TBT: 2017 Conference Committee member shares session insight

By Faisal Hussain, MD, CCDS, CDIP

It was a real privilege to serve on the 2017 ACDIS Conference Committee, even though it involved a lot of hard work, and tough decisions regarding the selection of speakers and award winners.

One of the sessions that caught the interest of the entire committee concerned objectively measuring providers’ clinical engagement. What made this session even more special was the fact that the presenter, Nicole Draper, RN, BN, MHA, DH-C, was responsible for putting together one of the first CDI programs in Australia.

Attendees had high expectations of gaining insight into a validated tool that can be used to objectively measure provider engagement. The detailed presentation shared the inner workings of Australia’s CDI efforts. It was very interesting to see how the Australian healthcare system differed from the United States, including a different DRG model. Draper also shared the difficulties and challenges for not having access to all the software that we have here. The CDI industry is still in its nascent stage in Australia, so there isn’t a lot of guidance or resources. All her data was collected and computed in a simple Excel spreadsheet. This entire project is part of Draper’s dissertation for her doctoral studies.

Attendees who simply wanted to learn something new, however, especially those interested in what is being done outside our borders, thoroughly enjoyed the session. I believe there’s always room to learn how other countries are tackling issues in healthcare, and I hope we can have even more international speakers. The United States spends more money per capita than any other country on our healthcare system, yet our outcomes are nowhere near the best in the world. Clearly, we can learn from others, so that together we can make our healthcare system more sustainable and affordable. CDI is uniquely positioned to make a huge impact in achieving this goal.

I look forward to having more international speakers in future!

Editor’s note: Faisal Hussain, MD, CCDS, CDIP, is the CDI manager at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Somerville, New Jersey. He was one of the 12 member 2017 Conference Committee. For more information regarding the conference committee, click here. To find out more about the next big ACDIS event, the Outpatient CDI Symposium, click here.