2026 ACDIS Encore: Clinical & Coding Online

2026 ACDIS Encore: Clinical & Coding Online

Live Virtual | August 4-6, 2026

Were you unable to attend the 2026 ACDIS conference in Chicago? Or maybe you were there but had to make some tough choices about which breakout sessions to attend. Well, this is your opportunity to catch what you missed!

Join us Tuesday, August 4 through Thursday, August 6, 2026, for this special virtual event featuring sessions recorded live during the 2026 ACDIS Conference—the entire Clinical & Coding track!

This much-loved staple of the annual conference features core clinical and coding components vital to all those engaged in ongoing medical record reviews. Feel empowered as you experience thought-provoking sessions including:

• EMR Express: Riding the L to Better Cancer Documentation
• Code Blue! Optimizing Documentation in the ICU Setting
• Heart Failure: Documentation Caveats and Considerations for Coding Precision
• Understanding Stroke Coding Concepts
• To B20 or Not to B20? Clinical Documentation for HIV Populations
• And much more!

Recharge your soul and revive your passion for the profession at ACDIS Encore: Clinical & Coding Online!

At the completion of this educational activity, the learner will be able to:

• Apply cancer coding guidelines to determine the principal diagnosis.
• Assess queries for clarity, clinical relevance, and effectiveness.
• List intensive care unit (ICU) documentation best practices that lead to the most accurate representation of a patient’s critical illness.
• Identify documentation elements that influence quality reporting, continuity of care, and patient outcomes across the episode of care.
• Identify common clinical documentation gaps and patterns in complex surgical cases that lead to incorrect DRG assignment.
• Identify the pathophysiologic processes involved in strokes and apply stroke related Coding Clinics to guide proper code selection.

*Once the event has concluded, you’ll have access to all recordings for 60 days.

2026 ACDIS Encore: Clinical & Coding Online

Virtual Conference Day 1 — Tuesday, August 4, 2026

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
EMR Express: Riding the L to Better Cancer Documentation
Mercy C. Gonzalez, MSN, RN, CCDS, and Amy Kratochvil, RHIT, CCDS, CDIP
Join the University of Chicago team for an in-depth discussion of neoplasm coding and sequencing as they draw from their efforts to improve documentation and code capture for cancer sites and common cancer-related conditions. The speakers will explain the importance of accurately capturing metastatic cancer. Recognizing the challenges pathology report queries pose for CDI specialists and physicians alike, they’ll also share strategies for success.

1:10 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.
What Providers See: Writing Queries That Work
Beth Wolf, MD, CPC, CCDS
This fast-paced session gives CDI specialists a behind-the-scenes look at how physicians interpret queries—and why some get answered inappropriately or even ignored. The speaker will break down real examples, highlight what makes a query fly (or flop), and empower you to efficiently craft queries that get answered the first time. Overcome common barriers to provider engagement as you experience less frustration and more documentation wins.

2:20 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
Heart Failure: Documentation Caveats and Considerations for Coding Precision
Andrea Rush, BSN, RN, CCDS
In this session, the speaker will discuss clinical and coding considerations for heart failure, including the importance of specifying acuity and etiology. Attendees will learn pertinent coding conventions, cardiovascular pathology, and conditions that can affect principal diagnosis selection. Through case studies and real-life examples, the speaker will illustrate common query opportunities, the use of clinical indicators, and the application of coding guidelines.

3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. 
Cerebral Edema for CDI Specialists
Dawn Valdez, RN, CCDS, CDIP
Understanding when to query for cerebral edema and which clinical indicators support the query choices can be challenging for CDI specialists. Unclear language, or terminology that doesn’t align with a specific code, can make this task even more difficult. This session will explore clinical indications that support querying for cerebral edema, offering a better understanding of this potentially life-threatening condition that CDI specialists commonly encounter in record reviews.

Virtual Conference Day 2 — Wednesday, August 5, 2026

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Code Blue! Optimizing Documentation in the ICU Setting
Trey La Charité, MD, FACP, SFHM, CCS, CCDS
In the ICU, documentation is often a secondary consideration for providers trying to treat acutely ill, complex patients. Furthermore, many ICU providers do not understand the importance of complete and accurate diagnosis capture, nor the related challenges of doing so in the ICU environment. In this session, learn simple and effective documentation strategies that your ICU providers can employ to improve capture of ICU diagnoses and become familiar with the diagnoses that ICU providers most frequently fail to capture. Plus, the speaker will review methodologies to improve communication between ICU providers and coders, reducing the query load and improving recovery audit denial prevention.

1:10 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.
Strengthening the Backbone of Documentation: CDI Opportunities in Spine Surgery
Kathryn DeVault, MSL, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, FAHIMA, and Rachel Mack, MSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP, CCS, CRC
This session will provide a comprehensive overview of spinal surgery from both CDI and coding perspectives. The speakers will introduce the relevant pathophysiology and key data trends driving spinal procedure volumes and complexity, explore common ICD-10-CM principal diagnoses associated with spinal surgeries, and offer practical guidance for accurate code assignment. The session will conclude by identifying often-overlooked documentation improvement opportunities while surfacing other areas where documentation clarity can have a significant impact. Attendees will leave with actionable insights to elevate documentation accuracy and support better outcomes across the continuum of spinal care.

2:20 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
Seeing the Patient, Not Just the Chart: CDI for Clinical and Quality Alignment
Rhoda Chism, MHL, RN, CCDS, CCS, CPHQ, and Diana O'Connor, BSN, RN, CCDS, CCS, CDIP
CDI has historically focused on reimbursement and coding accuracy. But to remain relevant and impactful, CDI must evolve to embrace a patient-centered mindset. We must review the medical record as if we were advocating for the patient, ensuring it reflects the full clinical picture, the severity of illness, and the rationale behind care decisions. This session will explore what it means to perform CDI through a patient-centered lens that supports quality metrics, risk adjustment, clinical communication, and health equity.

Virtual Conference Day 3 — Thursday, August 6, 2026

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
DRG Reconciliation: Trends From the Trenches
Angela Carmichael, MBA, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CDIP, CRC
Join the speaker to examine DRG reconciliation cases and unlock valuable educational insights. The analysis spans topics such as diagnosis and procedure code capture, accurate assignment, principal diagnosis sequencing, and clinical validation. Each case offers an opportunity to enhance reporting accuracy, payment integrity, length of stay management, and denial prevention strategies. Attendees will explore how these findings can be leveraged to advance their organization's CDI performance.

1:10 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.
Understanding Stroke Coding Concepts
Mary Varughese, RN, BSN, CCDS, MBA
Through case examples, this session will clarify key stroke coding guidance and related concepts. The presentation will cover items such as the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, neurological deficits associated with stroke, and various treatment modalities. Additionally, the speaker will review brain anatomy as well as the different types of strokes (e.g., small vessel stroke and aborted stroke) and corresponding coding guidelines.

2:20 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
To B20 or Not to B20? Clinical Documentation for HIV Populations
Tonya Skeen, MSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP, and Christina (Dara) Stickler, RN, CCDS
This session will cover the pathophysiology, treatment, and coding of HIV as well as common opportunistic infections and recent coding updates. Case studies will allow for discussion of potential query opportunities and code sequencing of inpatient encounters. Participants will leave this session with enhanced knowledge of compliant and clinically supported documentation strategies for providers treating HIV patients

— Agenda subject to change — 

2026 ACDIS Encore: Clinical & Coding Online

Speakers

Angela Carmichael, MBA, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CDIP, CRC, has over 25 years of experience in the health information management field. She has led both inpatient and outpatient clinical documentation, coding, and recovery audit contracting and appeal teams. In addition, she has served in several leadership positions for organizations such as HCA, Nuance Communications, J.A. Thomas & Association, Equian, Verisk Health, Versalus Health and CorroHealth.

Rhoda Chism, MHL, RN, CCDS, CCS, CPHQ, is the director of clinical services–CDI at Waystar. With more than 36 years in nursing and 25 years in CDI, she combines deep clinical knowledge and strategic expertise to help hospitals improve documentation accuracy, quality, and financial integrity. Her experience spans critical care, emergency medicine, case management, and utilization review—offering a full view of patient care. A frequent national and ACDIS local chapter presenter, Chism is known for her relatable, down-to-earth style that blends real-world experience, evidence-based practices, and a touch of humor. She delivers practical, engaging sessions that resonate with clinical teams, coders, and executives alike. Her passion is helping healthcare organizations capture, understand, and act on clinical data to improve patient outcomes and make documentation meaningful.

Kathryn DeVault, MSL, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, FAHIMA, is the system director of HIM for Bozeman Health based in Bozeman, Montana. Previously the director of quality and education at United Audit Systems, Inc. and senior director of coding and reimbursement for AHIMA, DeVault has more than 30 years of experience within HIM, coding and CDI. DeVault was one of the primary ICD-10-CM/PCS content developers and instructors for the AHIMA ICD-10-CM/PCS Academy and has presented numerous seminars and educational sessions on HIM- and CDI-related topics. Additionally, DeVault has authored multiple HIM and CDI articles, including contributing to the ACDIS/AHIMA Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice.

Mercy C. Gonzalez, MSN, RN, CCDS, is a highly experienced CDI auditor and educator, currently serving at University of Chicago Medicine. She began her nursing career in 2001 as a med-surg RN and then transitioned to nursing management at UChicago. In 2009, she became one of the two founding CDI specialists of the UChicago CDI program. She is responsible for educating CDI staff, delivering provider-facing presentations, conducting query and chart audits, and actively contributing to the PC-06 committee, where she collaborates with providers to address challenges with documentation of normal newborn care. Gonzalez has led numerous staff education initiatives, including the development and implementation of the Cardiothoracic observed-to-expected (O:E) project. Her efforts have led to the implementation of efficacious query guidelines, enhancement of O:E metrics, and evolution of denial rebuttals.

Amy Kratochvil, RHIT, CCDS, CDIP, serves as the system director for health information management, coding, and CDI for UChicago Medicine. She has been in the coding and CDI field for 20 years, starting as an inpatient coder at UChicago Medicine and entering an auditing and coding manager role within a few years. The CDI program started under her leadership in 2009 and has since grown from two to 25 CDI specialists. Kratochvil has worked closely on initiatives related to length of stay planning, improvement in expected mortality, denial prevention, and Patient Safety Indicator/hospital-acquired condition reductions. She is always looking for ways that technology can help, including working with the data analytics team to target discrete data elements for documentation opportunities. Kratochvil was elected to the ACDIS Advisory Board for the 2024–2027 term, is a current member of the ACDIS CDI Leadership Council, and was a past member of the 2023–2024 ACDIS Leadership Council Mastermind.

Trey La Charité, MD, FACP, SFHM, CCS, CCDS, is the medical director for clinical documentation, coding, and utilization integrity at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. An ACDIS Advisory Board member, he has presented numerous times at the annual ACDIS national conference and ACDIS Physician Advisor Forum. He has written several CDI books that address physician advisor training, program management, and recovery auditor appeals. He has been a practicing hospitalist for over 20 years, is a clinical associate professor in the department of medicine, and is the curriculum director for their residency program’s hospitalist rotation. He has additional responsibilities spanning case management, utilization review, medical records, compliance, and performance improvement.

Rachel Mack, MSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP, CCS, CRC, has over 13 years of experience in CDI, with more than 17 years in healthcare as a registered nurse. She has built CDI teams from the ground up and helped lead multiple hospital systems in CDI innovation and advancing their CDI programs. Prior to joining UASI, Mack spent six years as CDI specialist, educator, regional manager, and auditor at SCL Health (now Intermountain) in Colorado. She also worked at Iodine Software, supporting CDI education and advancing technology in prioritization in CDI, and at Vizient, leading a variety of consulting projects related to risk adjustment and improving quality initiatives. She has presented at various ACDIS and AHIMA conferences and webinars and was leader of the Colorado ACDIS local chapter for three years. Her nursing experience includes CVICU at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she recovered fresh hearts from the OR and treated end-stage heart failure patients.

Diana O'Connor, BSN, RN, CCDS, CCS, CDIP, is an industry expert with over 35 years of experience in healthcare, dedicating the last 18 years to the mid-revenue cycle. As the vice president of clinical services at Waystar, she helps customers navigate complex mid-revenue cycle challenges. She leverages technology to enhance workflow efficiencies across CDI, utilization management, and post-discharge reviews. Her expertise encompasses strategy, change management, and cultivating strong relationships with both end-users and executives within the clinical mid-revenue cycle.

Andrea Rush, BSN, RN, CCDS, is a CDI coding education auditor and has been in healthcare for 40 years, 29 of those as a registered nurse. Her background is in emergency medical/fire service, trauma and cardiovascular intensive care, community health education in trauma and injury prevention, PACU, and international medical and dental teams outreach. She started her CDI journey in 2015 in Portland, Oregon and then transferred to Texas in 2016 to establish the heart failure CDI audit program at Baylor Scott & White Health System. She currently works on the Coding Education Program CDI Team as an auditor with a focus on mortality, stroke, and heart failure encounters.

Tonya Skeen, MSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP, is an associate director at Banner Health and has been an active part of the CDI community for 17 years. Her background includes consulting, critical care nursing, product development, and clinical education. As a seasoned CDI professional, she has managed, advised, and educated CDI professionals at their workplace across the United States. Skeen is also a member of the Arizona ACDIS local Chapter, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and Leadership Council Quality Mastermind.

Christina (Dara) Stickler, RN, CCDS, is a CDI education and compliance consultant at Banner Health and has been an active part of the CDI community for 11 years. Her background includes over 20 years of clinical nursing in critical care, invasive cardiology, and telephone triage.

Dawn Valdez, RN, CCDS, CDIP, works at Accuity Healthcare as a senior director of CDI education and has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Her experience includes critical care nursing, legal nurse consulting, and CDI education/management for a large hospital system. She was also an educator/instructor for ACDIS until 2023 when she left to join Accuity Healthcare. Valdez has been a guest on the ACDIS Podcast; additionally, she authored the CDI Specialist’s Training Guide, Third Edition as well as articles in CDI Journal, CDI Strategies, and the JustCoding newsletter. Valdez has presented on several topics at ACDIS national and virtual symposiums and continues to present for a variety of ACDIS local chapters and AHIMA state associations.

Mary Varughese, RN, BSN, CCDS, MBA, has been a nurse for 20 years with clinical experience in telemetry and adult critical care and a CDI specialist for 8 years. Her current focused review areas are inpatient stroke, mortality (using CMS variables and measures), PC-06 Unexpected Complications in Term Newborns, heart failure, and oncology mortality reviews. Her areas of expertise include retrospective second-level review after coding, principal diagnosis validation, CC/MCC capture, compliant physician querying, and coder education. In 2025, she presented education on stroke coding and clinical validation of severe protein-calorie malnutrition.

Beth Wolf, MD, CPC, CCDS, is board certified in internal medicine, palliative medicine, and clinical informatics. She spent more than 20 years at the bedside and 10 years as a CDI physician advisor in a four-hospital healthcare system, serving as the primary liaison to the medical staff on coding and documentation issues. She currently trains physicians on the impact of their documentation and works to improve data reliability and align CDI efforts with physician and system priorities.

2026 ACDIS Encore: Clinical & Coding Online

Pricing

Retail price: $399.00
Membership price: $379.00
2026 ACDIS National Conference attendee price: $299.00

Group pricing is as follows:

• 4-10 attendees = each attendee receives 10% discount off retail price
• 11-15 attendees = each attendee receives 15% discount off retail price
• 16-20 attendees = each attendee receives 20% discount off retail price
• 21+ attendees = each attendee receives 25% discount off retail price

2026 ACDIS Encore: Clinical & Coding Online

Continuing Education

Coming Soon!