Note from the ACDIS Director: Fostering a culture of collaboration and respect

by Rebecca Hendren

As a leader at my organization, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to build and maintain a culture of collaboration, respect, and creativity, and I know we excel when different teams and departments are able to work together, with each providing unique expertise that other teams do not have.

This was on my mind today as we recently launched a joint program between our CDI department and HCPro’s coding department (HCPro is the parent company of ACDIS) to co-host a virtual event that provides a deep dive into topics pertinent to both CDI and inpatient coding professionals. The ACDIS & JustCoding Virtual Seminar is being hosted December 10 and it’s made me think we should foster more events where we can bring our CDI and coding experts together.

There are so many articles about collaboration between coding and CDI departments, often focusing on how to overcome friction or build better ties between them. I interviewed ACDIS’s Director of CDI Education Deanne Wilk and HCPro’s Director of Coding Education Shannon McCall on The ACDIS Podcast and talked about this very topic when we celebrated Health Information Professionals Week back in April. (You can listen to that episode here.)

When we think about it, as with so much we encounter every day, what it really boils down to is culture and the importance of building and maintaining an environment of mutual respect: Respect for each other, respect for the dual disciplines of coding and CDI, respect for the process, and respect for the patients for whom all of this is for.

We foster this through valuing education and ongoing learning, supporting the desire for specialized learning and credentials to demonstrate expertise, and encouraging collaboration to build better processes.

Building a culture where all disciplines support each other and where people are able to be creative is one where systems will work and people will want to stay and thrive.

In this season of thanksgiving, I am grateful to work at a place that fosters such a culture, and I am thankful to work every day with both CDI and coding professionals who share the same goals.

Editor’s note: Hendren is the director of ACDIS. Contact her at rebecca.hendren@hcpro.com.