Local Chapter update: Local chapter advisory board meeting recap

The Local Chapter Advisory Board (CAB) welcomed its newest voluntary member, Michael McKelvey, RN, MBA, CCDS, Clinical Documentation Quality Coordinator at BJC Healthcare in St. Louis, Missouri, during its roundtable teleconference last Friday. The CAB includes past and present local chapter leaders who help guide and inform the ACDIS administration about networking, education, and event strategies on the local level. The rest of the committee includes:

• Judi Bates from eastern Pennsylvania
• Katherina Burleson from North Carolina
• Sherri Clark from Tennessee
• Emily Emmons from California
• Bonnie Epps past Georgia leader
• Rita Fields past Kentucky leader
• Susan Haley from Michigan
• Aimee Van Balen from Massachusetts
• Julie Bell from Georgia

During Friday’s meeting, CAB discussion focused on the ways local chapters’ seem to have expanded event offerings with many now planning full-day, multi-speaker events, inviting vendor participation and even joining with regional component organizations of AHA and AHIMA.

The group also discussed plans for leadership networking during the national conference. Events include:

• Day 1: Leadership panel discussion: This event takes place at the end of regular conference sessions and features insight from the CAB as well as from fellow local chapter leaders across the country. It’s an opportunity for local leaders to meet face-to-face and identify best practices for success event organization. (Contact Melissa Varnavas for more information.)
• Day 2: Local chapter theme day: Attendees are encouraged to dress in sports gear related to their state or in clothing best representing their region. (One year, an attendee from Maine wore a lobster claw headband.) This makes it easier to pick out those from your home state amongst the crowd.
• Day 2: Local chapter lunch: Local chapter leaders are encouraged to pick a few tables in the lunch area to decorate with a theme of their choosing to help foster networking within your geographic region. (Last year, Florida leaders brought an inflatable palm tree!)

Please feel free to reach out to any of the members of the CAB or to Associate Editorial Director Melissa Varnavas at mvarnavas@acdis.org, or ACDIS editor Linnea Archibald at larchibald@acdis.org for more information.

April

• The Westchester New York CDI networking group meets Thursday, April 20, 2:30-4:30 p.m. For information email kseekircher@nwhc.net.
• The central New York CDI networking group meets Friday, April 21, 2-4 p.m., at the Pomeroy School of Nursing in Syracuse, featuring a presentation by Bobbie Massena, RN, assistant director of UM/CDI. RSVP by April 17, by email to Dawn Burr at dawnburr@crouse.org.
• The Washington Evergreen ACDIS Chapter meets Friday, April 21, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For information, contact Lillian.Dickey@providence.org. To see the meeting flyer, click here.
• The St. Louis Missouri ACDIS Chapter meets April 26, 6:30-8 p.m., at St. Luke’s. Outside food/drink is against hospital policy, so no potluck this time. For information, contact Michael McKelvey, michael.mckelvey@bjc.org.
• The New Jersey ACDIS Chapter meets April 27. For information, contact Gina Stewart at gstewart@e4-services.com.

May:

• The Arizona ACDIS Chapter plans on holding a get-together at the national ACDIS conference in Las Vegas, in the MGM Grand lobby. More details will be emailed to chapter members by the end of April.
• The California ACDIS Chapter set a tentative date of May 24 for their education conference call. For more information, visit their local chapter page and read Vol. 3 of their newsletter.

Save-the-date

• The Arizona ACDIS Chapter is planning its next big event tentatively for June 2017. Chapter members should send all suggestions to Chapter President Alma Yap at rnalmay@gmail.com.
• The California ACDIS Chapter holds its third-annual conference Friday, September 15, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. For information, contact Rani V. Stoddard at stoddardrv@henrymayo.com.
• Missouri’s three ACDIS local chapters join for a full-day conference event on October 14, at the University of Kansas Hospital. For information, contact michael.mckelvey@bjc.org.