CDI takes center stage at forum in Chicago

Two ACDIS board members discuss CDI in Chicago this week.

Today and tomorrow the World Research Group holds its fourth annual Clinical Documentation Improvement & Coding Expo at the Hilton Suites in Chicago. We are extremely happy that ACDIS members will be well represented. The roster of presenters includes ACDIS Board Members Colleen Stukenberg, MSN, RN, CMSRN, CCDS, Clinical Documentation Management Professional at FHN Memorial Hospital in Freeport, IL, and Garri L. Garrison, RN, CPC, CMC, CPUR, director of Acute Care Services at 3M health information systems in Atlanta, GA.

Stukenberg will present “A CDI Orientation Process: A Checklist to Get Started.” Even when a healthcare organization hires consultants to start the CDI program staffing turnover and program growth requires ongoing training, she says. Her presentation later today explores the scope of a CDI orientation process. Tomorrow, Stukenberg moderates a panel discussion “How to Bridge the Gap Between Physicians, CDI Specialists, and Coders.” The discussion will have equal representation from each profession, naturally. Topics on the agenda include problematic terminology, evidence-based principles, common pitfalls in physician documentation, and clinical indicators in the medical record, among other items.

Before I stop touting Stukenberg’s expertise I want to just take a moment to laud her new book “Successful Collaboration in Healthcare: A Guide for Physicians, Nurses & Clinical Documentation Specialists,” which ties in quite nicely to her prestation tomorrow. The book describes ways in which nurses and physicians can collaborate to enhance patient safety and quality, and how this collaboration can have a positive effect on the financial aspects of an organization, Stukenberg says.

Garrison moderates a panel of professionals tomorrow afternoon to discuss “The Metrics for Evaluating a CDI Program.” Many ACDIS members say that once their CDI programs have been in place for a while, they need to ramp up their benchmarking and data collection. Garrison’s presentation explores how three different facilities tracked their CDI outcomes based on financial, quality, and other ratios.

We are so proud to have such talented board members and know that many ACDIS members also do their part to demonstrate the importance of clinical documentation improvement in their own communities. If you are an ACDIS member and have an upcoming speaking engagement we’d like to hear about it. Let us know by posting a comment here on the ACDIS Blog, on our LinkedIn or Facebook pages, or by shooting us an e-mail.