All Entries Tagged With: "Maryland"

More than a dozen opportunities to learn locally this spring

Texas: The state-wide TX ACDIS group holds its annual meeting Friday, April 6, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at KPMG Building in Dallas. The agenda includes:

Registration and networking
Chapter Business Meeting
The Importance of Capturing Shock in the ICU Setting, Cindy Pritchett
Lunch
IPPS and ICD 10: What the future holds, Beverly Cunningham
Value Based Purchasing, Scott Robins, MD
Networking, Q&A

For information, contact Joanne Dukes at 972/566-5526 or email joanne.dukes@hcahealthcare.com.

New Orleans: The NOLA ACDIS Chapter holds its next meeting on April 11, 4-6 p.m., at Semolina’s restaurant in Metairie, LA. For information, email Melissa Mayer melissamayer@ejgh.org.

Indiana: The Central Indiana Chapter is gearing up for its next meeting Wednesday, April 11, 10 a.m. to noon, with featured speaker Nancy Ignatowicz presenting “CDI Success: How Do You Measure It?” For information, contact Susan Bradford at 317/776-7285 or by email at sbradford@riverview.org.

PHIMA: The Pennsylvania AHIMA group holds a CDI-related education session on Friday, April 13, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Wesley Village Conference Area, in Pittston. The agenda includes:

Continental Breakfast
Physician Buy In for your CDI Program, David McCann, director, Berkeley Research Group, LLC
Physician Leadership and CDI Initiatives, Herbert Weinman, MD, president, BCE Technology
CDI Programs: Why you Need One, Make it Successful, and Justify It, Mario A. Perez, III, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P director, clinical consulting, J.A. Thomas & Associates
Lunch
Roundtable Discussion: CDI Programs Implementation and Use, AHIMA CDI Tool Kit
Review of Documentation Requirements for Optimal Reimbursement, Caroline Rader Znaniec, manager, Health Care Advisory Services, Grant Thornton, LLP

For information, email Eve Ellen Mandler at Eve-Ellen.Mandler@stclair.org.

Nevada: The next Southern Nevada ACDIS meeting will be on Wednesday, April 18, at 5:30 p.m. Guest speaker Karen Zaninovich Parker, RHIT, 3M Health Information Services consulting, will discuss how CDI specialists can begin ICD-10 documentation improvement now. She is making a special trip from Utah to join the Nevada ACDIS Chapter group. Attendees are invited to bring a brown-bag dinner. Admission is free. RSVP to Ailsa Kompare by April 16 at 702/343-7232 or email ailsa.kompare@kindredhealthcare.com.

Tennessee: The TN ACDIS and the THIMA host a joint session Friday, April 20, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., focused on ICD-10 and the CDI program development. The agenda includes:

ICD-10 and Beyond: The changing world of classification systems, Kathy Hallock, RHIA
CDI from a Physician’s Perspective, Drew Rothschild, MD
Best Practices for CDI Programs: Practical advice for improving or creating a successful program, Kyra Brown, RHIA, CCS
What you should be doing now to prepare for ICD-10: How you can help your physicians improve documentation practices now, James Kennedy, MD, CCS
Working lunch: HCA’s Approach to CDI.
Group work: groups will choose a diagnosis or procedure where documentation must drastically change to support ICD-10 coding. The groups will discuss ways to improve documentation practices relative to those situations. In the second half of the group work session participants will discuss how to propose and justify a CDI program to hospital administrations.
Reports from group work and open forum

Registration is $120. Online registration closes at the end of the business day on Tuesday, April 17th.
Click here to register. For information contact, Wanda M. Johnson executive director, TN Health Information Management Association, Nashville, at 615/242-7275 or email wanda@thima.org.

Michigan: The MACDIS Chapter will hold its quarterly telephone conference call on Thursday, April 19, noon to 1 p.m. The guest speaker is ACDIS Advisory Board member Fran Jurcak, RN, MSN, CCDS, director of CDI Practice for Huron Healthcare in Chicago. She will discuss ICD-10, goals/objectives of a CDI program, CDI staff productivity standards, leading queries,and the benefits of the CCDS certification.

The July MACDIS conference call is in its planning stages. The October quarterly meeting will be a joint regional meeting in collaboration with the Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Northern Illinois, ACDIS associations.

For more information, contact Janet Gentle at 231/487-7509 or email jgentle@northernhealth.org.

New York: The next Albany, NY-regional ACDIS meeting will be held Wednesday, April 25, 2-4 p.m., at the Krause Center at Samaritan Hospital in Troy. For information, contact Lois Rubin at 518/525-1081 or email LRubin@sphcs.org.

Illinois: The next Northern Illinois ACDIS meeting will be held on Friday, April 27, 12:45 p.m., at Centegra Hospital, in McHenry. For information, contact Colleen Stukenberg at 815/599-6820, or email CStukenberg@fhn.org.

Maryland: The MDHIMA hosts its meeting 1-5 p.m., Thursday, May 3, at the Convention Center in Baltimore. The agenda features ACDIS Advisory Board member Robert S. Gold, MD, and discussion of CDI-related efforts including:

Getting Medical Staff Interested in ICD-10”
Metrics of CDI
Writing Effective Queries

For information, visit http://www.mdhima.org/ContactUs.html.

West Virginia: The newly formed West Virginia ACDIS Chapter holds its first meeting Monday, May 14, at 1 p.m., at CAMC Hospital in Charleston. For information, contact Sheila Harrison at 304/389-0689 or email Sheila.Harrison@camc.org.

Kentucky/Illinois: The next session of the Kentucky/Illinois ACDIS Chapter will be Thursday, May 24, 1-4 p.m., at St. Mary’s and Elizabeth Hospital in Louisville, KY. For information, contact Rita Fields at or email rita.fields@BHSI.COM.

Georgia: The next meeting of the Southeast Chapter of the Association of Clinical Documentation Specialists will be Friday, June 15, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, GA. For information, contact Bonnie I. Epps at 404/712-4550 or email Bonnie.Epps@emoryhealthcare.org. Visit the Southeast Regional ACDIS Chapter Facebook page for announcements and other information.

April 03, 2012 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 6

Looking for your holiday wishes to come true? The present of CDI education is waiting to be unwrapped during December's collection of local networking meetings.

Minnesota

The next meeting of the Minnesota group will be a 3M sponsored event Friday, Dec. 16, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the 3M Innovation Center in Maplewood. For information, contact Mark LeBlanc at Mark.LeBlanc@ParkNicollet.com.

Northern Ohio

The next meeting of the Northern Ohio ACDIS Chapter takes place Thursday, Dec. 8, at Mercy Medical Center in Canton. Steven Robinson, MS, PA-O, RN, CPUR, senior director of CDI for Maxim Health Information Services will discuss the following CMS mandates and concurrent review opportunities:

CMS current and upcoming mandates
The importance of documentation in the medical record
The typical CDI program
MS-DRG IPPS (CC/MCC lists)
POA coding
RAC
JCAHO quality core measures

For information, contact Kristine Cilona, RN, at Kristine.Cilona@cantonmercy.org.

Southeastern (Georgia)

The next Southeastern Chapter of ACDIS meets Friday, Dec. 9, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. The agenda includes:

SECACDIS Chapter meeting
ICD-10 coding for orthopedics
E/M coding
Lunch and networking
IPPS Final Rule updates applicable to CDI

For information, visit the group’s Facebook page or e-mail james.doster@emoryhealthcare.org.

Central Indiana

The deadline for leadership nominations are due Friday, Dec. 9. Please take the opportunity to nominate a colleague via e-mail to Carla Payne at cpayne@ecommunity.com. Candidate biographies/forms are due Dec. 12 and membership voting will take place from Dec. 19 through Jan. 9, 2012. There are currently 68 members in the chapter directory. Please take the time to participate by submitting your nominations today and make this a meaningful election of our chapter leadership.

The next Central Indiana ACDIS Chapter meeting takes place Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012. For information, contact Susan Bradford, RN, BSN, by phone at 317/776-7285 or by e-mail at sbradford@riverview.org.

Maryland

The next Maryland Hospital Association Clinical Documentation Improvement Workgroup meets Friday, Dec. 16, from 12:30-1:30 p.m., for a holiday pot-luck lunch followed by its regular meeting from 1:30-3 p.m., at the Maryland Hospital Association Headquarters in Elkridge. For information, Contact Christine Mobley, RN, director of clinical documentation at Prince George’s Hospital Center, at christine.Mobley@dimensionshealth.org, or James Nagel at jen.01@ex.uchs.org.

Click here to read the minutes from the previous meeting.

Northern Illinois

The next Northern Illinois CDI meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. For information, contact Nancy R. Ignatowicz, at 815/806-2322 or by e-mail nancy.ignatowicz@provena.org. Or contact Colleen Stukenberg at 815/599-6820 or CStukenberg@fhn.org.

Maine

The Maine ACDIS Local Chapter will meet at Midcoast Hospital on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. For information, contact Theresa Davis at 207/735-8340 or tdavis@emh.org.

Nevada

The Southern Nevada Association of Clinical Documentation Specialists holds its next meeting Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. Guest speaker former ACDIS Advisory Board member Wendy DeVreugd will discuss “How to measure the success of your CDI program.” RSVP to Ailsa Kompare by Jan. 11, 2012 at 702/343-7232 or ailsa.kompare@kindredhealthcare.com.

California

The next California ACDIS webinar featuring a presentation regarding the role of CDI in RAC reviews and audit prevention will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 9-10 a.m., PST. For information, contact Dexter D’Costa, MBBS, MHA, at Dexter.G.Dcosta@kp.org.

Other chapter news

The North Carolina ACDIS chapter now has a web site. Visit http://ncacdis.org/ to see photos from its November meeting and to learn more about recent events and initiatives. For information, contact Leah Taylor at 704/878-7436, or e-mail Leah.Taylor@iredellmemorial.org.

Editor’s Note: If you are interested in joining an existing local chapter please visit the Local Chapter page on the ACDIS web site. If you do not see a group listed for your area please e-mail ACDIS Associate Director Melissa Varnavas at mvarnavas@cdiassociation.com

December 07, 2011 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 1

NJ ACDIS meeting next week, more March events

Maryland

The Maryland CDI group meeting takes place Friday, March 18, 1:30 p.m., at the Maryland Hospital Association in Elkridge, MD. Contact Christine Mobley, RN, director of clinical documentation at Prince George’s Hospital Center, at christine.Mobley@dimensionshealth.org or 301/618-6507.

Long Island

The Long Island New York ACDIS Chapter meets at Stony Brook University Medical Center, Tuesday, March 22, 3-5 p.m. For information, contact Adelaide M. La Rosa, RN, director of clinical documentation improvement at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn by phone at 516/562-6229 or by e-mail at Adelaide.LaRosa@chsli.org.

Northeast Regional

The next New England CDI networking meeting will be held at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston Tuesday, March 22, 1-3 p.m. For information, contact Patty Spry and Kelley Sears, co-chairs at pattyspry2@yahoo.com or sears.kelley@yahoo.com.

New Jersey

The NJACDIS quarterly education meeting will be held Friday, March 25, from noon to 4:30 p.m. at 385 West Ferris

The arrival of EMR may seem like some distant ship on the horizon but next week the New Jersey ACDIS Chapter has your ship-to-shore lifeline ready by offering a hands-on workshop with an EMR provider.

Street Suite E, in East Brunswick, NJ. The event features an electronic medical record (EMR) simulation from medical billing company MTBC and presentation “Meaningful Use and Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH): Integrating the CDI professionals in ambulatory care.” The simulation provides:

an overview of the three stages of Meaningful Use
a look at patient portal
an examination of the architecture of the EMR
an opportunity to view how CDI professionals can be supportive in the transition of the EMR, PCMH and Meaningful Use-driven Incentives

The event agenda includes:

Registration noon to 12:30 p.m.
Lunch 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Presentation 1:30-2:45 p.m.
Break 2:45-3 p.m.
Presentation 3-4:15 p.m.
Questions/announcements 4:15-4:30 p.m.

Registration is $27 for members, $24 for additional participants from the same facility, $30 for non-members, $27 for additional non-member participants from the same facility, $20 for AHIMA or nursing students.

To register, visit http://www.knowledgeconnex.com/RRA/register.htm.

For information, contact Deborah Gardner-Brown, RHIT, CCS, C-CDI, at 732/238-4511, or e-mail Deborah@RRA-INC.com, or contact Melanie Halpern, RN-BC, MBA, CCDS, CCRA, Clinical Documentation and Coding Integrity Supervisor at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, NJ, at melanie.halpern@gmail.com.

Minnesota

The next Minnesota ACDIS Conference call will be held Wednesday, March 23, 1-2 p.m. Send meeting agenda items to Sue Baklarz, RN, Clinical Documentation Specialist at St. Cloud Hospital, by Thursday, March 17 BaklarzS@centracare.com. For information, contact Mark LeBlanc, RN, MBA, CCDS, at Park Nicollet Health Services by phone at 952/993-5692 or by e-mail at mark.leblanc@parknicollet.com.

Tennessee

Jennifer Turner, RN, CDI specialist at Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga hopes to gather CDI professionals in the state for local networking meetings. The first meeting will be Thursday, March 31, 1-4p.m., at Erlanger East/ Women’s East Pavilion, in Chattanooga. Contact her at Jennifer.Turner@erlanger.org or by phone at 423/778-9225.

Nevada

In Las Vegas, Ailsa Kompare, RN, BS, ACM, CCDS, clinical documentation improvement specialist for Kindred Hospitals, is planning a networking meeting. The first meeting will be Wednesday, May 11, 6 p.m., at Kindred’s Flamingo Campus. General networking is on the agenda as well as a presentation “Clinical Documentation Integrity: It’s not just about reimbursement,” by Sherry Siewers, RN, Desert District Director of Case Management for Kindred Healthcare, which has been approved by Nevada State Board of Nursing for 1.0 Continuing Education Hours. Contact her at ailsa.kompare@kindredhealthcare.com or by phone at 702/343-7232.

March 16, 2011 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 0

Local chapters announce March meetings

Visit the Albany area for a New York networking experience.

New York

The Albany, NY ACDIS Chapter meets Thursday, March 10, 2-4 p.m. For information, contact Lois Rubin, RN, BSN, CPUR, CCDS, CCS, supervisor of clinical documentation improvement at St. Peters Hospital in Albany, by phone at 518/525-1081 or e-mail at LRubin@sphcs.org.

Connecticut

The Connecticut Chapter meeting was postponed because of bad weather. The next “regularly” scheduled meeting will be Thursday, March 10, 9-10:30 a.m., at The Hospital of Central Connecticut, Bradley Memorial Campus, in Southington. The agenda includes discussions of present-on-admission, various report types used by CT hospitals, RAC information, and ACDIS National Conference attendance. For information, phone MaryAnn Shanley at 860/714-1261 or e-mail mshanley@stfranciscare.org. Or call Alison Yazmer, RN, BSN, Clinical Documentation Specialist, Middlesex Hospital, in Middletown at 860/358-6224 or contact her by e-mail at alison.yazmer@midhosp.org.

Ohio

The Southwestern Ohio Chapter hosts a St. Patrick’s Day ACDIS Chapter party on Thursday, March 17, 2-4 p.m., at

Spend much time in the south western portion of Ohio? Stop by the next CDI networking meeting there.

Kettering Medical Center in Kettering. The event features door prizes, CDI jeopardy, and plenty of green food. We will also be collecting 2011 dues of $40 per member. For information, contact Teri Sholder, RN, BSN, CPC, manager of documentation specialists in the clinical quality department at Kettering Medical Center in Dayton, at Teri.Sholder@khnetwork.org or 937/395-8462.

Maryland

New England

California

The next California CDI conference call will be held Wednesday, March 23, 9-10 a.m. Presentations are sought. Contact Dexter D’Costa, MD, manager, clinical documentation program, quality improvement & patient safety, by phone at 650/723-5343 or e-mail at dr_dexterdcosta@yahoo.com.

Don't miss the first South Carolina CDI chapter meeting this month

South Carolina

SC ACDIS local chapter holds its kickoff meeting at Spartanburg Regional, Spartanburg, on Friday, April 29, featuring Robert S. Gold, MD. For information, contact Rebecca “Ali” Williams, RN, BSN, Manager – Documentation Integrity, at 864/560-5701 or rawilliams@srhs.com.

March 01, 2011 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 0

January meetings feature pirates and raffles

Indiana

The Central Indiana ACDIS Chapter meeting is scheduled for January 12, 10 a.m. to noon, at Riverview Hospital in Noblesville, IN. The agenda includes:

Review and discussion of local member survey
- Meeting topic and speakers suggestions for 2011
- Vendor participation
- Chapter dues
- Chapter leadership
- Term service of executive team
- Nominations for leadership positions/officers
ICD-10 Education, with Indiana Health Information Management Association Task Force leader Danita Forgey

For information, contact Susan Bradford, RN, BSN, Clinical Documentation Specialist at Riverview Hospital by phone at 317/776-7285 or by e-mail at sbradford@riverview.org.

Connecticut

The next CT ACDIS meets Thursday, January 13, at THOCC/Bradley Memorial Campus, in Southington, with a snow date of January 20. For information, contact MaryAnn Shanley, RN, clinical documentation specialist at The Hospital of Central Connecticut by e-mail mshanley@THOCC.org or call 860/224-5900, Ext. 2168.

Florida

The sunshine state holds its next quarterly meeting Saturday, January 15, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. January’s theme is: Plundering the Physician Query! Please RSVP by January 10 to Toni Millican at TMillican@mail.uch.org. The agenda includes:

Speaker Pam McFadden-Dir. HIM, UCH: “Summary from AHIMA on ICD–10/Documentation.”
Plundering the Physician Query is the topic for Florida's quarterly meeting.
Speaker Linda Vachon, Adventist Health Systems: “How to handle different CDS processes with challenges and successes for each facility, including the electronic medical record.”
Speaker Jessica Olsen, RHIA/Meta Health Technology: “Physician Queries.”
Speaker Charles Kormos, CDI at UCH: “Evolution of the Query”

The session is approved for CCDS renewals credits.

There will also be two raffles. One for an HCPro/ACDIS audio conference (valued at $250) and one for the CCDS Exam Study Guide. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5. For these two raffles winners must be at the meeting to win. A third raffle will costs $5 per ticket or six for $25. The winner will get admission to the national ACDIS conference in Orlando in April. For this raffle, you do not have to be present to win. Checks should be payable to: Florida Regional ACDIS Chapter and sent to: Florida Regional ACDIS Chapter at 1016 Vineyard Ct., Dunedin, FL, 34698. The winner will be picked at the meeting.

Michigan

Michigan ACDIS Chapter meets quarterly, the first session for the 2011 schedule will be Thursday, January 20, noon to 1 p.m. With a presentation by Denyatta Henry, MBA, RN, CCS, CDMP Coordinator at McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint. For information, contact Janet Gentle, MSN, CCDS, by phone at 231/487-3564 or e-mail at jgentle@northernhealth.org.

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin group will hold an telephone conference meeting on January 20, 1-2 p.m. For information, contact Diane Draize from Ministry Door County Medical Center Sturgeon Bay (diane.draize@ministryhealth.org), Joan Korn from Wheaton Franciscan St. Francis in Milwaukee (jaon.korn@wfhc.org), Stacy Vaughn from Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay (stacy.vaughn@aurora.org), or Glenn Krauss, director, Clinical Documentation Improvement Services for YPRO Corporation (glennkrauss@earthlink.net).

Maryland

Maryland CDI gathers again on Friday, January 21. For information, contact Christine Mobley, RN, director of clinical documentation at Prince George’s Hospital Center by phone at 301/618-6507 or by e-mail at christine.Mobley@dimensionshealth.org.

January 03, 2011 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 4

Local CDI schedule December/January meetings

California

California ACDIS Chapter meets via telephone/web conference line on Wednesday, December 8, 9-10 a.m. This month’s agenda includes a discussion/presentation regarding the impact of ICD-10 on CDI, with Donna Kent, RN, BSN, CCDS, manager of Clinical Documentation Integrity Program at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. Participation is free and registration is not required. For information, contact Dexter D’Costa, MD, manager, clinical documentation, quality improvement, and patient safety, by phone at 650/723-5343, or by e-mail at dr_dexterdcosta@yahoo.com.

Minnesota

The next Minnesota CDI meeting will be held Wednesday, December 22, 1-2:30 p.m. via telephone conference line. For information, contact Mark LeBlanc, RN, MBA, CCDS, by phone at 952/993-5692 or by e-mail at Mark.LeBlanc@ParkNicollet.com

January

Indiana

The Central Indiana ACDIS Chapter meeting is scheduled for January 12, 10 a.m. to noon, at Riverview Hospital in Noblesville, IN. The agenda includes:

Review and discussion of local member survey
- Meeting topic and speakers suggestions for 2011
- Vendor participation
- Chapter dues
- Chapter leadership
- Term service of executive team
- Nominations for leadership positions/officers
ICD-10 Education, with Indiana Health Information Management Association Task Force leader Danita Forgey

For information, contact Susan Bradford, RN, BSN, Clinical Documentation Specialist at Riverview Hospital by phone at 317/776-7285 or by e-mail at sbradford@riverview.org.

Michigan

Maryland

Maryland CDI gathers again on Friday, January 21. For information, contact Christine Mobley, RN, director of clinical documentation at Prince George’s Hospital Center by phone at 301/618-6507 or by e-mail at christine.Mobley@dimensionshealth.org.

December 07, 2010 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 1

September networking opportunities features first Virginia meeting, new group in South Carolina

Washington-Evergreen Chapter meets Thursday, September 2, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Multicare Health System’s Jackson Hall, in Tacoma. The agenda includes:

Mission/vision statements
ARF/AKI/Encephalopathy
Lunch (on your own) with listening session of the November 2009 ACDIS audio conference regarding Surgical Complications
Clarification processes: Bring examples of clarifications for group review, discussion regarding compliance, review of definitions of leading versus non-leading queries
Meeting planning: Next on-site meeting, discussion on effectiveness of conference calls

For information/reservations contact Sheila Hunt, RN, MN, clinical documentation specialist at Multicare Health System at 253/722-7387 or email Sheila.Hunt@multicare.org.

Connecticut ACDIS Chapter meets Thursday, September 9, 9-10:30 a.m., at The Hospital of Central Connecticut’s Bradley Memorial Campus in Southington. For information, contact MaryAnn Shanley at mshanley@THOCC.org or call 860/224-5900, Ext. 2168.

The next meeting of Maine CDI is planned for Tuesday, September 14, at Maine General Medical Center. For information, contact Theresa Davis, RN, clinical documentation specialist at Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems in Bangor, at 207/735-8340 or by email at tdavis@emh.org.

The Maryland Hospital Association Clinical Documentation Improvement Workgroup meets Friday, September 17, 1:30-3 p.m., at the MHA headquarters in Elkridge. For information, contact Christine Mobley, RN, director of clinical documentation at Prince George’s Hospital Center at 301/618-6507 or email Christine.Mobley@dimensionshealth.org.

The Minnesota group holds its next meeting on Wednesday, September 22, 2-3:30 p.m. For information, contact Michelle L. Callahan, RN, CDI lead specialist at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis by phone at 612/873-9376 or email Michelle.Callahan@hcmed.org.

The next Northern Illinois CDI meeting takes place Friday, September 24, 1-3 p.m., at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. The meeting features a presentation by Glenn Krauss, BBA, RHIS, CCS, CCS-P, CPUR, FCS, PCS, C-CDIS, CCDS, Senior Coding, Case Management and Reimbursement Consultant titled “Clinical Documentation Improvement and Accurate E & M Assignment: Capitalize Upon the Opportunity for Synergies Through the Convergent Approach” based on his ACDIS White paper: Good E/M Documentation a Win-Win for Physicians and CDI Specialists. For information, contact Colleen Stukenberg MSN, RN, CMSRN, CCDS, 815/599-6820 or by email at CStukenberg@fhn.org.

New Chapters Starting

The first meeting of the Virginia ACDIS chapter will be held Saturday, September 25, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. Lunch will be provided. For information, contact Janet Lane, RN, FNP, CCM, at 434/760-4489 or email JSL2Z@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu.

Hawai’i CDI specialists held their first networking meeting in August. To join the group contact Elsa L. D. Honma, Project Manager at Hawaii Pacific Health in Honolulu, at 808/535-7127 or by email at elsa.honma@kapiolani.org or Eleu Zane, RN, BS, BSN, C-CDI, at Pali Momi Medical Center at 808/485-4281 or by email at cherlyn.zane@kapiolani.org.

South Carolina has started a group for CDI networking and is in the process of planning its first meeting. For information, contact Rebecca “Ali” Williams, RN, BSN, manager of documentation integrity at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, at 864/560-5701 or by email at rawilliams@srhs.com.

The Southeast Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (formerly the Georgia ACDIS Chapter) recently changed its name to invite the participation of any CDI specialists living in the southeastern region of the country. For information, check out their Facebook page or contact Bonnie I. Epps, MN, RN, manager of CDI at Emory Healthcare, Inc., in Atlanta, GA, by phone at 404/712-4550 or by email at Bonnie.Epps@emoryhealthcare.org.

Tennessee CDI specialists are invited to contact Judy Rochelle, RN, CCDS, CCM. CPHM, CPUR, CDI Manager at Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, for networking opportunities at at 423/778-4225 or by email at Judith.Rochelle@erlanger.org.

Texas CDI networking group has begun to plan for its first meeting. For information, contact Kathryn Schulze, RN, OCN, CCDS, Director, Risk and Compliance, at KPMG, in Houston at 713/295-0073 or by email at kschulze@kpmg.com.

Wisconsin CDI specialists are invited to contact Glenn Krauss, BBA, RHIS, CCS, CCS-P, CPUR, FCS, PCS, C-CDIS, CCDS, Senior Coding, Case Management and Reimbursement Consultant to develop an ACDIS networking group in the state at glennkrauss@earthlink.net.

August 30, 2010 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 1

More July meetings for local CDI

Just a few reminders about local events happening this week. If you don’t see a local meeting for your area on the Website, and are interested in gathering with your fellow CDI please e-mail Melissa Varnavas at mvarnavas@hcpro.com.

Central Indiana

The Central Indiana ACDIS group holds its next meeting on Wednesday, July 14, 10 a.m. to noon, at Community Hospital North. For information, contact Susan Bradford, RN, BSN, Clinical Documentation Specialist at Riverview Hospital by phone at 317?776-7285 or by e-mail at sbradford@riverview.org.

New Orleans

The Greater New Orleans Chapter of CDI has a meeting July 14, 4-6 p.m., at Serranos Restaurant, in the Clearview Mall, in Metairie. For information, contact Royceann Brechtel Fugler, RN, BC, MHA, Clinical Documentation Specialist, at East Jefferson General Hospital by phone at 504/456-5186, or Melissa Mayer at melissamayer@ejgh.org.

Washington

The Evergreen (WA) ACDIS Chapter meets Thursday, July 15, at noon. Contact Jennifer Woodworth, RN, BSN, Manager, Clinical Documentation Improvement MultiCare Health System by phone at 253/389-8493 or by e-mail at Jennifer.Woodworth@MultiCare.org for information and dial-in instructions.

Missouri

The Kansas City Missouri CDI meets Thursday, July 15, 3-4:30 p.m. at Heartland Regional Medical Center, in St. Joseph. For information, contact Joann A. Agin, at 816/943-2115 or e-mail jagin@carondelet.com.

Maryland

The Maryland Hospital Association Clinical Documentation Improvement Workgroup meets bimonthly, the third Friday of the month, July 16, 1:30–3 p.m., at the Maryland Hospital Association Headquarters in Elkridge. Contact Christine Mobley, RN, director of clinical documentation at Prince George’s Hospital Center, at christine.Mobley@dimensionshealth.org, for information.

Ohio

Southwestern Ohio chapter meets Tuesday, July 27, 2-4 p.m., at at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. The presentation includes a discussion of healthcare reform and the role of the CDI specialist. For information, contact Teri Sholder by e-mail at Teri.Sholder@khnetwork.org

Minnesota

The Minnesota ACDIS Chapter holds its next meeting on July 28, 1-2:30 p.m., at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. For information, contact Michelle L. Callahan RN, BSN, CCDS, Clinical Documentation Supervisor by phone at 612/873-9376, or by e-mail at Michelle.Callahan@hcmed.org.

July 13, 2010 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 1

July meetings slated for NC, IN, LA, MD, MN; Maine and New Jersey offer updates

North Carolina

The NC ACDIS Chapter holds its next meeting on Friday, July 9, 8 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., at Carolinas Healthcare System Airport Training Facility. The event features Pamela P. Benson, MD, MS, FACEP, who will speak on the role of CDI in the emergency department and Tiffany M. Murriel, BSN, RN, from Navigant Consulting, Inc., who will speak on the role of CDI in the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10.

The cost is $20 at the door. To register, contact meeting hosts Judith Rochelle by e-mail at Judith.Rochelle@carolinashealthcare.org or by phone at 704/582-1226; or Wendy Shedd via e-mail at Wendy.Shedd@carolinashealthcare.org or by phone at 704/355-3189.

For additional information about the North Carolina group contact NC ACDIS President Leah Taylor, RN, CCDS, by e-mail at leah.taylor@novanthealth.org or by phone at 704/402-9656.

Central Indiana

The Central Indiana ACDIS group holds its next meeting on Wednesday, July 14, 10 a.m. to noon, at Community Hospital North. The agenda includes:

Developing Diagnosis Specific Queries with Sandy Beatty from Columbus Regional Hospital
Group Sharing: Query process for staging pressure ulcers, POA and query forms for wound debridement and physician documentation of surgical debridement
Report from ACDIS Advisory Board: Lena Wilson, from Clarian Health will talk about the board’s decision to support the recent release of AHIMA’s CDI Practice Brief

The Central Indiana ACDIS Chapter currently includes more than 30 CDI specialists from facilities as far north as Elkhart to as far south as Columbus. It’s April meeting attendance included 14 participants who traveled to Bloomington Hospital along with six others who attended by audio conference.

For information, contact Susan Bradford, RN, BSN, Clinical Documentation Specialist at Riverview Hospital by phone at 317?776-7285 or by e-mail at sbradford@riverview.org.

New Orleans

The Greater New Orleans Chapter of CDI has a meeting July 14, from 4-6 p.m., at Serranos Restaurant, in the Clearview Mall, in Metairie. For information, contact Royceann Brechtel Fugler, RN, BC, MHA, Clinical Documentation Specialist, at East Jefferson General Hospital by phone at 504/456-5186, or Melissa Mayer at melissamayer@ejgh.org

Maryland

Minnesota

Maine

The Maine ACDIS Chapter Meeting has started a “blastgroup” as a means to communicate with its members regarding upcoming meetings and local events. It’s next meeting will be September 14. To learn more, contact Theresa Davis RN, BSN, CCDS Clinical Documentation Specialist by e-mail at tdavis@emh.org or by phone at 207/973-5178

New Jersey

The NJACDIS holds its next meeting Friday, August 20, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at the New Jersey Hospital Association in Princeton. The meeting will focus on a CDI coding round table. Participants will each receive a portfolio of four de-identified medical records for review one week prior to the meeting and during the session will share various methods about how to best clarify and code for the care provided to the patient. The records will be reviwed for medical necessity, coding, and query opportunities.

There will be a continental breakfast, an outdoor BBQ with all the fixins, and door prizes. Register online www.Knowledgeconnex.com, select the eduation portal, meetings, and scroll down to the date 8/20/2010. Select the NJACDIS meeting, and begin your registration. The meeting will be limited to 35 attendees. For additional information, contact Deborah Gardner-Brown, RHIT, CCS, C-CDI, at 732/238-4511, or e-mail Deborah@RRA-INC.com, or Melanie Halpern, RN-BC, MBA, CCDS, CCRA, Clinical Documentation and Coding Integrity Supervisor at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, NJ, at melanie.halpern@gmail.com.

July 01, 2010 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 0

Local leaders talk about recent events, plan more regional meetings

Indiana

The Southern IN/Northern KY ACDIS group meets tomorrow, Thursday, May 20, 1-4 p.m., at Floyd Memorial Hospital. For information, contact Dee Schad, RN, BSN, CCDS, CDI Manager, Jewish Hospital & St Mary’s Healthcare by phone at 502/553-5324 or by e-mail at deanna.schad@jhsmh.org.

Maryland

The MHA CDS Workgroup Meeting will be held Friday, May 21. Agenda items include:

Pediatrics: Who is doing peds reviews and is there anything in particular that they are focusing on?
Phrasing of queries for Navigant.
How (and if) other hospitals notify their physicians of the queries on their records?
Sepsis POA/PPCs: Issues with a high number of sepsis PPCs.
Are any CDS’s getting involved in the PPR projects at their hospitals?
CDS Dues: How does the group feel about yearly dues for the workgroup to cover continuing education?

For information, contact Chris Mobley by e-mail at Christine.mobley@dimensionshealth.org.

Long Island, NY

The next LI/NY Local Chapter Meeting will be held on Monday, May 24, 3-5 p.m. at New Island Hospital. For information contact, Sue Bock, RHIT, CCS, Director, Health Information Management, by phone at516/520-2820 or by e-mail at sbock@nihli.org.

Maine

The next Maine State CDI meeting will be held Tuesday, June 15, 1-5 p.m., at the EMMC Chinchette Building 1C. Topics for discussion include:

ACDIS conference material
case presentations
ICD-10 planning
3M CDIS product demo

For information, contact Theresa Davis by e-mail at TDavis@emh.org

Oregon

The Oregon/SW Washington CDI specialists hold their next meeting St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, OR, Friday, June 18. For information, contact Debbie Kiely, RN, BSN, Clinical Documentation Specialist by phone at 541/706-4970 or by e-mail at dkiely@stcharleshealthcare.org.

Northern Ohio

Kristine Cilona sent along the following recap of The Northern Ohio Documentation Specialists (NODS) group meeting held earlier this month:

NODS had its 2^nd meeting on Tuesday, May 4^th, with more than 25 members present. We have worked our way up to 44 members (plus a few more by contact only as they are so far south and may join the southern group). Our host site on Tuesday was Elyria Memorial Hospital. We had lunch, listened to a great presentation by Sharon Haas, CCS, CPC and Kathy Szpak, RN, BSN titled “Connecting Coding Guidelines with Clinical Documentation”, and did some networking. It was great talking with all the others and sharing similar experiences.

We’ve decided to become an ACDIS chapter! We will remain an informal organization and rotate host sites for our meetings. Our two contacts for ACDIS will be myself and Sharon Kelley from St. Vincent Charity Hospital. Her email address is Sharon.kelley@csauh.com. We’ve tentatively set the next meeting for October.

Northern Illinois

Colleen Stukenberg MSN, RN, CMSRN, CCDS, sent along the following summary of the Northern Illinois CDI Regional meeting:

We had more than 30 people attend our meeting which was held at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, IL. FHN Memorial Hospital sponsored the meeting. Colleen Stukenberg CDMP gave an overview of FHN shedding some light on the uniqueness of a rural network. In addition, Tracy Love, CDMP and Stroke Coordinator at FHN presented a program on the meshing of those two roles. Nancy Ignatowicz led an active discussion around the hot topic of RAC.

Besides snacks and networking, the group also had a chance to win a copy of the Physician Query Handbook from ACDIS. The excited winner was Melissa Swierad from St. Alexius Medical Center.

Our next meeting is tentatively scheduled at Loyola in September. For all that could not come, we missed you but hope to see everyone in the fall.

New York/Penn

Susan Tiffany sent along the following summary of their quarterly meeting last week:

Last Friday, May 14, the Pennsylvania/New York border chapter met. Glenn Krauss gave a very informative power

New York/Penn group

point and helped attendees understand the changes in the IPPS and other billing rules and how the physicians are going to be directly impacted. These tools will allow us to adjust our strategies and hopefully, engage a few more physicians. Paula Frost gave a nice review of the implementation process of a CDMP program and finished with a summary of the physician shadowing process implemented at Reading Hospital. The group finished the with a conference call to NHS Solutions, Inc. regarding the career possibilities available to CDI’s. It was nice to hear the different career choices that are now, or will soon be, available.

It was great to see everyone, I always enjoy meeting new people and seeing old friends. This network is a tool to communicate with others who are doing the same jobs across NY and PA. Please feel free to ask questions, make suggestions. We, as a profession, need to support each other.

By the way, included in the photograph are: Cathy Wells,Olean General; Ellen Sillner, Community Medical Center; Donna Wheeler, Robert Packer Hospital; Shelley Bates, Corning Hospital; Rose Botelle, Corning Hospital.; Kathy Barrett-Corbett, Robert Packer Hospital; Leslee Hughes, Community Medical Center; Linda Maloney, St. Joseph’s Hospital; Julie Howard, Memorial Hospital; Sue Sturtz, Orange Regional Medical Center; Karen O’Hearn, Community Medical Center; Paula Frost, Glenn Krauss, Memorial Hospital; Sue Tiffany, Robert Packer Hospital; Molly Cusick, St. Joesph’s Hospital.

For information about upcoming meetings contact, Susan Tiffany, RN, CDS, Supervisor Clinical Documentation Program, Guthrie Healthcare System by phone at 570/882-6094 or by e-mail at tiffany_susan@guthrie.org.

May 19, 2010 | Melissa Varnavas | Comments 0