Until about 6-7 years ago A.J. Hegg had little idea what the acronyms CDI or UM were, much less what they did or how they helped hospitals.

Today the Essentia Health hospitalist is leading a new physician advisor program and making a big impact on his organization. Both from a quality and financial perspective, but also on the personal lives of a diverse team of physician advisors who have managed to incorporate life balance into their work.

Listen in as we cover:

• Hegg’s origin story into CDI, fueled (or perhaps pushed) by director Tracy Boldt

• His role today—CDI vs. medicine, and division of responsibilities

• Essentia Health’s physician advisor program—services covered, scope of work, and core responsibilities including UM and CDI simultaneously

• Bringing back old-school CDI as it was once practiced (and still is in some corners)—at the elbow clarifications, conversations, provider education. And how it all meshes with Essentia’s existing CDI team.

• Metrics, assistive technologies, and high-level dashboard

• Who the team is and how it functions—shift work and task based, structured for work-life balance and an emphasis on positive culture

• Obtaining organizational buy-in and high-level ROI

• A favorite hazy memory from the Encore casino in Boston, September 2021 ACDIS physician advisor exchange...

Outpatient CDI is not a traditional discipline—and so it stands to reason that its practitioners don’t always hail from traditional backgrounds.

One such person is Glenda Bocskovits. I’d call her a former transcriptionist, but she still practices that craft with the Mayo Clinic. But Glenda has since expanded her career into cutting edge practice as an outpatient CDI specialist with Catholic Health.

We get into Glenda’s unique career path, the obstacles of breaking into CDI as a non-clinician, and address the eternal question: What is the ROI of OP CDI? We cover the following topics:

• Transcription: That’s still done? It is (hear why).

• The ROI of outpatient CDI

• Catholic Health’s thorough process of OP CDI chart review: Prospective, current/pre-bill, and retrospective

• Common conditions requiring clarification and what continues to trip up providers

• A day in the life of: What Glenda’s job entails

• Obstacles of getting into CDI as a non-nurse and strategies for landing elusive interviews

• Glenda’s career motivations and song selection for the Off the Record Spotify playlist

Social Determinants of Health, or SDOH, are a buzzword these days—but often little more. We acknowledge their importance, but actual progress on capture (and subsequent patient support) has been slow. To be fair real barriers including technological limitations and limited financial incentives stand in the way.

But my current guest understands better than most the major role SDOH play in patient health. He and his organization have developed a digital tool to facilitate capture and improve the lives of patients in their community. They’re making a difference.

Dr. Pablo Buitron de la Vega is Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medical Director, Preventive Medicine Residency, and Clinician Lead for the THRIVE Social Determinants of Health Program at Boston Medical Center / Boston University School of Medicine. A native of Ecuador, he’s made SDOH his mission.

On this show we cover:

• Dr. de la Vega’s long journey from Ecuador to U.S. physician, the obstacles he overcame, and how the experience shaped his mission as a provider
• Defining SDOH and common examples in his line of work as a Boston physician
• Basics of capture in ICD-10 and what makes SDOH difficult to collect
• Boston Medical Center’s SDOH capture tool, THRIVE: What it does, tangible benefits, and how your organization can get access
• Low-tech strategies for SDOH capture you can implement today
• Dr. de la Vega’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to develop a triage tool to help address patients’ unmet social needs