ACDIS update: Meet the CDI Practice Guidelines Committee

Did you know there’s another ACDIS committee besides the ACDIS Advisory Board working on writing new white papers and guidance for the association? That’s exactly what the CDI Practice Guidelines Committee does.

The 11-person committee meets on a monthly basis to brainstorm ideas, work on papers, and discuss any “hot topics” that they believe ACDIS should formally address. Right now, they’re working on three papers including one on physician burnout, which addresses how CDI professionals can aid in this healthcare pandemic. 

This week, the ACDIS staff wanted to give members the opportunity to get to know this hardworking group of people a bit better:

Cathy Farraher, RN, MBA, CCM, CCDS
RN care manager
UC San Diego Health
San Diego, California
catarrina@gmail.com

Farraher is the nursing care manager at UC San Diego Health in California. At her previous facility, she was the CDI manager for several years. Before that, Farraher worked as an intensive care unit float nurse and a nursingconsultant in case management. She has worked as a legal nurse consultant, a utilization review nurse, and an off-shift supervisor at a Level I trauma center in Boston. Farraher serves as the chair for the CDI Practice Guidelines Committee for ACDIS; she is also a past leader and current member of the Massachusetts ACDIS local chapter.

Karen Carr, RN, MS, CCDS, CDIP
CDI manager
Grand Strand Medical Center
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
karen.carr@hcahealthcare.com

Carr is the CDI manager at Grand Strand Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Her clinical experience includes 12 years as an ICU nurse in neuro/trauma, medical/surgical, and cardiac/cardiovascular surgical specialties. She has also worked in cardiac rehabilitation, home health, and nursing management.

Carr began her CDI career in 2009 after having served in the US Air Force in both active duty and reserves, retiring in 2006, and completing her master degree in healthcare leadership and nursing education from Regis University in 2009. She is also treasurer of the South Carolina ACDIS chapter. Carr currently serves as the chair-elect for the Practice Guidelines Committee.

Emmanuel Damalie, MD, FACHE, FHFMA, RHIA, CCDS, CDIP, CCS
Corporate vice president
Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc.
Norwalk, California
Senadek@gmail.com

Damalie is the corporate vice president for CDI, coding, and clinical appeals for Prospect Medical Holdings/Alta Hospitals System, a position he has held for almost seven years where he developed and built the CDI program from scratch. Before this position, Damalie advanced from performing CDI record reviews to managing the CDI program and Recovery Audit appeals for a 14-hospital system.

Damalie has multiple postgraduate degrees/certificates, including but not limited to, public health, clinical research, health administration/health information management.

He maintains active membership in ACDIS, American College of Healthcare Executives, Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), American Academy of Professional Coders, and National Association of Healthcare Quality. He is a Fellow of American College of Healthcare Executives and Healthcare Financial Management Association. 

In addition to his service on the CDI Practice Guidelines Committee, he is chairman of the certification committee of the Southern California Chapter of HFMA, a board member of the Southern California Chapter of HFMA, and he has served on the AHIMA Foundation Leadership Institute Advisory Panel. He is affiliated with Serenity Holistic CDI+ Solutions and is a regular contributor on ACDIS Blog.

Karen DiMeglio, RN, MS, CPC, CCDS
Director of CDI and appeals
Lifespan
Providence, Rhode Island
KDiMeglio@Lifespan.org

DiMeglio is director of CDI and appeals for Lifespan in Providence, Rhode Island. She has more than 30 years of progressive leadership and administrative experience in diverse acute care and ambulatory patient care settings. In 2009, DiMeglio implemented the clinical documentation integrity department for Lifespan affiliate hospitals, growing the staff from five to 15. DiMeglio was also named ACDIS’ 2016 CDI Professional of the Year.  

Julie Geiger, BSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP
CDI supervisor
Parkview Health
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Julie.Geiger@parkview.com

Geiger is a CDI specialist supervisor at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she has been employed for 19 years, with experience including extended care, family practice, medical/surgical, post-partum and newborn care. Geiger has 11 years of CDI experience advancing from a CDI specialist to an operational lead and then to the supervisor in 2017. She is proud to work with a team of 11 CDI specialists who strive for excellence. Geiger is a member of the Indiana ACDIS chapter and recently joined the Indiana ACDIS spring conference planning committee. She is a Nascar fan and enjoys cross country skiing so she always hopes for more snow while her co-workers anxiously await spring. 

Katy Good, RN, CCS, CCDS
Training materials specialist
Enjoin CDI
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Katy.Good@enjoincdi.com

Good is a registered nurse with a clinical background in the intensive care and ED. As the lead training materials specialist, she is responsible for the overall development and oversight of both internal and client training materials focusing on documentation improvement across the continuum of care. She works with Enjoin’s physician team to develop clinical, coding, and documentation materials. 

In 2011, Good was tasked with expanding and systemizing a CDI program across facilities. Over the following six years, she gained extensive management and operational experience. As the CDI program coordinator, she provided comprehensive education to CDI, coding, and medical staff, thorough audits of both CDI and coding, and developed processes to provide mortality, patient safety indicator, and hospital acquired condition reviews. 

Good is a past ACDIS conference presenter and is a regular contributor to industry publications and CDI blogs. Her achievements include recipient of the 2014 ACDIS CDI Professional Achievement Award and the Academic Achievement Award for graduating first in her nursing class in 2006. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in healthcare administration from the University of New Mexico. 

Leslie Prairie, RN, MSN, MBA, HCA, CCDS, ACM, NEA-BC
Midwest CDI operations manager
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota
Prairie.Leslie@mayo.edu

Prairie is the Midwest operations manager of CDI at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her direct leadership has led to the robust expansion of the CDI program in Minnesota and Wisconsin, including a quality and education specialist role. Prairie’s bedside nursing endeavors include the specialties of hematology/oncology and critical care. Behind the front lines, Prairie has supervised the utilization review and case management departments.

Patty Hartman-Chua, RHIT, CCS, CCDS
Director of HIM/CDI consulting services
Xtend Healthcare, LLC
Hendersonville, Tennessee
hartpatty@gmail.com

Hartman-Chua serves as director of HIM/CDI consulting services at Xtend Healthcare, LLC. Previously, a senior consultant of ELIPSe, Inc., a HIM consulting firm specializing in ICD-10 implementation, training, auditing, coding, and strategy planning nationwide, Hartman-Chua has more than 15 years’ experience as an expert coding professional. She implemented an acute care CDI program that consisted of hospital-wide physician and employee training on ICD-10, and is a member of ACDIS and AHIMA.

Angelisa “Lisa” Romanello, RN, MSHI,  CCDS, CDIP
CDI manager
PRISM Healthcare Partners, LTD
Glen Allen, Virginia
aromanello@prismhealthcare.com

Romanello is a manager with Prism Healthcare Partners, LTD. She has 10 years of CDI experience after devoting three decades to bedside patient care and case management. She is skilled at improving inpatient record documentation and educating physicians and staff on procedures and initiatives to enhance patient care.

Romanello previously served as a CDI manager at CJW Medical Center where she managed all aspects of CDI operations with a focus on obtaining accurate patient records and mentoring staff on the documentation process. She has served as project manager on numerous inpatient and outpatient CDI engagements.

Over the course of her career, Romanello served a wide range of clients from academic medical centers, large and regional systems including: Duke, Pro Health, SCL, and Centegra. Romanello enjoys spending time with her three adult children and her granddaughter, as well as quilting, reading, and traveling.

Cynthia Stefl, RN, CCDS
CDI manager
Sisters of Charity Leavenworth Health
Lakewood, Colorado
cynthia.stefl@sclhs.net

Stefl is CDI manager for Sisters of Charity Leavenworth (SCL) Health in Lakewood, Colorado, where she hired, on-boarded, and worked with contracted remote, and permanent remote CDI staff. She has more than 30 years of professional experience in healthcare including critical care and medical-surgical nursing, nursing management and administration, and case management.

Stefl also led the CDI initiative at Mercy Health Partners in Muskegon, Michigan implementing a multi-hospital program which consistently exceeded best practice metrics.