Click here to download the committee scope of work. For questions about the Advisory Board, contact ACDIS Director Rebecca Hendren (rebecca.hendren@hcpro.com). To view ACDIS Advisory Board frequently asked questions, please click here.
 

  Keisha Downes, MBA-HM, BSN, RN, CCDS, CCS
  Vice president middle revenue cycle
  Beth Israel Lahey Health 
  Boston, Massachusetts

Downes is the vice president middle revenue cycle for Beth Israel Lahey Health, based in Massachusetts. Downes also is an adjunct professor, teaching courses in coding and health information management. Her volunteer experience includes contribution to the AHIMA CCS Standard Setting Panel as a subject matter expert and elected ACDIS Advisory Board member for the 2024–2027 term. Downes co-authored the ACDIS/AHIMA supported Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice—2022 Update and was the reviewer for 2024 and 2025 ACDIS Pocket Guide. A nurse for 21 years, she attained her BSN from Liberty University and MBA with Healthcare Management concentration from Western Governor’s University.  She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Medical Science in Healthcare Leadership at Northeastern University.

Elected to the board in 2024; serving through April 2027
 

  Okemena Ewoterai, BSN, MA, CCDS, CDIP, CCS
  Director of CDI
  Montefiore Medical Center
  Bronx, New York

Ewoterai has more than 14 years of CDI experience and more than 20 years of nursing experience. Currently, she oversees a diverse staff including foreign medical graduates, registered nurses of various backgrounds, a coder, and a physician assistant. As part of her CDI experience, she has educated nurses and providers on clinical documentation techniques, workflows, engaged in software selection, and quality review processes (PSI, Elixhauser, and HCCs). Ewoterai has worked on practice briefs and white papers with ACDIS and AHIMA, including co-authoring “Clinical Validation: the Next Level of CDI” in January 2019, and the ACDIS/AHIMA Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice in February 2019. She has been an officer in the Greater New York ACDIS local chapter and is currently a member of the ACDIS Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She has also been a guest on the ACDIS Podcast.

Elected to the board in 2024; serving through April 2027
 

Click here to download the committee scope of work. For questions about this committee, contact ACDIS Director Rebecca Hendren (rebecca.hendren@hcpro.com).

CCDS Subcommittee:

Marie Bourque-Namer

Bio coming soon...

Mary Carol Brouwer

Bio coming soon...

Cheryl Ericson

Bio coming soon...

Patricia Henry

Bio coming soon...

  Dorene Hughes, MSN, BSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP
  Clinical documentation director
  Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center
  Hartsville, South Carolina

Hughes has been involved in CDI for over 14 years, with seven years of that experience as a CDI director. Prior to CDI, she has 12 years of experience as a well-baby and NICU nurse and six years experience as a nurse in a nursing home. She is currently a member of ACDIS, the Tennessee ACDIS local chapter, AHIMA, and is the past tresurer for the South Carolina ACDIS local chapter. Hughes is the lead chair for the Darlington County Disabilities and Special Needs Board, and is alos involved in the Hartsville Evening Lions Club and the ToastMasters Club in Hartsville. Prior to nursing, Hughes taught kindergarten and first grade. She married her high school sweetheart in 2020 and together they have six children, three dogs, and three cats.

  Fran Jurcak, MSN, RN, CCDS, CCDS-O
  Chief clinical strategist
  Iodine Software
  Austin, Texas

Jurcak is an accomplished senior executive with over 30 years of success in healthcare. She is currently the chief clinical strategist at Iodine Software where she has focused her attention on employing innovative artificial intelligence machine learning model technology to support documentation accuracy in all records. Jurcak is focused on creating efficient workflows, preventing duplication of effort, and supporting professional communication between the clinical and coding teams. She has worked side-by-side with CDI specialists and coding staff, CDI leaders, and corporate executives to develop workflows and processes that support positive outcomes for healthcare organizations. She received the 2017 ACDIS award for Professional Achievement, served two elected terms on the ACDIS Advisory Board and currently sits on the certification boards for both inpatient and outpatient CDI as well as the NAHRI Advisory Board. 

Roshan Shetty

Bio coming soon...

  Susanne Warford, RN, MBA, CCDS
  HIM data analytics manager 
  Baptist Health
  Kentucky

Warford's experience includes emergency department, neurosurgical ICU, transplant, case management, and compliance with the last nine years in CDI/HIM. During those nine years, she served as a facility CDI specialist, CDI auditor/educator and regional CDI manager, where she helped to systemize and standardize processes for seven facilities spread throughout Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Prior to her current role, she started the CDI appeals program, which has since developed into its own department. Susanne currently serves as the Vice-President for the ACDIS Kentucky/Southern Indiana Chapter. She is a member of the 2021 – 2022 ACDIS CDI Leadership Council and has served on the CCDS Exam Committee since 2019.

  Gail Weldon, RN, CCDS
  CDI team lead
  Baptist Medical Center East and Prattville Baptist Hospital
  Montgomery and Prattville, Alabama

Weldon has worked full time as an RN since 1978 and has been with the same great healthcare system for the last 22 years. In 2007, she became a quality coordinator overseeing professional practice evaluations and all things physician related. When the CDI department was formed, she transitioned to CDI, which Weldon believes is the best career move she has ever made. Weldon loves CDI and she goes to work with excitement every day. Weldon is a CDI team lead for two of the system's three facilities. In her off time, Weldone loves to experience life with her husband, children and grandchildren. She feels extremely blessed to have both of her parents living and enjoys their company as often as she can. Weldon also loves dogs and birds, and has a few of each.

Irina Zusman

Bio coming soon...

CCDS-O Subcommittee:

  Tracy Boldt, RN, BSN, CCDS, CDIP, CCDS-O
  System manager of CDI
  Essentia Health System
  Duluth, Minnesota

Boldt has more than 15 years of healthcare experience, including nursing, administration, and consulting, specializing in hospital revenue cycle management. Specific to CDI, Boldt has led CDI engagements for clients representing small hospitals to larger integrated delivery networks with multi-site programs. She has successfully led CDI integration projects with interest in clinical documentation (inpatient and outpatient), and identifying process changes and workflow enhancement regarding how provider documentation is reflective of accurate patient care.

  Judy Dokken, MBA, CHDA, RHIT, CCS
  Revenue cycle manager
  Mayo Clinic
  Rochester, Minnesota

In her current role, Dokken works with providers and coding staff to support quality documentation and code capture processes. After many years of facility and professional coding, Dokken transitioned to working with providers on billing requirements including ICD-10 implementation. After ICD-10 implementation, she began work on evaluation and management CPT documentation and coding. Later, her role expanded to include risk scores, patient complexity, hierarchical condition categories, and alternative payment models. Currently she supports the work of Mayo’s outpatient CDI program.

  Tamara A. Hicks, BSN, MHA, RN, CCS, CCDS, ACM-RN, CCDS-O
  Director of clinical documentation excellence (CDE)
  Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist (AHWFB)
  Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Hicks has more than 22 years of experience in CDI and over 37 years of nursing experience. As an original staff member when the CDI program at AHWFB began in 1999, she participated in building and expanding the program by educating staff and faculty, providing leadership, promoting departmental goals, and coordinating department operations. Hicks holds a diploma in nursing from Watts School of Nursing in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated summa cum laude from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. She obtained a master’s in health administration from Pfeiffer University in Charlotte. She has worked for AHWFB for her entire career, with 15 years of service as a staff nurse in the hospital's intermediate care unit and nine years as manager of care coordination. She is a member AHIMA and ACDIS where she is a frequent contributor, serving on the ACDIS Advisory Board twice, currently sitting on the CCDS-O Certification Board, currently serving as the social media coordinator for NC-ACDIS, and she was awarded the CDI Professional of the Year Award at the 2019 ACDIS Conference.

  Fran Jurcak, MSN, RN, CCDS, CCDS-O
  Chief clinical strategist
  Iodine Software
  Austin, Texas

Jurcak is an accomplished senior executive with over 30 years of success in healthcare. She is currently the chief clinical strategist at Iodine Software where she has focused her attention on employing innovative artificial intelligence machine learning model technology to support documentation accuracy in all records. Jurcak is focused on creating efficient workflows, preventing duplication of effort, and supporting professional communication between the clinical and coding teams. She has worked side-by-side with CDI specialists and coding staff, CDI leaders, and corporate executives to develop workflows and processes that support positive outcomes for healthcare organizations. She received the 2017 ACDIS award for Professional Achievement, served two elected terms on the ACDIS Advisory Board and currently sits on the certification boards for both inpatient and outpatient CDI as well as the NAHRI Advisory Board.

  James Manz, MD
  Spine and neurological surgery consultant
  Mayo Enterprise Health System
  Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Manz services as physician chair of the Mayo Enterprise Outpatient CDI Subcommittee, physician vice chair for the Mayo Enterprise Inpatient CDI Subcommittee, and physician advisor of the Mayo Clinic Problem List Stewardship Committee. He is the co-author of the ACDIS Pocket Guide and has been a frequent speaker at ACDIS national conferences.

  Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CRC, CCDS
  Director of HIM/coding
  HCPro
  Middleton, Massachusetts

McCall directs all of HCPro’s Certified Coder Boot Camp® programs. She is the developer of the Certified Coder Boot Camp®—Inpatient Version and the Evaluation and Management Boot Camp®. Most recently she collaborated with the CDI team to develop the Risk Adjustment Documentation and Coding Boot Camp®. As a consultant for HCPro, she works with hospitals, medical practices, and other healthcare providers on a wide range of coding-related issues with a particular focus on education, coding reviews, and audits. McCall has extensive experience with coding for both physician and hospital services. Prior to joining HCPro, she worked for a national medical practice management company, where her duties included serving as a client manager and an in-house coding trainer. She also previously worked for a national consulting firm focusing on hospital inpatient, outpatient, and ER services. McCall previously served on the ACDIS advisory board. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Information Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina.

  Karen Newhouser, RN, BSN, CCM, CCDS, CCS, CDIP
  Director of CDI education
  MedPartners
  Tampa, Florida

Newhouser’s current role at MedPartners helped her find her niche in education through writing, speaking, and personal engagement. Within multiple roles spanning a 40-year-career in critical care nursing, case management, and CDI, Newhouser has been resolute in her mission to set people up for success. Newhouser was honored as the 2015 CDI Professional of the Year by ACDIS and was a member of the ACDIS Advisory Board.

  Diana Ortiz, JD, RN, CDIP, CCDS
  Revenue cycle marketing manager, CDI product owner
  3M Health Information Systems, Inc. 
  Wausau, Wisconsin

Previously, Ortiz was the director for ambulatory CDI at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since joining Ochsner in 2013, her roles included serving as a project manager as well as inpatient CDI operations manager. During this time, she coordinated the implementation of computer-assisted coding and metrics reporting for the CDI department. Ortiz has a nursing background in both the emergency and the psychiatric setting, and HIM experience in hospital emergency facility coding and database management. 

  Laurie Prescott, MSN, RN, CCDS, CCDS-O, CDIP, CRC
  Subject Matter Expert
  

Laurie Prescott, RN, MSN, CCDS, CCDS-O, CDIP, CRC, is an experienced CDI subject matter expert, former interim ACDIS director, and former CDI education director at HCPro. While at ACDIS and HCPro, she was also the lead developer and instructor for the CDI Boot Camps as well as a member of the CCDS-O certification committee and the ACDIS Advisory Board; she also frequently spoke on the ACDIS Podcast and at ACDIS conferences and webinars. She is the author of The Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist’s Complete Training Guide and the ACDIS Pocket Guide series. Prescott has served in a variety of health systems and settings since joining the nursing profession in 1985 and she developed and implemented a CDI program in 2007.

  Jessica M. Vaughn, DNP, RN, CCDS, CCDS-O, CRC                                                                   
  Vice president, value-based CDI
  Norwood
  Austin, Texas

Vaughn has over 11 years of CDI experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings and 25 years of nursing experience in hematology/oncology acute care, nephrology, obstetrics/gynecology, and primary care. In 2015 she led one of the nation’s first and outpatient CDI programs focused on value-based care for population health. Vaughn has spoken at multiple conferences, authored articles, received ACDIS’s National Professional Achievement Award, and helped write both the original study guide and the initial CCDS-O certification exam. Vaughn has held certifications in oncology, chemo and biotherapy, AHIMA approved ICD-10 CM/PCS trainer, and most recently completed her Doctor of Nursing at Duke University with research focusing on CDI nurse-led preventative care initiatives.

  Yvonne Whitley RN, BSN, CPC, CRC, CDEO
  Ambulatory CDI manager
  Novant Health
  Charlotte, North Carolina

Whitley was one of the first CDI specialists tasked with creating this new department for Novant Health’s Medical Group in September 2013, as well as building one of the first ambulatory CDI programs in the country. She now leads a robust team that supports much of Novant Health’s Medical Group of over 530 physician locations and over 2,500 providers. Whitley obtained her BSN from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. She has been with Novant Health for the last 20 years and comes from a nursing background with 30 years in critical care, trauma, and open-heart ICUs. She also has experience as a clinical research coordinator for drug and device trials.

  Michelle M. Wieczorek, RHIT, RN, CPHQ
  Senior manager
  DHG Healthcare
  Erie, Pennsylvania

Wieczorek combines 30 years of healthcare knowledge as a clinician, with subject matter expertise in CDI, HIM, and clinical quality in her role as leader of CDI services at DHG Healthcare. Wieczorek has served in leadership roles in critical care nursing, health information management, utilization review, clinical quality, and information technology and has practiced in acute, outpatient and managed care settings. She has extensive experience in software development and IT product management, including holding a US patent in natural language processing clinical rules logic as a result of her work in developing a CDI software program with a national IT vendor. Wieczorek is active in professional organizations and is presently an appointee to the CDI Practice Council of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), and was recognized by her peers with the Distinguished Member Award by the Pennsylvania HIMA in 2016. Michelle is a sought-after author and speaker on topics such as electronic health records, CDI, risk adjustment, and clinical quality. She has presented webinars for ACDIS, AHIMA, and the American Hospital Association. She has contributed to publications such as the CDI Journal (ACDIS), the Journal of AHIMA, and is presently on the Editorial Board of ICD-10 Monitor. Wieczorek is based in Western Pennsylvania and travels nationally leading consulting engagements to deploy best practice tools and methodologies for clinical documentation, risk adjustment, and revenue integrity.

Click here to download the committee scope of work. For questions about the committee, contact ACDIS Editor Jess Fluegel (jess.fluegel@hcpro.com).

Debra L. Anoff, MD, FACP, FHM
Senior medical director of the clinical revenue cycle
University of Colorado Health
Aurora, Colorado

Anoff graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, after which she completed a combined medicine/pediatrics residency at the University of Florida at Gainesville. She has clinically served as a hospitalist at the University of Colorado Hospital since 2012 and became its first physician advisor in 2015.  Her current administrative role is senior medical director of CDI and inpatient coding for UCHealth. She is also an active member of the ACPA CDI committee. Her primary interests surround CDI education and how documentation directly impacts quality metrics, research, and patient care.

Kathy Dorich MSN, RN, CCDS, CPHQ
Director of CDI operations
Advocate Aurora Health Care
Downers Grove, IL

Dorich is a proven leader responsible for operational oversight of 10 hospital-based clinical documentation integrity programs as well as ensuring alignment within the Advocate Health enterprise of the 43 hospitals CDI programs. Under her leadership, Advocate was awarded “best in CDI practice” recognition by the Huron consultant group.
Accomplishments include consistent achievement of quality outcomes relative to CDI operations such as financial benefit, provider engagement, CDI productivity measures, and documentation accuracy of the hospital’s patient safety measures.

Dorich is a member of the ACDIS CDI Leadership Council, and consistently shares leadership insights and networks with CDI leaders to advance CDI. Additional contributions include an ACDIS Podcast presentation discussing PSI 90 and HACs, and articles in the CDI Journal on increasing staffing levels and reconciliation process.

  Crystal E East, BSN, RN, CDIS, CPHQ, CCPS
  CDI assistant nurse manager
  VA St. Louis Healthcare System
  St. Louis, Missouri

East is currently the CDI assistant nurse manager with four to five years of experience in inpatient CDI. She holds a BSN and a BS in CDIS. She has a certificate in CDIS, CPHQ, and CPPS. She received her BSN from McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, and her CDIS at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. East educates physicians, CDI specialists, and nurses on clinical documentation in her current role. East belongs to the St. Louis, Kansas City, and Minnesota ACDIS chapter. She has over 20 years of experience in quality before her CDI role. She was the IPPS coordinator for five years and the regulatory specialist in her facility for eight years.

  Jenny K. Esper, RHIT, CDIP, CCS, CCDS 
  Clinical documentation specialist
  University of Michigan Health System

After twenty years in different facets of inpatient coding, Esper made the transition to clinical documentation in 2018. Having a passion for documentation integrity, physician education, and coding accuracy, Esper feels at home in her current CDI role.   

  Penny Jefferson, MSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP, CRC, CHDA, CCDS-O, CPHQ
  CDI manager
  UC Davis Health

Jefferson entered the world of healthcare 32 years ago as a medic in the United States Army Reserves in Denver, Colorado. Following her training as a medic, she entered the acute care hospital system as a certified nursing assistant. Her career progression included obtaining an associate degree in nursing in 1998. Over the next 14 years, she worked in all areas of critical care intensive care unit around the US and two years in Australia. She served in many nursing roles at the bedside including preceptor, charge nurse, and hospital nursing supervisor.

In 2012, Jefferson entered the world of clinical documentation integrity at a level one trauma center in Denver, Colorado. She accepted a position with Mayo Clinic in 2019, where she started as a concurrent CDI review and progressed up to supervisor of CDI at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. As a nurse and CDI specialist, she went on to obtain her BSN and then MSN in Nursing informatics. In December 2022, she accepted a position with UC-Davis as CDI manager, where she is excited to continue her career path in CDI. Jefferson is a member of AAPC, AHIMA, ACPA, ACDIS, NAHQ, and is a California ACDIS chapter board member.

  Christina Merle, MS, RHIA, CCDS, CDIP, CCS, CRC, CIC 
  Inpatient consultant
  Administrative Consultant Service

Merle is an inpatient consultant with Administrative Consultant Service who has experience in the HIM field, coding, CDI, and education. She holds coding and CDI credentials from AHIMA, ACDIS, and AAPC. Merle is active at the state and national level with AHIMA, and is an AHIMA-approved ICD-10 trainer and ICD-10 ambassador.

  Jo-Anne Mullins, DNP, MSN, RN, CCDS
  Clinical documentation improvement manager
  The University of Miami

Mullins is a registered nurse with 21 years of experience in nursing and holds a Doctorate in Nursing Practice and a Master’s Degree in Leadership in Healthcare. She is certified as a clinical documentation specialist (CCDS) and her current role is CDI manager at The University of Miami. Her former positions include clinical auditor for Tampa General Hospital, CDI senior manager for Huntsville Hospital, quality improvement director and staff development coordinator for TN Department of Health. Her accomplishments include the ability to make system changes for quality outcomes. She has been published in the CDI Journal and was a guest speaker on an episode of the ACDIS Podcast. Mullins joined the ACDIS Regulatory Committee in 2023.

   Alyce Reavis, RN, MSN, CCDS
   CDI Auditing Coordinator
   Evangelical Community Hospital
                      Lewisburg, Pennsylvania

Reavis is the CDI auditing coordinator at Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. She has been a registered nurse for more than a decade after being a public educator for 12 years. Since joining the CDI ranks, she has served as a preceptor for new team members, developed educational materials for CDI staff, coders, and providers, and helped her team members prepare to sit for the CCDS exam. She was a 2021 recipient of an ACDIS CDI Scholarship award.   

 Leah N. Savage, MSN, RN, CCDS
 CDI auditor/educator
 Baptist Health Systems
 Louisville, Kentucky

Savage is a CDI auditor/educator at Baptist Health Systems in Louisville, Kentucky. She has 19 years of experience in nursing and 14 years of experience in CDI. Savage was co-founder and co-chair for the ACDIS Pediatric Networking Group (APDIS) from 2016 to 2020. She also served as the president of the Kentucky/Southern Indiana chapter of ACDIS (2015-2017). Savage has presented on various topics for ACDIS national conference (2017, 2018, 2022), and speaks regularly for local chapters of ACDIS. She also served as a contributor and reviewer of the book, Pediatric CDI: Building Blocks for Success. 

  Lizabeth Volansky, BSN, RN, CCDS, RHIA, CDIP, CCS
  CDI nurse auditor 
  St. Louis Health Care System
  St. Louis, Missouri

Volansky has experience as a registered nurse for 28 years working in direct and indirect patient care, in addition to being a medical coder for 24 years with experience in the acute hospital setting and as a specialist regional coder. In her current role, she develops and executes strategies for the CDI program ensuring the medical records are accurate, complete, and contain consistent clinical documentation reflecting the quality and integrity of patient care. She earned her BSN from St. Louis University School of Nursing and BS in Health Information Administration from Stephens College.

  Jennifer Young, MSHCM, BSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP, CCS
  CDI regional director
  McLaren Port Huron, Oakland, St. Luke’s and Karmanos Cancer Institute

Young is the regional director for CDI at McLaren Port Huron, Oakland, St. Luke’s and Karmanos Cancer Institute. In this capacity, she leads the day-to-day operations of the CDI teams with a focus on dashboard metrics and outcomes, resource utilization, clinical validation, quality reporting, physician engagement/education, and staff development. Young has been involved in all aspects of clinical documentation improvement for the last nine years. Beginning her clinical documentation specialist career at McLaren Flint, she has been the regional director for the last three and a half years. Young has done extensive work in CDI on quality metrics, especially mortality reviews, PSI/HAC, clinical validation, and complication reviews. Young’s professional experience includes ICU and Cardiac Cath Lab.

A graduate of University of Michigan Flint with a Master’s in Public Administration/Health Care Administration, as well as a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in General Studies from Oakland, Young is a Certified Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist (CCDS), a Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist (CDIP) and a Certified Coding Specialist (CCS). Young is a member of the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS) and a member of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

Click here to download the committee's scope of work. For questions about the committee, contact ACDIS Associate Editor Joshua Raposa (joshua.raposa@hcpro.com). 
 

  Chinwe Anyika, PhD, RN-BC, CDIP, CCS, CCDS, CCDS-O, CPHIMS
  Manager of CDI and data operations
  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  New York, New York

Anyika is the manager of CDI and data operations at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She has 18 years of nursing experience, and 14 years of CDI and inpatient coding experience. In her current position, she oversees other CDI specialists, supervises daily CDI operations and workflow, trains CDI specialists and providers, and utilizes data analytics and CDI informatics to drive provider performance improvement. She earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in biomedical informatics and holds professional certificates in VBA programming, data analytics, and data visualization with tableau.
 

  Laurie Baker, MSN, RN, CCDS
  Clinical documentation specialist
  Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center
  Jasper, Indiana

Baker is a clinical documentation specialist at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper, Indiana. She has 31 years of nursing experience, including in the medical/surgical unit. She has 11 years of experience in case management/utilization review and six years of experience as a CDI specialist. She earned her CCDS credential in 2020 and currently does CDI reviews for traditional and managed Medicare and Medicaid patients. Baker was a 2022 recipient of an ACDIS CDI Scholarship award. 
 

  Melissa Crigger, RN-BSN, MHA, CCDS
  Clinical documentation specialist
  Carilion Clinic
  Roanoke, Virginia

Crigger is a clinical documentation specialist at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia. She is a registered nurse with more than 29 years of nursing experience. She has five years of CDI experience with her areas of expertise in vascular surgery, neuro trauma ICU and PCU, and oncology. Crigger has also served as an infection preventionist and was the surgical site infection content expert as well as conducted quality improvement projects for HAC reduction. She also has experience in case management, utilization management, and nursing education where she served as an assistant professor of nursing at Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke. She has a master’s degree in science with an emphasis in healthcare administration and has experience in outpatient practice management as well. While Melissa loves educating physicians and clinical documentation, she considers being mother to her 10-year-old son her greatest accomplishment.   
 

  Elizabeth Harvey, RN, BC, MS, CMCN, CPHQ, CCDS
  Level 3 CDI specialist
  West Virginia University Medicine
  Morgantown, West Virginia

Harvey is a level 3 CDI specialist at West Virginia University Medicine in Morgantown. She is a registered nurse with more than 30 years of nursing experience, specializing in CDI since 2007. Harvey has her master’s in community health education and holds education, clinical assessment, and process improvement dear to her heart. Recently, she participated in a process improvement project with sepsis as a level 3 project. At present, Harvey has a goal to form a state ACDIS chapter. She has held the CCDS certification since 2013. She has previously served as president of the West Virginia State Health Care Quality Association and now serves as the treasurer. Harvey is a progressive thinker and is always giving it her all to make the world a better place.
 

  Amy Kirk, RHIT, CCS, CCDS, CRCR
  CDI regional manager
  Ensemble Health Partners, supporting Bon Secours Mercy Health
  Cincinnati, Ohio

Kirk is a CDI regional manager with Ensemble Health Partners, supporting Bon Secours Mercy Health. She has been in the health information field for 31 years with 17 years as an acute care inpatient professional coder at a level 1 trauma center and academic facility, and 14 years in inpatient CDI. Her coding experience and the increasing need for provider documentation education led her to help grow the CDI department in 2007 as a CDI specialist and becoming a regional CDI manager of five facilities in 2013. Kirk believes a strong CDI team has a foundation of processes and resources to support best practices. Using her experiences in coding and CDI, Kirk has helped their teams navigate through the challenges of the ever-changing healthcare environment.
 

  Lee Anne Landon, BSN, CCMC, CCDS
  Network director of the clinical documentation program
  HonorHealth Healthcare System
  Scottsdale, Arizona

Landon is the network director of the clinical documentation program at HonorHealth Healthcare System in Arizona. She has more than 16 years of experience in CDI. Previously, Landon has worked in multiple roles and settings, including acute care, case management, and utilization review for hospitals, insurance companies, and the New York state PRO. Her current CDI program includes all payer reviews, quality, and denial management. The program has established close collaborative relationships with the coding and quality department along with a working relationship with case management. Landon is an active member of her local ACDIS chapter and was a co-chairperson for two years. She has presented at ACDIS national conferences and at local chapter events. She is a member of the ACDIS Leadership Council, has served on Leadership Council Mastermind group, and has been invited to attend several Leadership Exchanges.
 

  Natalie Negro, MPH, BSN, RN, CCDS
  Corporate manager of CDI
  Penn Medicine
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Negro is the corporate manager of CDI at Penn Medicine in Pennsylvania. As manager, Negro provides education and support to encourage growth and development of an effective CDI department, follows metrics and key performance indicators, and collaborates with providers and other stakeholders to ensure the success of Penn Medicine. Some of her favorite initiatives Negro has worked on are those which leverage technology and the electronic medical record to improve documentation and patient care. Negro is passionate about CDI and all the ways in which it promotes accurate and complete code sets for public health data, hospital rankings, and hospital finance. An amateur detective at heart, Natalie loves board games, escape rooms, and anything that involves putting together clues and solving puzzles.
 

  Kelly Rice, RN, CCDS, CDIP, CCS, CRC
  CDI lead, provider education
  Mayo Clinic
  Falmouth, Maine

Bio coming soon...
 

  Pamela Ruiz, MD, CCDS
  CDI lead
  Christus Highland Medical Center
  Shreveport, Louisiana 

Ruiz has more than nine years of healthcare experience and five years of CDI, education, auditing, denials, and coding experience. She has worked in various types of hospitals including large academic medical centers, multi-hospital systems, a children’s hospital, a heart hospital, and smaller community hospitals. As a CDI lead, Ruiz provides education, support, follows metrics and key performance indicators, and collaborates with providers and other stakeholders to ensure success in the system CDI program at Christus Healthcare. Ruiz is an active member of ACDIS, the Texas local chapter, and the ACDIS CDI Leadership Council.
 

  Ashley Wells, MN, RN, CMSRN, CCDS
  CDI specialist
  Medovent Solutions
  Mansfield, Texas

Wells has ten years of nursing experience, beginning her nursing career and love for professional development and education at a Portland, Oregon acute care hospital. In the years that followed, Wells has gained experience as a nursing instructor and clinical educator at an acute care hospital in the DFW metroplex. Since 2019, Wells has gained a broad range of CDI experiences ranging from concurrent and retrospective reviews, provider and staff education, and clinical validation denials. Wells’ favorite professional milestones include onboarding staff members and being a part of the ACDIS community with previous participation on the ACDIS Furthering Education Committee.
 

  Brittani Winkler, MHA, BSN, RN, CCDS, CCDS-O
  Manager of CDI
  Wellstar Health System
  Collins, Ohio

Winkler is a manager of CDI at Wellstar Health System, which is based in Marietta, Georgia. In her current role, she is responsible for leading CDI initiatives across seven facilities, presenting metrics to hospital stakeholders, attending multidepartment meetings, and leading the outpatient HCC reporting initiative. Winkler joined the CDI world in 2017 and has a background in medical/surgical nursing, home health nursing, case management, and clinical resource management.
 

  Alison Yazmer, RN, BSN, CCDS, CCS
  CDI educator, denial prevention specialist
  Middlesex Hospital
  Middletown, Connecticut 

Yazmer started Middlesex Hospital’s CDI department as a pilot program in 2004. The department presently staffs both concurrent and second level review CDI nurses. Yazmer transitioned to CDI educator and denial prevention in 2000. Yazmer chairs the clinical validation committee working with providers to develop evidenced based best practices guidelines for high risk diagnoses vulnerable to denial. She is responsible for education and quality assurance for providers, CDI nurses, and coding staff ensuring compliance and understanding of clinical guidelines and ICD-10 Official Coding & Reporting Guidelines. Previously, Yazmer worked as an acute care medical/surgical nurse, utilization review nurse for an insurance company, and manager for inpatient case management and outpatient disease management. Currently, Yazmer is the vice-chair for the Connecticut Hospital Association’s Payer Audit Representatives Meeting.

Click here to download the committee's scope of work. For questions about the committee, contact Editorial Manager, Products and Events, Karla Kozak (karla.kozak@hcpro.com).

  Patricia Barry, RN, BSN, M.Ed, CCDS
  Director of Clinical Documentation Integrity
  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
  Boston, Massachusetts

Barry is the director of clinical documentation integrity at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston. She has 25 years of nursing experience, with a focus on nursing education, career development, leadership, and clinical practice. She started her CDI career in 2008 and had the privilege to practice and lead multiple CDI teams in many academic medical centers, including Tufts, UCLA, Stanford, and the Queen’s Medical Center in Hawaii. Barry has participated in the CDI AHIMA program, has been a speaker at the Workforce Development Conference, has hosted many ACDIS chapter programs, has been featured in the ACDIS CDI Journal in 2017, and founded the New England CDI Leadership group.

  Dawn Butler, RN, BSN, CCDS
  CDI Network Educator
  HonorHealth
  Phoenix, Arizona

Butler is the network educator of the CDI program for the HonorHealth health system. She has over 30 years of healthcare experience including ICU, medical, surgical and pulmonary. During her 17 years of CDI experience, she has been involved with program implementation, physician education, preceptor programs, quality, compliance, and denials. She has been an active member of her local ACDIS chapters and is currently a member of the ACDIS Leadership Council.

  Karen Elmore, BSN, RN, CCDS
  Program Manager for CDI & Physician Education
  BJC HealthCare
  St. Louis, Missouri

Elmore is the program manager for physician and CDI engagement, documentation, and education at BJC HealthCare based in St. Louis. She focuses on CDI education for CDI specialists and physicians, collaborates with coding educators, and assists ancillary staff as needed. She prepares CDI specialists, documentation quality coordinators, CDI program managers, physician champions, providers, and others for their roles in CDI/documentation. She leads the CDI Preceptor Council training CDS to become CDI preceptors and growing current preceptors in their role. She also reviews clinical insurance denials and mediates mismatches between CDI staff and coders. She spoke at the ACDIS Conference in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025 and participated in various panels. She received the ACDIS Excellence in Provider Engagement award in 2020. She is an ACDIS Leadership Council mentor, a member of the ACDIS Leadership Council, a member of the ACDIS Events Committee, a former inaugural member of the ACDIS Mastermind Committee, and the co-lead of the Kansas City ACDIS local chapter.

  Kelley Huffman, RHIT, CDIP, CCDS, CCS
  Director, Hospital Coding & Clinical Documentation Integrity
  ProMedica Healthcare System
  Toledo, Ohio

Huffman is a director of hospital coding and clinical documentation integrity at ProMedica Healthcare System in Toledo, Ohio, with a strong focus on enhancing the accuracy and quality of clinical documentation. With extensive credentials and leadership experience, she focuses on bridging clinical care, documentation, and coding excellence to support compliance, quality outcomes and optimal reimbursement. 

  Diane Kenney, RN, BSN, CCDS
  CDI Specialist
  Novant Health
  Charlotte, North Carolina

Kenney is a CDI specialist for Novant Health in Charlotte, North Carolina, with 36 years of nursing experience, serving the past 12 years in the CDI role. She presented a poster at the 2019 ACDIS conference and has served on the query template and mortality work groups. Her previous roles were clinical analyst and data abstractor for STS thoracic surgery, cath PCI/MI; CHF and ED outpatient core measures where she served as the facilitator for the thoracic surgery best practice team and co-facilitator for CP best practice and started her career in the ED for 19 years and serving on multiple committees. 

  Cindy Labins, RN, MSN, CCDS
  Adult Clinical Documentation Specialist
  Brigham and Women's Hospital
  Boston, MA

Labins is an adult clinical documentation integrity specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston. She has over 31 years of nursing experience with her clinical focus primarily in oncology and critical care. In addition to her clinical experience, she has also held positions as an assistant nurse manager, nurse manager, and coordinator for an outpatient pulmonary hypertension clinic. In 2012, she began her CDI career at a small community hospital and, after a year, joined the CDI team at BWH. She has participated in several committees to support CDI best practice not only at BWH but across the Mass General Brigham continuum. Labins is a former co-lead for the Massachusetts ACDIS chapter, has been a presenter at the ACDIS conference,  and is currently the team lead at BWH.

  Sarah Matacale, RN, BSN, CCS, CCDS
  Query Education and Compliance Specialist
  HCPro
  Middlesex, North Carolina

Matacale has been a nurse for over 25 years, specializing in a variety of inpatient and outpatient roles, an ACDIS and AHIMA member since 2017 when she first began her career in CDI. She has participated in many groups and committees, both at work and in professional organizations. She was also the North Carolina ACDIS president for more than three years and has participated in the ACDIS Events Committee in the past. In her current role, she maintains, updates, and supports the Query Template Library product; provides support related to query practice; and serves as a subject matter expert for AHIMA and ACDIS.

  Carrie Mayfield, MSN, RN, CCDS
  Clinical Documentation Supervisor
  Children’s Minnesota
  Edina, Minnesota

Mayfield is the Clinical Documentation Supervisor at Children’s Minnesota in Edina, Minnesota, with 35+ years in nursing, serving in leadership, direct and indirect patient care, and education roles. She has diverse experience throughout her career in medical-surgical, oncology, and float pool units, intensive and emergency care, home health and hospice, medical insurance/prior authorization review, home medical equipment, and nursing education. More than eight years ago, she started at Children’s Minnesota in the CDI Program and continues to expand her knowledge in pediatrics and CDI daily.

Melissa Mulroy, MHA, BSN, RN, CCDS
CDI Team Lead
University of Miami Health Systems
Miami, Florida

Mulroy graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2013 and her Master of Healthcare Administration from Clarkson College in 2017. She has has nursing experience in inpatient mental health, pre- and post-op, case management, and as a director of nursing. While in those positions, she volunteered for multiple committees and worked on several process improvement projects. She started working as a CDI in 2019 and has recently taken a position as a CDI Team Lead.  

  Chasity Shaw, RN, BSN, CCDS
  Clinical Documentation Specialist
  Memorial Hermann Health System
  Magnolia, Texas

Shaw began her journey in clinical documentation at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, Texas, in November 2021. She is a registered nurse with a clinical background in critical care across five states and is currently projected to complete her MSN in May 2025. As a dedicated and passionate leader in healthcare, she served as chair of the Communications Committee for the Texas Nursing Association from 2021–2023 and as co-host of the Texas Nurses Podcast during her tenure. She is an advocate for value-based care and has goals of championing CDI’s influence and expertise in improving the quality of healthcare.

  Madhu Subherwal, MHA, MBBS, CCDS, CDIP, RHIT
  Clinical Documentation Improvement Manager
  Torrance Memorial Medical Center
  Torrance, California

Subherwal is a physician, having completed her medical education at Dayanand Medical College in India, and has been clinical documentation improvement manager at Torrance Memorial Medical Center since 2015. She began her journey in CDI in 2010, while completing her master’s degree in health administration from the University of La Verne in California. In 2021, she helped create the CDI program for Southern California Kaiser Permanente’s 13 regional hospitals, after which she supervised the successful roll out of the program and subsequently was given the opportunity to manage the program at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. She has served as the education chair for the California chapter of ACDIS in 2014, co-chair of the California chapter of ACDIS from 2019 through 2022, and is currently the co-chair/treasurer for the chapter. She is a past attendee of the ACDIS Leadership Exchange and past member of the ACDIS CDI Leadership Council Mastermind group. She has been a member of the ACDIS Leadership Council since its inaugural year of 2015.

  Nicole Tebo, RN
  Enterprise Director of CDI Operations
  Advocate Health
  Marinette, Wisconsin

Tebo is the enterprise director of CDI operations for Advocate Health, located in the Midwest/Aurora Market. She is part of the ACDIS Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She has 26 years of nursing experience and over 10 years in CDI. Her CDI experience began when she was approached by a site leader to assist in implementing a CDI program at their independent hospital, which is now part of Advocate Health. In 2019, she was hired as one of the regional CDI managers for the newly formed Advocate Aurora Healthcare and in 2022 was chosen as Wisconsin Director of Operations. Aside from a close relationship with her managers and CDIS, Nicole works closely with CMOs and other hospital and enterprise leaders, along with physician advisors to advance the collaborative and successful nature of Advocate Health’s CDI program. 

  Rebecca Truett, MBA, MSN, RN, CCDS, CCA, CDIP
  Clinical Documentation Specialist
  Novant Health
  Winston-Salem, NC

Truett is a clinical documentation specialist and clinical documentation excellent educator for Novant Health in Winston-Salem, NC. She has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare field. Her nursing career has spanned from bedside nursing for surgical, emergency, and critical care departments to nursing director of surgical services. Truett also served as performed director of quality and risk management for nine years, and nursing director for an ambulatory surgery center for five years. Truett’s current role as clinical documentation excellence educator allows her to provide clinical documentation integrity expertise as well as program development and operational support to the clinical documentation management team. 

Click here to download the committee scope of work. For information about this committee, contact ACDIS Editor Jess Fluegel (jess.fluegel@hcpro.com).

  Vickie (Darlene) Anderson, RN, CCDS, CRCR 
  CDI specialist
  Ensemble Health Partners
  Charleston, Tennessee

Anderson is currently a CDI specialist of nine years. Over her 38-year career as a registered nurse, she has gained experience in diverse clinical settings such as medical, surgical, operating room (OR), and infection prevention. She spent 22 years in the OR, where she served in various roles including circulating nurse, RNFA, and director. In 2016, she transitioned to the CDI team and discovered her passion for clinical documentation integrity.

Throughout her career as a CDI Specialist, she has been actively engaged in precepting and training new CDI specialists, serving as a specialized mentor and revenue cycle trainer, and participating on the PSI/HAC/mortality subcommittee. Mentoring and educating CDI professionals has been a cornerstone of her career, and she is passionate about empowering others to excel in their roles.

  Kelly Benson, BSN, RN, CCDS
  Regional manager of clinical documentation integrity
  Memorial Herrmann Health System-Texas Medical Center
  Houston, Texas

Benson has solid management and team building experience and currently leads a team of approximately fifteen clinical documentation specialists to achieve strong outcomes in improving the quality of physician documentation. In her 30 years as a registered nurse, Benson has become a well-rounded healthcare professional with a unique combination of business operations and clinical expertise. Upon coming to work at Memorial Hermann, Benson enjoys the challenge and opportunity of supporting the business of healthcare. Her current role enables her to lead a team that supports improvements in health information management and downstream, improved outcomes for patients. Work satisfies her desire to continue to make a positive impact in our ever changing world of healthcare. Benson received her degree AAS in Nursing from Corning Community College, Corning, New York in 1993. She continued to pursue her education through attendance at Elmira College-Elmira, New York and earned a BSN from Keuka College-Keuka Park, New York.

  Deborah Breton, BSN, RN, CCDS
  CDI nurse educator
  Providence Health and Services-Oregon Region
  Renton, Washington

Breton began her CDI career in 2017, following experience in coronary critical care, home health, hospice, and inpatient case management. Breton has presented at the ACDIS National Conference and currently serves on the ACDIS Leadership Council.

  Coral Fernandez, RN, CCDS, CCS
  CDI auditor/educator
  Baptist Health System

   Fernandez has been working in CDI since 2000. As a long time employee in CDI, she has been instrumental in writing policies and procedures for the CDI program at Baptist Health System. She has been a CDI auditor/educator since 2016. Since that time, Fernandez has written appeal letters in response to audit findings from insurers, trained numerous new staff, provided regular education to team members, and has regularly audited CDI team members’ queries for compliance. Fernandez cochaired the ACDIS CDI Educators networking group from 2019 to 2022. Most recently, Fernandez spoke at KHIMA’s annual conference and at CVHIMA. Coral is dedicated to continual lifelong learning.

  Kimberly Forslund, RN, CCDS
  CDI specialist
  Maine Health
  Scarborough, Maine

Forslund's experience as an emergency department nurse has provided her with the skills and knowledge to engage healthcare providers in written dialogue to ensure a complete and accurate medical record that reflects the severity of illness, risk of mortality, and acuity of the patient. She is comfortable communicating with physicians, advanced practice providers regarding clinical documentation management through onboarding and continuing education as well as query writing. Forslund serves on the clinical documentation management team’s patient safety indicator (PSI) committee, in collaboration with physicians and coders, to identify PSIs in real time, draft queries to clarify ambiguity, and clinically validate diagnoses in the medical record.

  Patricia King-Musser, DNP, RN, CCDS
  Senior director of CDI
  Geisinger Health System
  Danville, Pennsylvania

King-Musser is an experienced nurse with over 25 years in practice. Her areas of expertise include clinical bedside care, care management, performance innovation, clinical quality and patient safety, and clinical documentation integrity. Initially a diploma graduate from Geisinger School of Nursing, King-Musser went on to obtain a BSN from Pennsylvania College of Technology and a DNP from Capella University. She is an inaugural testee of the first CCDS exam, has gone on to speak at the national ACDIS Conference, contributed to several articles, and had the privilege to be the Commencement speaker at the Geisinger Radiology School ceremony.  

  Rebecca Lewis, MSN, RN, CPN, NPD-BC, CPC, CCDS
  Lead CDI specialist
  Nemours Children’s Health
  Orlando, Florida

Lewis is a Master's prepared nurse with five years of experience as a bedside pediatric critical care nurse and nurse educator. During those five years, Lewis became a certified pediatric nurse and board certified in nursing professional development. Due to this experience and knowledge, Lewis has had the opportunity to be involved in the launch of the clinical documentation integrity program at Nemours Children’s Health, Florida, in 2022. Since then, she has become a certified professional coder and a certified clinical documentation specialist. With the success that the program has experienced and the growth of the clinical documentation integrity team, Lewis is now the lead clinical documentation integrity specialist.

  Payal Sinha, MBA, RHIA, CCDS, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, CCDS-O, CRC, CRCR
  Director of revenue integrity, audit, and education
  Montefiore Medical Center
  Bronx, New York

Sinha is a seasoned Health Information Management professional with extensive expertise in inpatient and outpatient coding, clinical documentation improvement, and healthcare revenue cycle. With over a decade of experience in major healthcare institutions like Montefiore Medical Center, she has led large HIM teams, implemented EPIC and advanced coding systems, and driven quality and compliance initiatives. Sinha holds multiple industry certifications and has been recognized with the HIM Champion Award by the Long Island Health Information Management Association in 2019. She is pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration at Trevecca Nazarene University and is dedicated to advancing clinical and coding standards and education in the healthcare sector.

  Simona Tinari, MPH, BSN, CCRN, NE-BC
  CDI specialist
  SSM Health
  Chicago, Illinois

Tinari is a clinical documentation specialist with over 10 years of nursing experience, including roles in bedside care: med-surg, MICU, CVT ICU and SICU,  clinical leadership, and documentation integrity. She holds degrees in chemistry, nursing, and a Master's in Public Health. Previously, Tinari served as an assistant patient care manager at UChicago Medicine. She brings a strong clinical foundation and a systems-based perspective to CDI, with a focus on quality improvement and provider education. 

  Kerensa F. Vinson, DNP(c), MSN, RN, CCDS
  CDI specialist
  University of Chicago Medicine
  Chicago, Illinois

Vinson has worked in healthcare for over 30 years with years of experience in leadership, critical care, academia, quality, population health and epidemiology. She currently works in the inpatient CDI department at the University of Chicago Medicine and has been there since 2021. Vinson is the author of the DNP Project entitled: “Optimizing the Expected Mortality by Improving Physician Documentation.” Vinson is also the thought leader for a novel and innovative process used in the scope of her DNP project work, which she calls, the “CDI Rapid Response Team for Clinical Validation of T2MI.” Vinson designed the CDI RRT process with the help of her DNP inter-disciplinary team to assist new CDI specialist team members to write clinical validation queries for T2MIs and to avert reimbursement denials when T2MIs are the lone MCCs. Vinson is passionate about servant leadership, the patient experience, and quality improvement that lends to high-quality patient outcomes. 

  Katherine Wachs, BSN, RN, CCDS
  CDI specialist
  Honor Health
  Mesa, Arizona

Wachs has 10 years of nursing experience in areas including detox medicine, medical, surgical, progressive care/telemetry nursing. During her three years of CDI experience she has been involved with preceptor programs and has collaborated with staff education efforts. She is an active member of her local ACDIS chapter and is a current member of ACDIS national.

2025 CDI Week Advisor:

  Sydni Johnson, BSN, RN, CCDS
  Director of Education for Clinical Documentation and Denials
  Banner Health
  Tucson, Arizona

During her 19-year career in nursing she worked as a quality analyst and partnered with CDI specialists on mortality, length of stay, and PSI/HAC projects. This experience led to her current CDI journey of eight years. Under Johnson's leadership, her auditor team modernized the CDI audit and data reporting processes. Her education team streamlined CDI education and orientation, created an annual CDI competency, and standardized provider education. In 2017, she obtained an Integrative Health Coaching Certification and utilizes motivational interviewing skills in her CDI leadership and education role. She is a published author in the CDI Journal and has spoken at the ACDIS national conference, local AHIMA roundtables, ACDIS Educator Networking Group meetings, and local ACDIS chapter events. Sydni serves as co-chair for the Arizona ACDIS chapter since 2020.

Elected to the board in 2023; serving through April 2026

Objectives:

1. Inspire CDI professionals of all races, nationalities, gender identities, sexual orientations, abilities, and ethnicities to thrive within the profession
2. Improve recruitment and retention in the CDI industry and promote an even playing field for all qualified professionals
3. Educate the CDI community about behaviors and actions that promote inclusivity
4. Provide support and bring awareness to biases and discrimination within CDI and the broader healthcare community
5. Recognize organizations that promote diversity and inclusion and implement actionable policies to ensure follow-through

Click here to watch a video interview with three members of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.

Click here to download the committee scope of work. For questions about this committee, contact ACDIS Associate Editorial Director Linnea Archibald (linnea.archibald@hcpro.com).
 

  Viji Anchan, MSN, RN, CPN, CRC, CCDS-O
  CDI specialist
  Nemours Children’s Health
  Delaware Valley

Anchan is a CDI specialist, who specializes in risk adjustment for Nemours primary care sites. With 24 years of nursing experience encompassing adult medical-surgical, geriatric, and pediatric care. She has acquired extensive expertise during her 15-year tenure at Nemours, working across departments such as the orthopedic and transplant unit, surgical-intermediate unit, and post-anesthesia care unit. Anchan has worked as a CDI specialist for the past five years, providing comprehensive coverage for both inpatient and outpatient CDI at Nemours.

Anchan holds a deep commitment to pediatric CDI and has presented at the 2024 ACDIS Outpatient Symposium on “Developing and Growing a Pediatric Outpatient CDI Program,” as well as at two Nursing of Children Network conferences.

Beyond her clinical role, Anchan is the founding leader of the DESIaN ARG at Nemours, an associate resource group established in 2019. This group convenes associates from the South Asian region and their allies, collaborating to address the distinctive needs of this community. Furthermore, the group is dedicated to nurturing the professional development of its members through mentorship, advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the promotion of awareness regarding mental health and autism in the South Asian community.
 

  Lourdes Cacanindin, MD, CCDS
  Clinical documentation integrity educator and quality auditor
  Sutter Health
  Antioch, California

Cacanindin practiced her medical degree with specialty in pediatrics for almost 15 years in Manila, Philippines, before embarking into the HIM world to become a clinical documentation reviewer at Sutter Delta Medical Center in April 2010. She has contributed to the CDI Journal, attended every ACDIS conference since 2010 (including participating six times as a poster presenter), and is an active member of the California ACDIS local chapter and AHIMA. She is also proactive in providing aid to indigent patients through medical missions in the Philippines serving in the University of Santo Tomas Medical Alumni Association in America. USTMAAA aims to give assistance to the medical students through scholarships at Cacanindin’s alma mater. She was the recipient of the 2024 Melissa Varnavas Spirit of Service ACDIS Achievement Award and will be a speaker at the 2025 conference.

Cacanindin has 14 years of CDI experience with a history of collaboration across departments to deliver provider education, and improve malnutrition documentation, case mix index and the mortality observed to expected ratio related to sepsis, and length of stay accuracy. She has also helped to supervise newly hired CDI staff, and she conducts second-level reviews for CDI/coding mismatches and PSI 13 (post-op sepsis) reviews for the Sutter Health Bay area region.
 

  Angelica Cage, MBA, BSN, RN, CCDS, CCS, CDIP, CRCR
 Senior CDI leader
 Large health system in the northeast

Cage is a visionary leader in CDI and a trusted strategic partner to executive teams at large Northeast health systems, including integrated networks and market-leading transplant programs. A seasoned RN with a decade in CDI and multidisciplinary expertise and advanced certifications, Cage integrates CDI, HIM, coding, and utilization review/utilization management operations to optimize revenue, documentation quality, and patient care efficiency. She champions documentation excellence as a critical lever for organizational success and collaborates seamlessly with cross-functional partners—case management, clinical operations, finance, and IT—to align strategies, eliminate silos, and achieve shared objectives. Her leadership style empowers CDI and HIM professionals at all levels, cultivating empowered teams that deliver measurable return on investment and sustainable growth.

As a respected thought leader, Cage has presented at ACDIS conferences (2021–2025), serves on the ACDIS Advisory Board, chairs key committees (e.g., Diversity and Inclusion), and is a founding member of the ACDIS Regulatory Committee. Her prior volunteer roles include Chapter Advisory Committee, Kansas City and Texas ACDIS co-leader, and Mastermind member for 2023/2024. Recognized with the inaugural ACDIS “Accomplishment in CDI” Achievement Award, Cage’s influence extends across the industry as she shapes best practices and regulatory awareness.

Passionate about advancing CDI’s strategic significance, she elevates documentation integrity as a competitive advantage and partners with leadership to translate insights into transformative outcomes. As a champion for change, Cage drives best practices, regulatory awareness, and high-performance cultures across the revenue cycle.
 

  Chinedum Mogbo, MBBS, MsHIM, RHIA, CDIP, CCDS, CCS
  Manager, CDI
  Tenet Healthcare
  Dallas, Texas

Mogbo has a passion for quality patient care and all things CDI, including its overall impact on patient care/safety, and physician and hospital profiles. She has successfully managed various teams, including clinical documentation specialists and coding auditors. She worked as a CDI training director for a California-based health system and currently works as a CDI manager for Tenet Healthcare. She actively participates in the CDIP and RHIA exam item writing with AHIMA. She has been involved in the successful development of in-house curriculum for training clinical documentation specialists and serves as co-chair of the AHIMA CDI practice council working on many projects that provide guidance to the industry—the most recent being updating the Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice, a joint publication between ACDIS and AHIMA.

She co-authored an AHIMA practice brief on “Physician Engagement in CDI,” featured in the July 2017 Journal of AHIMA and also co-authored the AHIMA practice brief on “Physician Office Query” in July 2018. Mogbo was a speaker at the 89th AHIMA Convention, a moderator at the 2018 AHIMA CDI Summit and presented on AHIMA webinars in 2018 and 2019.

  Buddy Morgan-Kraft, BSN, RN
  CDI Senior Manager
  R1 RCM
  Renton, Washington

Morgan-Kraft has worked in healthcare for over 20 years, beginning his career as a CNA in the early 2000s. After completing his nursing degree, he started on a progressive care unit and eventually transitioned to ICU.

Morgan-Kraft discovered his true passion in CDI, where he found a new and rewarding path in nursing. After several years in the field, he advanced into leadership, first as a supervisor, then as a manager. Today he serves as a senior manager, leading both a concurrent review team and a team that provides organizationwide support with CDI/coding reconciliation.

He strives to empower his teams by cultivating a culture of excellence, advancing diversity and inclusion, and inspiring forward-thinking leadership that drives sustained success and exceptional outcomes.

  Catherine Sheika, BSN, RN, CCDS
  System CDI manager
  AdventHealth
  Winter Garden, Florida

Sheika has been a nurse for 17 years and began her CDI journey in 2015. She has since held various roles, including second level reviewer, CDI regional educator, and currently AdventHealth system operations manager. Sheika was instrumental in creating the AdventHealth CDI Educator Council and now serves as mentor. Additionally, she is a member of the ACDIS/HCPro Product Advisory Committee and is a 2024/2025 CDI Leadership Council member. Go Cubs!
 

  Andrea Smith, RN, BSN, MSN, CCDS
  CDI Manager for Inpatient and Outpatient CDI
  Washington Regional
  Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Smith is the CDI manager for inpatient and outpatient CDI. She has been an RN for 21 years. Her nursing background includes ICU, cardiology, dialysis, and medical-surgical She entered CDI in 2014 and has been a CDI manager since 2018.

  Nicole Tebo, RN
  Director of CDI Operations
  Advocate Health
  Marinette, Wisconsin

Tebo is the director of CDI operations in the Wisconsin region of Advocate Health. Her nursing background ranges from medical-surgical, oncology, and leadership. She has worked in CDI for more than 10 years, beginning with implementing a CDI program at an independent hospital with much success. When her hospital joined Advocate Aurora Health, Tebo moved into a regional CDI manager role overseeing teammates across the north region of Wisconsin. In 2022, she became the director of CDI operations overseeing CDI team in all 16 hospitals across Wisconsin.  
 

  Melody Tyiska, MBA-PM, RHIA, CCS, CPC, CPMA, CHA, OHCC, CCP-P
  Director of HIM & CDI
  St. John's Episcopal Hospital
  Far Rockaway, New York

Tyiska has 15 years of experience as a coding educator. She is a graduate of an HBCU, Coppin State University with an undergrad degree in interdisciplinary studies with core areas in health information management and education. She started her career in coding education, auditing outpatient provider documentation, and providing feedback and training, and in 2013, she began working on in the inpatient side of the house.

Tyiska has an excitement for all things related to education. She has had the opportunity to teach medical insurance and coding at the community college level. Enjoying being a student as well, in addition to coding certifications of RHIA, CCS and CPC she has also earned, Certified Professional Medical Auditor, Certified Healthcare Auditor, Officer of Healthcare Compliance, Certified Compliance Professional-Physician. Being well-rounded in coding, auditing, and compliance makes her an excellent resource for resolving issues of coding and documentation in the medical record.

Tyiska has also earned an MBA with a specialization in project management from the American InterContinental University. Her current project is managing coding and CDI, two sides to the same coin. She is also pursuing additional certifications and has recently completed the ACDIS Clinical Documentation Integrity Boot Camp. 

Objectives:

1. Draft industry guidance in the form of white papers or position papers
2. Create tip sheets, quick reference guides, and other resources for physician advisors
3. Provide helpful guidance through articles in the CDI Journal or CDI Strategies weekly email newsletter
4. Join fellow committee members and the ACDIS administration on regular meetings conducted virtually, to discuss ongoing projects and relevant industry updates

To download the Committee's scope of work, click here. Questions or concerns? Email Editorial Manager, Products and Events, Karla Kozak (kkozak@acdis.org). 
 

  Eric R. Brown, MD, PhD, FACOG, FACS
  Medical Director for Care Management & Physician Advisor
  Advocate Health
  Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Dr. Brown possesses a strong background in clinical quality improvement, patient safety, clinical/surgical practice, clinical administration, clinical information technology, care coordination, patient safety, risk management, regulatory compliance, utilization management and clinical documentation improvement/integrity leadership. He has over 20 years of healthcare experience, including over 14 years of clinical practice experience, over eight years as chief of Gynecology, six years as patient safety/quality officer, three years as chief medical officer, over three years as medical director care management/physician advisor, and over five years as performance improvement physician consultant assisting well over one hundred twenty healthcare organizations. He is also a board-certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist with Fellowship status in The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The American College of Surgeons and The American Board for Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, and currently serves on the Committee on Government Affairs for The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  Laura E. Crim, MD
  CDI Physician Advisor
  WellSpan Health
  Pennsylvania 
Dr. Crim is a physician advisor for CDI and emergency physician at WellSpan Health. She obtained her medical degree from Georgetown University and completed her residency training at Wake Forest North Carolina Baptist Medical Center. Her healthcare experience includes 25 years as a practicing emergency physician. She has served as ACMIO, CMIO, and lead physician for an Epic Go-Live during a system merger and the early part of the COVID pandemic. She served as chief medical officer for WellSpan’s West Region for two years. In 2023 she left this role to pursue her interest in clinical documentation. Since early 2023, she has been the first and only physician advisor for CDI for WellSpan’s six acute care hospitals located in South Central Pennsylvania. Her time is spent on CDI education; CDI work with clinical, quality and mortality reviews; and been working with WellSpan’s nine service lines to improve and standardize documentation.

  AJ Hegg, MD
  CDI Medical Director 
  Essentia Health Systems
  Duluth, Minnesota

Dr. Hegg has been the CDI medical director for the Essentia Health System since 2019 and is based out of Duluth, Minnesota. He recently became the medical director and lead physician advisor for utilization management at Essentia in 2022. He is board-certified in critical care, internal medicine, and emergency medicine and practices clinically as an intensivist and emergency physician. He completed residency and fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan in 2012, and graduated from medical school at the University of Minnesota in 2006.

  Fakhar Khan, MD
  Medical Director, HCC Revenue Cycle
  Hartford Healthcare
  Farmington, Connecticut

Dr. Khan is an experienced hospitalist with a background in internal medicine. After graduating from New York Medical College in 2009, he completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC. Since 2012, he has provided high-quality patient care as a hospitalist and continues to be actively involved in clinical practice. In addition to his clinical duties, he is deeply passionate about medical education, particularly CDI. He firmly believes that accurate and comprehensive documentation is crucial for patient care and hospital efficiency. This belief drives his commitment to teaching and mentoring his colleagues about the importance of CDI and the significant impact their documentation can have.

  Natasha Rai Morris, MD
  Associate Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Services
  AdventHealth Hospital, Central Florida

Dr. Rai serves as the associate chief medical officer (ACMO) for clinical services at AdventHealth Hospital in the Central Florida division. In this pivotal role, she offers direct oversight to the physician advisor program and CDI department, contributing significantly to the hospital's commitment to delivering exceptional patient care. Originally hailing from Canada, Dr. Rai graduated from Windsor University Medical School and furthered her education by obtaining a Master of Healthcare Administration from Louisiana State University. She completed her Internal Medicine residency program at Mount Sinai Hospital. Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine, Dr. Rai currently practices as a hospitalist, combining her clinical expertise with her administrative roles. Dr. Rai's dedication to advancing healthcare quality is evident in her certifications in healthcare quality and management from the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, as well as the American College of Physicians advisors.

  Vaughn Matacale, MD, CCDS
  Director, Physician Advisor Group
  ECU Health
  Greenville, North Carolina

Dr. Matacale is the director of the physician advisor group at ECU Health in Greenville, North Carolina. Matacale’s advisor team has grown to eight fulltime physicians and one physician assistant, and they are responsible for conducting post-discharge pre-bill reviews; educating and supporting the coding, CDI, and medical staff; and providing full utilization review (UR) support. Matacale has over 19 years of experience in UR work and continues to practice hospital medicine. He currently chairs the Patient Safety Indicator committee and sits on his hospital’s patient safety and quality improvement committee and mortality committee. Matacale serves on the ACDIS Advisory Board, is a past member of the Physician Advisor Mastermind, and is a past attendee of the ACDIS Physician Advisor Exchange.

  Martin Perez, MD, MBA, FHM
  Medical Director, Documentation Integrity
  Accuity Healthcare
  Houston, Texas
Dr. Perez is a board-certified internal medicine physician with a combined 22 years of inpatient and outpatient clinical experience. He has an MBA degree with a major concentration in healthcare administration. He is currently a medical director for a physician-led hospital documentation integrity and review service and has 8 years of combined experience in clinical leadership, utilization review, risk management, quality improvement, and quality assurance. He was a co-author for the recommendations and position statement in vascular access with the Society of Hospital Medicine. He has experience with evidence-based medicine, clinical operations, medical informatics, and population health as well as Medicare Advantage, Medicare, Medicaid, commercial health insurance, HMOs, ACOs, and PPOs. He has a passion for quality management, and evidence-based medical care and enjoys teaching these concepts to healthcare providers and management teams.

  Catherine Pesek Bird, DO, MBA, CHCQM-PHYADV
  Physician Advisor
  Lakeland Regional Medical Center
  Lakeland, Florida
Dr. Pesek is a physician advisor at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, a 910-bed, Level 2 trauma center and teaching hospital with the second busiest emergency department in the country. Her areas of focus include utilization management, CDI, and quality measures. She provides education in these areas, both in formal didactic settings, during rounds, and at the elbow as needed. Before coming to Lakeland Regional Health, Pesek practiced as an academic cardiologist in a large Big Ten medical center, leading teams of fellows, residents, and medical students. She provided direct patient care to cardiac patients, including transplant recipients and pregnant patients with either acquired or congenital heart disease. She worked on quality improvement programs in heart failure, sepsis, cardiac catheterization, and medication adherence.

  Maria Anaizza Aurora Reyna, MD, FHM
  Medical Director of Clinical Documentation and Quality Improvement 
  Mount Sinai Hospital
  New York

Dr. Reyna serves as medical director of clinical documentation and quality improvement at Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens, where she leads multidisciplinary initiatives to ensure documentation accurately captures the complexity and severity of patient illness. She  has developed and implemented targeted education programs and real-time documentation interventions that improve the fidelity of coded data, directly supporting better patient outcomes, optimized reimbursement, and institutional compliance. As PI Champion on the Mount Sinai Health System Quality and Performance Improvement Committee, she spearheads the development of key performance indicators for CDI and oversees institutional initiatives to advance documentation excellence. In addition, Dr. Reyna is an associate professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and serves as associate chief of the division of hospital medicine. She has authored peer-reviewed publications on interdisciplinary care, communication, and palliative care integration, and is a frequent presenter at national conferences. 

  Christopher Riccard, MD
  VP of Hospital Medicine and CDI
  Advent Health
  Altamonte Springs, Florida
 
Following undergraduate training Dr. Riccard attended medical school at Ross University. He completed his family medicine residency in Tallahassee, FL which was followed by a relocation to Daytona Beach, FL to work for AdventHealth Daytona Beach. Dr. Riccard originally practiced as a nocturnist prior to accepting a leadership position with the Hospitalist program. Early in his career, he transitioned into a Medical Director role with the AdventHealth Medical Group Daytona Beach Hospitalist team followed by an advancement into the Regional Executive Medical Director of Inpatient Medicine role for the program. In this role he oversaw strategy and clinical operations of the Hospitalist, Neurohospitalist, SNFist and Palliative Care programs across 6 campuses. Dr. Riccard currently serves as the VP of Hospital Medicine and Clinical Documentation Integrity for AdventHealth, a 51 Hospital system covering 9 states, guiding strategy and system operations in these areas.