organization that offers a wide range of after-school, weekend, and vacation enrichment programs for children, teens, and adults, especially those with special needs.

“That gives me great satisfaction,” said Doak, who chairs the group’s marketing and fund-raising committee, and is currently promoting next month’s Wild Goose Chase fund-raiser at Look Park. “I have a child myself, and my child isn’t perfect; I see the struggles, what it’s like to have a kid dance to his own beat. A lot of schools don’t accept that, so an organization that accepts anyone, that’s all-inclusive, there’s such a need for that. It’s so fulfilling to be a part of it, and make sure these kids are successful.”

—Joseph Bednar

Photo by Denise Smith Photography