Podcast
Don’t hate on hospitals: Navigating the complexities of healthcare reimbursement with Jugna Shah, MPH
Stop hating on hospitals. It’s a sentiment most Off the Record podcast listeners would probably agree with. But not everyone. Hospitals are under assault in some corners, including the media and in the halls of government. We need a villain and hospitals often find themselves playing the role of fall guy. For example, many blame them…
Read MoreFinding your Ikigai: Nicole Fox on the art of balance amidst trauma
During my last conference as ACDIS Director in Oct. 2021 I had the pleasure of introducing Dr. Nicole Fox as our opening keynote. Nicole is not a professional lecturer but delivered one of the most impactful and inspiring speeches I’ve seen, covering her work as a pediatric trauma surgeon and her challenges as a single…
Read MoreThe obstacle is the way: The art of overcoming challenges with WVU’s Dawn Diven
It’s not easy moving into Clinical Documentation Integrity as a new nurse or coding professional. But now imagine what it’s like if you’re from Maryland. And it’s 2006. These were pre-ACDIS days, in a state which used APR-DRGs. In other words, no best practice, little information, and no real community. But Dawn Diven, Enterprise System…
Read MoreWalking the leadership tightrope: Meet Sheri Blanchard, Senior Director of CDE, Orlando Health
To be an effective leader you have to have a vision and be willing to implement changes that disrupt the status quo. But you also have to involve your team, and use diplomacy to obtain buy-in. In short, be a team player with a little bit of swagger. It’s a delicate dance, but it describes…
Read MoreA First Year for the Record Books: Catching up with Wellstar’s new Executive Director of CDI
Few CDI professionals are rising as fast as Faisal Hussain, Executive Director of CDI at Wellstar Health System in Georgia. Fewer still have come as far as he has, both literally and figuratively. A foreign medical graduate and native of Pakistan, Hussain has risen up through the ranks in a remarkable career in healthcare. In…
Read MoreLighting a CDI fire with Tom Brazelton, CDI medical director UW Health
News flash: Many (most?) physicians aren’t on board with CDI initiatives and coding practice. It’s understandable; they’re busy with patient care, and in their remaining hours are swamped with chart completion. Answering clinical queries and documenting with greater specificity is either seen as a chore or falls by the wayside entirely. Sometimes it takes real-world…
Read MoreAntarctic Anecdotes: The real-life adventure of ex-CDI physician advisor Howard Rodenberg
There comes a point in our life when we all need to take an adventure. For most that means a vacation to an exotic faraway continent. For others, that might mean taking a new job, or changing careers altogether. Or starting a family. All of these are adventures of one sort or another. All are wonderful.…
Read MoreBack from ACDIS, talking value-based care and outpatient CDI with Jason Jobes
By Brian Murphy After a short break that was not really a break because we were on the road at ACDIS 2023 we’re back with another episode of Off the Record. I’m joined by fellow conference-goer, presenter, and colleague Jason Jobes, senior vice president of solutions at Norwood. On this show we dive into the…
Read MorePayer perspective: A conversation with Colleen Gianatasio
CDI and coding professionals typically recoil from the dreaded word, “payer.” After all, provider-payer relationships are often adversarial at best, hostile at worst. Clarify the diagnosis or procedure with the physician, apply the medical code … only to have the payer downcode or outright deny the claim. My guest on today’s podcast understands the frustration…
Read MoreCDI-ing like its 1999: A conversation with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist director Tamara Hicks
How long have you been in CDI, oh listener? Three years, five, 10? Maybe as many as 16, if you started back when CMS adopted MS-DRGs and ACDIS began, in the hazy, pre-Tik-Tok days of 2007? My most recent guest on Off the Record has been in CDI for 24 years, starting in 1999.…
Read More