Local Chapter Update: Northeast CDI and Coding Symposium a success

Those of you lucky enough to attend a local chapter event know how much fun they can be. Earlier today, ACDIS Director Brian Murphy and ACDIS Editor Katherine (Katy) Rushlau buckled in for a two-hour drive across the great state of Massachusetts into the beautiful Berkshire hills to attend the Northeast CDI and Coding Symposium at Baystate Health Education Center in Holyoke.

The agenda was ambitious. It included panel discussion with both CDI specialists and coding staff, a session on provider engagement, one on hierarchical condition categories, data analytics, among other topics. Murphy offered insight into the state of the CDI industry pointing to expanding efforts in quality, outpatient, and other areas.

“It’s really a very exciting time to be in CDI,” said Murphy. “We’re seeing a number of trends and new areas of expansion from outpatient to quality that our folks can get involved in.”

After Murphy’s remarks, the day kicked off with an equally entertaining and informative session highlighting provider engagement through the lens of a physician, Mickey Leibowitz, MD, Clinical Quality Medical Director and Physician CDI Champion/Chair of the Health Information Management Council at Crouse Hospital in New York.  Leibowitz offered these “pearls” for how CDI can partner with physicians to improve documentation and quality metrics across the healthcare continuum:

1. Engage—help the providers care about and understand the importance of documentation.
2. Educate—teach providers why documentation matters and what documentation is needed.
3. Execute—meet with providers regularly and be a consistent presence and source of information.
4. Evaluate—discuss physician profiles one-on-one and celebrate successes.

“CDI need to understand physician characteristics,” says Leibowitz. “By getting to know the docs and being visible and available to them, we can bridge that gap and partner with them to build stronger CDI departments.”

Following Leibowitz’s session, a panel discussion featured CDI and coding experts from Massachusetts and New York facilities. The panel opened the floor to the nearly 200 attendees, who asked a number of questions from the CDI frontlines. Hot topics included expanding into outpatient CDI, working remotely, electronic health record nuances, quality reviews, and reviewing observation cases.

Matt Bohl, CDI Business Analyst at Baystate Health wrapped up the morning sessions with an overview of CDI and coding analytics and benchmarking resources. Bohl reviewed the basics of analytics, how to select performance metrics to review, and data visualization. “Data is becoming the language we all speak,” says Bohl. “Doctors like data because data establishes trustworthiness and can help prove return on investment.”

The afternoon was dedicated to networking and specialty presentations on outpatient CDI and communication of patient care. CDI specialists and coders from across Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York had the opportunity to connect and discuss issues they are facing at their own facilities. The event was truly a success.

If you are interested in attending a local chapter event near you, check out the list of upcoming meetings below: 

August

• The North Carolina ACDIS Chapter meets Friday, August 5, at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, in Winston Salem. Registration is a two-step process: First, complete the conference registration form, then, enter your NC ACDIS registration fees, online, here. For information, email NCACDIS@gmail.com.
• The Georgia ACDIS Chapter meets Friday, August 12, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton. For information, contact Julie_bell@memorial.org.
• The Indiana and Kentucky ACDIS Chapters join for a regional event Friday, August 19, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Louisville (Kentucky) Marriott East. Click here to read the complete agenda. Click here to download the registration form. Deadline for registration is August 5. For information, contact Rita Fields at rita.fields@BHSI.COM.
• The Utah ACDIS Chapter meets Wednesday, August 17, at the University of Utah for a discussion with Russell Vinik, MD, Medical Director for CDI at the facility. For information, contact Molly Evans atMolly.Evans@hsc.utah.edu.
• The New Jersey networking group meets on Friday, August 19, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Centrastate Medical Center in Freehold. Glenn Krauss, director of enterprise solutions at ZiRMED will present “CDI- Achieving the Potential.” To register, click here. For additional information, email Deborah Gardner-Brown at deborah@rra-inc.com.
• The California ACDIS Chapter meets August 24, 9 a.m., via webinar, to discuss “Leveraging the physician value based payment modifier,” with Richard Pinson, MD, and Cynthia Tang. For information, contact Shiloh Williams at Shiloh.Williams@ecrmc.org.

September

• The South Carolina ACDIS Chapter meets Friday, September 16, at Providence Hospital in Columbia. For information, contact Mary Hopkins at Mary.Hopkins@hcahealthcare.com.
• The Maryland ACDIS Chapter meets Friday, September 16, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Maryland Hospital Association. Registration is nearing capacity. For additional information, email Olga Firstbrook at ofirstbrook@cua.md.     
• The Tennessee ACDIS Chapter joins THIMA, and the Tennessee Hospital Association for a CDI summit on Thursday, September 22, at the THA offices in Nashville. For information, contact Sherri Clark SClark@mc.utmck.edu.
• The Maine ACDIS Chapter meets Friday, September 23, at Eastern Maine Medical Center, noon to 4 p.m. For information, email Cathy.Seluke@mainegeneral.org.
• The ACDIS NW Oregon Chapter meets bi-annually. The next meeting will take place on September 30 in Medford. For information, contact Karen Gray at Karen.Gray@salemhealth.org.

Save the date: October

• Three Missouri ACDIS chapters join together for their first state-wide full-day event on Saturday, October 15, at Boone Hospital Center in Columbia. For information, contact Karen Elmore atkelmore@bjc.org.