Note from the ACDIS Editor: How to get involved!

by Jess Fluegel

There are no friends quite like CDI friends. One of ACDIS’ main goals is to provide CDI professionals with a community and a place to grow professionally. While we look forward to seeing many of you at the annual ACDIS conference for this very purpose (just four days away!), it’s not the only way you can advance your career and network within the profession. We invite you to take advantage of all ACDIS has to offer and explore how you can get involved!

First, make an impact on an ACDIS committee! If you want to shape the association and help us offer the very best to the CDI community, volunteering on an ACDIS committee is one of the best ways for you to make a difference. We have nine active committees with a variety of responsibilities—such as providing expertise and insight for ACDIS members, updating the CCDS and CCDS-O examinations, and planning ACDIS events —you’re sure to find your fit. Applications will be open in June for the following committees:

• Events Committee
• Furthering Education Committee
• Regulatory Committee
• Diversity and Inclusion Committee
• Physician Advisor Committee

Click here to learn more about the scope of these committees’ duties and our current volunteers.

Second, join the CDI Leadership Council! The Council exists to connect CDI supervisors, managers, and directors through personalized insight-sharing and networking experiences. With a members-only online community, regular virtual meetings discussing industry research findings, a monthly e-newsletter (and more!), CDI leaders won’t want to miss out. Click here to learn more.

Third, network with neighbors in your ACDIS local chapter and topic-based groups! Across the nation, and even beyond, ACDIS local chapters offer CDI professionals the chance to educate and network within a tight-knit, geographic CDI community. Similarly, ACDIS networking groups provide a community for those who work in smaller, niche CDI focuses. Meet your neighbors, give educational presentations, and even volunteer in a leadership role by joining or starting an ACDIS local chapter or networking group. Click here to find your chapter or group.

Fourth, contribute to the CDI Journal! The CDI Journal is ACDIS’ bimonthly members-only publication with more than 30 pages dedicated to industry-focused topics. Submissions are always open: all CDI professionals are welcome to contribute their expertise through being interviewed for an article or taking on the professional feat of penning their own piece. 

Articles are typically 750-1,500 words long and should be sent to ACDIS Associate Editorial Director Linnea Archibald (linnea.archibald@hcpro.com) and Associate Editor Jess Fluegel (jess.fluegel@hcpro.com). Here are the remaining 2024 deadlines and topics:

• July/August 2024: Denials
  
  • Deadline: June 1, 2024
• September/October 2024: Back to school basics
  
  • Deadline: August 1, 2024
• November/December 2024: Quality and risk adjustment
  
  • Deadline: October 1, 2024

Lastly, get involved in the ACDIS conference! Every year, you have the chance to share your experiences and expertise with the broader CDI community at the annual conference. Directly following each conference, applications open to speak at the coming year’s event—which means you should keep an eye out for the 2025 speaker application soon! It’ll be announced in CDI Strategies and on our website when it’s available. Also, later in the fall, applications will open to submit a poster or nominate a colleague for an ACDIS Achievement Award. These opportunities give you the chance to advance as a CDI professional, contribute your knowledge to the community at a level you’re comfortable with, and recognize the accomplishments of your peers. We’d love to receive your submissions for next year!

If you have other thoughts or ideas on how we can provide opportunities or improve offerings for the ACDIS community, please let us know in our annual ACDIS Membership Survey, which is open until Friday, April 14!  This association would be nothing without its volunteers and members, so we appreciate all who have made ACDIS such an amazing community to be a part of.

Editor’s note: Fluegel is an editor for ACDIS. Contact her at jess.fluegel@hcpro.com.