Symposium spotlight: Sample request letter supporting attendance to the Outpatient CDI ACDIS Symposium

Editor’s Note: CDI professionals wishing to earn support from program administrators to attend the “ACDIS Symposium: Outpatient CDI” may adapt the following proposal.

To whom it may concern:

I would like to attend the ACDIS Symposium: Outpatient CDI conference in Orlando, November 8-9, 2018.

The ACDIS Symposium: Outpatient CDI conference offers us a unique opportunity to learn from those currently working in a wide variety of outpatient CDI programs. By attending, we will be able to tap into these collective experiences to identify best practices, as well as the latest trends and techniques to help our team enhance our outpatient CDI professional skills, and bring back recommendations for program enhancements to our facility.

ACDIS Symposium: Outpatient CDI conference includes two full days of education and networking sessions that offers us an opportunity to meet and problem-solve with CDI experts. Here is a link to the conference webpage, which includes the complete agenda.

 In attending, we can learn first-hand from the experiences of others which makes this an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.

As evidence of the event’s positive outcomes, here are a few comments from attendees of last year’s Symposium:

• “ACDIS sets the bar high for overall conference content, comfort, networking opportunities, broad range of topics covered, use of practicing experts in the field.”
• “I enjoyed the conference presentations and the networking with other CDI specialists, coding professionals, and physicians. It was also nice to visit the vendors who can demo their products.”
• “I really enjoyed it, thought it was organized very well, and learned a great deal. The speakers were excellent!”
• “I was very pleased with the way each session handled the questions. It was just the right amount of time and speakers were available during the conference. I was impressed with how open and transparent each speaker was, as well as the willingness to connect with the attendees during the conference.”

Personally, I want to attend the conference to get information or help with:

1. <Fill in>
2. <Fill in>
3. <Fill in>

Here is an estimation of the cost to send a staff member to the ACDIS Symposium: Outpatient CDI. The cost of conference includes the cost of some breakfasts and lunches:

• Hotel: The hotel for this event has rooms for $209 per night (hotels fill quickly so we should reserve as soon as possible).
• Registration: $905 (early-bird discount is $805); ACDIS member $805 (early bird $705)

Airfare/travel will need to be assessed, also.

I am requesting approval so we can take advantage of the early-bird registration rate of $705 (if we’re ACDIS members) if we register before September 21, 2018. If we send the team, the fifth person registers for free (which we may wish to take advantage of).

If we are approved, we can further discuss which sessions might be best to attend to benefit our specific CDI targets as well as our overall program. And, of course, we’ll meet after the conference to discuss significant takeaways, tips, and recommended actions to maximize the investment for our CDI program.

Thank you for considering this request. Again, if we get approval now, we can save up to $200 on the registration and keep our total investment to about $1,200 (excluding flight). I look forward to your reply.

Thank you!

[Name]