Conference Update: Speaker Q&A

As you plan your itinerary, we are interviewing a handful of speakers to give you a feel for the sessions. This week, we spoke with Susan Edamala RN, MSN, CCRN, CDI specialist at the University of Illinois in Chicago, who, along with Karl Kochendorfer, MD, FAAFP, will present “Kiss My Query: How we achieved and maintained a 100% query response rate since 2014 for surgical services.”

Q: Tell me a little bit about how your CDI program was able to achieve a 100% query response rate for a surgical service?

A: Our CDI program started in 2014. We were able to get 100% response rate with our neurosurgical service line because of the [CDI department’s] engagement and the commitment of the senior leadership and physician champions.

Q: What are three things attendees can expect from your session?

A:  We will discuss the key components required for CDI success, the strategies we used, and our plans and directions for the future, which we hope attendees will be able to use at their own facilities.

Q: Who should attend your presentation and why?

A: Anyone involved with CDI and physician engagement, including, but not limited to, CDI specialists, managers, directors, physician advisors, coders, and quality.

Q: What do you think is the most important quality for a CDI professional to have?

A:  The ability to translate and interpret information from the medical record from both the clinical perspective and coding perspective. CDI specialists must be able to bridge the gap [between coding and physicians], so as to have the most accurate clinical picture of the patient.

Q: What are you most looking forward to about this year’s conference? What is your favorite part of the conference?

A:  I look forward to the peer-to-peer networking. Also, the opportunity to increase my knowledge about CDI programs across the country, and the challenges they face and how they tackle those challenges.