2The record
The record, in order
Cars, then copiers, then fourteen years keeping hospital systems running — and since 2013, my own business. Here’s each step, with the firsts marked.
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High schoolNashville
Auto mechanic, school-to-work program
I was working on cars before I ever worked on computers: an auto mechanic in high school, and in my senior year part of a school-to-work program.
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1997Robert J. Young Company
Copier and fax repair, learning networking
My first job out of school was repairing copiers and fax machines. I learned networking there on the job, and took classes at Nashville Tech at the same time.
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1999Ascension Health, Nashville
Started the IT department’s first help desk First help desk
Ascension Health hired me into IT, and I started the department’s first help desk. I was the first-level support for over a year — every call came to me first — and then moved up to desktop support specialist.
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NextAscension Health
Desktop, network and IP phone support
From the help desk I took on more of the hospital floor: desktop support, network support and the PoE and IP phones — the Avaya system.
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PromotedThree hospitals
IT Security Officer
Then a promotion: IT Security Officer for three hospitals.
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2005Ascension Health
Applications Analyst II
In 2005 I was promoted again, to Applications Analyst II. I was responsible for PLUE (Patient Link Up Enterprise), Cerner security and Forms On Demand, and for the intranet and internet websites for The Heart Group.
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At AscensionAcross hospitals
The first community medical record number A first
Patients don’t stay at one hospital. I created the first community medical record number across multiple hospitals, so a patient who went from one to another could be tracked as the same person.
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At AscensionAt the bedside
The first arm band with a 3D barcode A first
I designed the first patient arm band with a 3D barcode, the kind UPS uses on its packages.
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1999–2013At home, nights and weekends
My own web design and hosting business
The whole time I was in hospital IT, I ran a website design and hosting business from home on the side.
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2013Nashville
Left healthcare IT to do it full time
In 2013 I left the healthcare IT world and made the side business the job. Today that business is Zorva Labs and Nashville’s Web Design, and I co-own Lead Gen Digital Marketing with Terry McCarthy.
Credentials
Certifications
- DCSE
- A+
- MCSE
- NSA
- Cerner Command Language
Listed the way I list them.
What carried over
Since 2013 I’ve kept that depth and learned the new technology as it came — and learned what to do, and more importantly what not to do, in SEO and LLM visibility. The stack is what we build on today, and what I run is where it’s live.
Questions
Questions about the record
How long has Michael Blair worked in technology?
Since 1997, when he started repairing copiers and fax machines at the Robert J. Young Company and learning networking. From 1999 to 2013 he worked in healthcare IT at Ascension Health in Nashville, and since 2013 he has run his own web design and marketing business full time.
What did Michael Blair do in healthcare IT?
All of it at Ascension Health, 1999 to 2013. He started the IT department’s first help desk, did desktop, network and Avaya IP phone support, served as IT Security Officer for three hospitals, and was promoted in 2005 to Applications Analyst II over PLUE, Cerner security and Forms On Demand.
What certifications does Michael Blair hold?
Michael lists five: DCSE, A+, MCSE, NSA and Cerner Command Language. They go with the work on his record — desktop and network support, information security for three hospitals, and Cerner security as an Applications Analyst II at Ascension Health.
What is a community medical record number?
It is one number that follows a patient across hospitals instead of a new one at every door. At Ascension Health, Michael created the first one across multiple hospitals, so patients who moved from one hospital to another could be tracked as the same person.
Why did Michael Blair leave healthcare IT?
To run his own business full time. He had been designing and hosting websites from home the entire time he worked in hospitals, and in 2013 he left the healthcare IT world to make that business the job.