Note from the Associate Editorial Director: Getting to know ACDIS

October 7, 2021
CDI Strategies - Volume 15, Issue 45

by Linnea Archibald

ACDIS tends to see an influx of new members in September (hi, new CDI Week friends!), so it seems a good time to take a few moments to remind our members—old and new—about the resources at their disposal on the ACDIS website. Those who’ve been around ACDIS for a while know that we are constantly updating and adding materials to the website, and it can be easy to miss things in the process.

Remember, you also have access to a couple different search forms to help you find information easily. The process is covered in this tutorial, but my number one suggestion is to limit your search to its simplest terms. For example, rather than searching for a full sentence (e.g., “What sepsis criteria should I use?”), search for just the keyword in your question (e.g., “sepsis”). This will ensure you get all the relevant results, rather than just results that include that one, very specific sentence.

ACDIS members can find a list of all their benefits in the “Membership” dropdown on the main website. This page, predictably, includes a list of all the resources accessible to members, along with links to access those materials. Mainly, membership benefits are contained in five sections of the website:

  1. Publications: ACDIS members have access to the bimonthly CDI Journal publication (read the latest edition here if you missed it!) as well as this weekly newsletter CDI Strategies, and the weekly ACDIS Blog (both of which are also free to non-members). Note that this section also includes the CDI Leadership Insider, which is only accessible to current ACDIS Leadership Council members.
  2. Resources: This section includes several categories of sample tools (such as query forms, job descriptions, policies and procedures, and educational tools) that are contributed to by ACDIS members and reviewed for clarity and compliance by the ACDIS Forms & Tools Library Committee. You’ll also find some helpful videos (including a free tour of the website), free and sponsored resources, and the ACDIS Podcast archives (open to non-members as well).
  3. Thought Leadership: While position papers are open to both members and non-members (and represent ACDIS’ official position on industry matters), this section also includes members-only white papers, insight from our Regulatory Committee, survey data, and information about the ACDIS Leadership Council. For a complete hierarchy of authority of these resources, click here.
  4. Networking: One of the major benefits of ACDIS membership is that you get access to peers nationwide (and worldwide!) through the ACDIS Forum, found under this dropdown. Here, you can ask questions of fellow members or offer input on your peers’ questions too. You’ll also find information about ACDIS local chapters, PROPEL CDI, and our social media presences under this heading.
  5.  Events & Education: This section includes information about our conferences, CDI Week, the Scholarship Program, upcoming webinars and boot camps, and the ACDIS Pocket Guide.  It also includes a link to one of ACDIS’ most popular membership benefits—the Quarterly Call archive. All ACDIS members are invited to participate in these calls live, but we always post the recording on the website for those who can’t make it, too. Each Quarterly Call comes with a CCDS CE credit.

While this list should give you a framework for finding your membership resources, I encourage you to do some poking around on the website as well. Play with the features (such as saving articles to your own personal content library), read the survey data and position papers, flip through the pages of a Journal edition or two. Familiarizing yourself with the website offerings and layout will ensure you get the most possible value from your membership. This is your association, and we want you to feel at home on your website.

And as always, if you have any questions, feel free to email us.

Editor's note: Archibald is the associate editorial director of publications and membership at ACDIS and the Council membership manager. Contact her at larchibald@acdis.org.