News: Fields, Jurcak, Fox, and Kosiba win 2017 ACDIS Achievement Awards

Every year ACDIS celebrates the achievements of exceptional CDI professionals. Nominations come from peers in the industry. The ACDIS Conference Committee then reviews applications and chooses the final winners.

On Wednesday, May 10, approximately 2,000 conference attendees gathered for the opening remarks and award ceremony presented by ACDIS Director Brian Murphy at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. With Murphy, the attendees lent their applause to recognize the winners of the CDI Professional of the Year, Recognition of CDI Professional Achievement, Excellence in Provider Engagement, and Rookie of the Year awards. 

This year’s winners include:

CDI Professional of the Year: Rita Fields, BSN, RN, CCDS, regional CDI manager at Baptist Health in Louisville, Kentucky, is a “truly enthusiastic and active member” of the CDI community, according to her nominating peers. She has served on the ACDIS Local Chapter Advisory Board, served as president of the Kentucky/Southern Indiana ACDIS Chapter for five years, and served as the co-chair for one year. At her facility, Fields is an advocate for CDI education and collaboration, starting a physician advisor program, facilitating meetings between CDI and coding departments, and moving the program toward a quality-focus as opposed to a financial one.

“Through her encouragement and leadership, many of us have joined ACDIS, are CCDS credentialed, and are active in ACDIS at the local and national levels,” one nominator wrote.

Recognition of CDI Professional Achievement: Fran Jurcak, MSN, RN, CCDS, director of clinical innovations at Iodine Software in Austin, Texas, “spends her days (and often her nights and weekends) as an advocate and champion for CDI teams nationally,” says one of her nominators.

She works across all levels of her organizations, from answering questions for new CDI specialists, to providing thought leadership for senior CDI leaders. She has run various workshops, hosted educational webinars, and spoken at several ACDIS local chapter events over the last several months and years. Through these efforts she has inspired confidence in CDI specialists and improved their workflows and query response rates.

“Perhaps most importantly, her character and ethical standards are to be commended. Her instinct is to always do what’s right, even if it’s difficult or uncomfortable,” one of her peers said.

Excellence in Provider Engagement: Nicole Fox, MD, MPH, FACS, CPE, medical director of CDI and of pediatric trauma at Cooper University Health System in Camden, New Jersey, “has been our voice among the physicians resulting in a 100% query response rate,” one nominator says.

Fox conducts individual education sessions with the more difficult physicians as well as group education sessions at the physicians’ monthly meetings. In addition to her education efforts, Fox attends the same rounds as the CDI staff do in the trauma ICU, making herself available to on-the-spot questions and clarifications. Her reach goes beyond her facility’s walls through speaking and writing about CDI on a national level.

“I always walk away from rounds smiling with a gratification that my position in the organization has value and I find joy in the interactions,” one nominator says.

Rookie of the Year: Nicole Kosiba, RN, BSB, CDI specialists at Advocate Health Care-Illinois Masonic Hospital in Chicago, “is a catalyst for change at her facility and she motivates the team members to think outside the box,” one of her nominators wrote.

After only working in CDI for six months, Kosiba was chosen to sit on the CDI Shared Governance Committee because of her understanding of CDI, problem solving abilities, and communication skills. Though fairly new to the field herself, Kosiba lends her support to new members of the CDI team, helping them onboard with ease.

Kosiba “exemplifies the spirit of this award through her contributions to advance CDI at her site and hospital system with innovative ideas, critical thinking skills, and eagerness to collaborate with all members of the team,” one of her peers says.

Congratulations to the 2017 winners!