Note from the Associate Editorial Director: A Little Local Chapter Love

By Melissa Varnavas

Next Friday, August 11, ACDIS Editor Linnea Archibald and I will head down to Newton, Massachusetts for the third-annual joint ACDIS/AHIMA New England CDI Symposium. The leaders of the MaHIMA, NYHIMA, and MA ACDIS have met for months to develop a comprehensive agenda to fit the educational needs of both coding and clinical documentation professionals.

The full-day event, sponsored by 3M, was originally the brainchild of then ACDIS Advisory Board member Walter Houlihan, director of HIM for Baystate Health in Springfield, Massachusetts. Houlihan, at the time, served as the president of the MaHIMA and, although his time in that role was ending, he had yet to see his vision for a multi-state event come to pass. After mentioning his hopes in a passing phone call, we decided to see if we could, in fact, bring this idea to fruition. The first year, more than 100 attendees arrived. The second held nearly 160. Baystate Health generously hosted those first two events.

This year, attendance has topped 200 and the registration has closed due to the constraints of the room size (although there is a wait list).

This is an amazing story about the importance of collaboration and the value of networking and education in our tiny slice of the healthcare industry we serve. And it’s a story that’s not just happening in New England but is playing out across the country. Every week in this email newsletter, we list local chapter upcoming events and offer a tip or tale about what’s happening at the local level. Recently, on ACDIS Radio, we remarked about the number of full-day events coming up.

In August, not only do we have the New England event but also North Carolina and Florida are holding full-day educational sessions. In September, both California and Alabama hold full-day events. The California event will be its third annual, and generally gathers more than 200 attendees. The leaders from each of the three Missouri ACDIS chapters have been meeting for more than a year to plan their big full day event coming up in October. Last year there were nearly 150 attendees and this year they expect to reach 200 attendees as well. South Carolina and Oregon also hold events in October and although it’s still in the planning stages, Texas hopes to have a full-day event in October too.

These volunteer leaders have done a tremendous job planning these events for the benefit of their communities. We cannot thank them enough for their efforts and hope that you, too, reach out to them, volunteer, attend, extend your own involvement in this, our ever growing, ACDIS community.

Editor’s Note: Varnavas is the Associate Editorial Director for ACDIS. To find out about what’s happening in your neighborhood visit the local chapter page. To learn more about starting a chapter or networking group, scroll down below the map to read our local chapter leadership resources. Contact her at mvarnavas@acdis.org.