ACDIS update: Welcome to the new advisory board members

The results of the election are in, and ACDIS welcomes the following new advisory board members for three-year terms of service, effective April 2018-April 2021:

Fran Jurcak, MSN, RN, CCDS 
Vice President of Clinical Innovation
Iodine Software
Austin, Texas
fran@iodinesoftware.com

Jurcak has been a nursing professional for more than 30 years with 12 years in the CDI profession. She currently uses her clinical knowledge and expertise to create and implement healthcare technology that supports documentation integrity. An active member of ACDIS for the past 11 years, Jurcak is past ACDIS Advisory Board member, having served from 2011-2014. She is also serving on the CCDS certification committee as well as the newly created outpatient CCDS (CCDS-O) certification committee; she is also the author of the CCDS Exam Study Guide. In 2017 Jurcak earned the ACDIS Professional Achievement Award and has spoken at multiple ACDIS national and chapter conferences and the national AHIMA conference. Jurcak is passionate about the CDI profession and works daily with CDI professionals throughout the country.

Jeff Morris, RN, BSN, CCDS
Supervisor, Clinical Documentation Improvement
University of South AL Health System
Mobile, Alabama
jwmorris@health.southalabama.edu

Morris is the supervisor of CDI at the University of South Alabama Health System in Mobile. He has more than 20 years of nursing experience in adult critical care, medical-surgical/telemetry, and emergency department. Currently, he leads the CDI program at USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital and USA Medical Center where he was the originally hired as its first CDI professional An active member of ACDIS, Morris is a co-leader for the Alabama ACDIS chapter, presented at the 2017 ACDIS Conference in Las Vegas, served on the 2018 ACDIS Conference Committee, contributed to the 2017 book Pediatric CDI: Building Blocks for Success, and is scheduled to present ACDIS 2018 in San Antonio. He is also a member of AHIMA and has presented at local and regional events.

Erica E. Remer, MD, FACEP, CCDS
President and Founder
Erica Remer, MD, Inc.
Beachwood, Ohio
eremer@icd10md.com

An emergency physician for 25 years with expertise in documentation and the professional side of billing, Remer became the CDI physician advisor for University Hospitals Health System in Cleveland in 2012. Tasked with training 2,700 providers in ICD-10, she additionally closed hundreds of CDI queries and appealed numerous DRG clinical validation and medical necessity denials. After transitioning to independent consulting in July 2016, she authored multiple articles on CDI topics, serves as course director of a medical documentation through Case Western Reserve University, co-hosts Talk Ten Tuesdays, and has been a featured guest on ACDIS Radio. Remer has provided deep dives into clinical topics in presentations on the national, regional, and local level. She serves as the American College of Physician Advisors CDI education subcommittee chair and on its board of directors.

Irina Zusman, RHIA, CCS, CCDS
Director of HIM Coding and CDI Initiatives
NYU Langone Health
New York, New York
izusman@gmail.com

Zusman has more than 25 years of HIM experience where she used her blend of clinical and CDI skills to advance data analytics and validate the importance of documentation and coding. Zusman designed two new programs at NYU School of Professional Studies—a diploma in coding, developed in collaboration with the senior director of HIMand a CDI diploma program in collaboration with the director of CDI.  She has contributed as a subject matter expert on a variety of focus groups regarding coding concepts, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality patient safety indicators and hospital acquired conditions, among other topics. Zusman currently serves on the CCDS certification committee. She has presented at AHIMA and ACDIS national and local conferences and several Vizient (formerly University HealthSystem Consortium) annual CDI pre-conference meetings.

Each year, ACDIS elects four new advisory board members, with four rotating off the board following a three-year term of service. The board is composed of multidisciplinary professionals including physicians, nurses, and HIM/coding professionals. This ensures that all professionals capable of serving as CDI professionals have an active voice in the leadership of the association. The finalists for the advisory board are selected by a nomination committee, and voted in via a popular vote of the ACDIS membership. Thanks to everyone who cast their vote.

ACDIS advisory board members draft guidance and best practice for the association, serve on quarterly conference calls with the membership, and advise ACDIS national administration on concerns that affect the broader CDI profession.

ACDIS would like to thank outgoing board members: James Fee, MD, CCS, CCDS, Karen Newhouser, RN, BSN, CCDS, CCS, CCM, CDIP, Judy Schade, RN, MSN, CCM, CCDS, and Anny Yuen, RHIA, CCS, CCDS, for their outstanding service and leadership over the past three years.

Please join us in welcoming Irina, Dr. Remer, Jeff, and Fran to the board!