Note from the ACDIS Director: An ACDIS farewell

Note: After 15 years serving the ACDIS community, Brian Murphy will retire from his role as the association’s director in pursuit of other opportunities. In the following letter, Brian fondly recalls great memories in the role. To read the exciting next steps for the ACDIS leadership, click here!

I knew ACDIS filled a deep need in the healthcare community as early as May 2008. We were hosting our very first conference at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and had to send the hotel an advance estimate of attendees in order to allocate for rooms, food, and beverage. With no track record to draw from, we thought we might get … 85 registrants. That sounded like a reasonable number.

We wound up with nearly 400.

That May morning, I was shocked to see the huge line of eager CDI professionals queued up at the registration desk and mortified when I realized I forgot to order tote bags. Aspiring meeting planners, one piece of advice: Never forget the bags!

That’s now a fond memory, and one of many I will always cherish. After growing ACDIS from zero in October 2007 to the thriving community it is today and serving as its first and only director these last 15 years, I’m choosing to step down from my position, effective March 18.

The world is a place of ideas, and it’s time for someone else to contribute them.

I have received so much help and support over the years that to attempt to thank folks by name would be futile. My role in ACDIS has been like a filter—I have passed voices through papers I have written, podcasts I have hosted, webinars I have moderated, speeches I have delivered. I have added shape, and encouragement, and a voice of my own, but mostly provided a platform for a one-of-a-kind community of extraordinarily passionate and vocal volunteers, serving a critical role in the delivery and reimbursement of healthcare.

That’s ACDIS.

What a ride it’s been!

I’ve had the opportunity to work across the aisle with AHIMA on physician query practice briefs that are now industry standards. ACDIS has grown in advocacy, commenting on the likes of AHA Coding Clinic and the CMS IPPS, and made suggestions which have resulted in policy change. We started CDI Week, bringing fellowship and purpose to isolated departments and professionals working singly in hospital basements. I hired my first full-time boot camp instructor, Lynne Spryszak, in 2010, and now we have three outstanding full-time educators. Led by the incomparable Laurie Prescott, Dawn Valdez and Sharme Brodie now teach a full range of diverse classes. With a committed group of volunteers I launched the CCDS exam in May 2009, and proctored our very first paper-and-pencil test in May 2009 (were you there?). More than 5,000 now possess the credential. We’ve hosted representatives from CMS, the Office of Inspector General, and ZDogg MD, on our conference stages. We’ve expanded CDI into quality, and outpatient, and risk adjustment, and ICD-10. I’ve hosted nearly 200 episodes of the well-received ACDIS Podcast: Talking CDI, disseminating knowledge and best practices and amazing individual stories over the airwaves.

But more than any accomplishments, my biggest honor has been giving great people a good place to work. Melissa Varnavas and Penny Richards grew with me, and expanded my conception of teamwork, and compassion, and dedication. We now have the likes of Linnea Archibald, and Carolyn Riel, and Karla Accorto on board. All are incredibly bright, accomplished, and full of potential. My team has created apprenticeships, the Leadership Council, the ACDIS Scholarship program, grown our local chapters, on and on. I’m so glad to have offered them some amount of mentorship and guidance in their careers. I have been the beneficiary of great leadership from the likes of Lauren McLeod and Elizabeth Petersen and had the privilege of working under the accommodating and generous umbrella of HCPro and Simplify Compliance, our parent company.

I have met an amazing array of unique people and colorful CDI personalities over the years— Robert Gold, Adelaide LaRosa, Trey La Charité, Tamara Hicks, on and on. So many talented, brilliant, individuals, all generous with their time, and deeply committed to their profession. But most of all, good, real people.

To all who have contributed their unique voices to ACDIS: Thank you.

We’ve had some fun times.

What is my next move? I’m not going far. There is no far anymore, in our small, digitally connected world. I’m joining Norwood.

Some might speculate, did Norwood (which started in staffing) recruit me? The answer is no. I asked to be part of their team, and they said yes. I have known Norwood founder Justin Satterfield for a few years as an exhibitor at our conferences. His story is inspiring, his company is growing in new directions with great people, and I wanted to join a place where I believed I could continue to make a difference, be creative, and highlight the great work they are doing. I look forward to this next chapter.

CDI has changed so much over these past 15 years, and today it seems that pace is accelerating. I am excited for what the future holds for the profession, and to see where ACDIS goes next, and what new course my successor chooses to chart. In the coming days we’ll have some exciting news to share about that.

Know that ACDIS is in a great place. Our membership is still growing. We have a new certification partner, and a newly updated CCDS exam. We’ve made the transition from boot camps and classes primarily delivered in person, to engaging virtual programming. We’ve navigated the rages of a pandemic, and our conference had a successful live return in October and is set up for Orlando in May, with a wonderful lineup of speakers and a great location.

Of course, we face challenges. Healthcare is undergoing major changes in the way it is delivered and reimbursed. CDI needs to change with the times. But the team I leave behind is extraordinary, and they will succeed.

I feel incredibly blessed to have had this professional opportunity, which has become so much more, an inextricable part of my life. I’ll always wear the purple and orange; ACDIS has become very near to my heart.

Thank you for listening.

Brian

Editor’s note: Murphy is the outgoing director of ACDIS. If you’d like to leave him a farewell message, click here. Contact him at bmurphy@acdis.org though March 11. Information about new leadership can be found here.