I’ve been in the coding and CDI worlds since 2004, and in that time watched the rise of Facebook, YouTube and other social media. And as early 2011 or so I began to wonder, will anyone pair these two together?

When will see our first social media creator in the world of medical coding, making it his or her full-time gig?

I’m pleased to say that the day has arrived. Victoria Vo is a Medical Coding Educator, Auditor, YouTuber, Entrepreneur, and founder of Contempo Coding, LLC. Her YouTube channel has 187,000 subscribers and she's created close to 600 videos, some of which have racked up more than half a million views.

If you’ve met or seen Victoria you know this did not happen by chance. She’s a natural educator, charismatic and personable. But she’s also very knowledgeable about coding, passionate about the profession, and an outspoken industry advocate. We get into all this and more in a very social episode of Off the Record.

On this show we discuss:

• Victoria’s coding origin story
• Contempo Coding, the business and what it’s about
• Becoming a creator: Challenges and early side-hustle successes, timeline to earning her first $, and how she left coding to become full-time entrepreneur
• Three times she was recognized as a coding celebrity outside of AAPC conferences
• Advice for someone who wants to pursue content creation
• A joint ChatGPT rant (we both sound off on how we use it, and see it abused)
• What makes for a good coding professional
• Other fun stuff including her top resources and Off the Record Spotify playlist selection

Even if you’ve never seen The Godfather, you've probably heard its iconic line: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

That certainly applies to Sheila Duhon, National Director of Clinical Documentation Integrity for Steward Health Care. A year ago Sheila was headed toward semi-retirement, but changing events on the ground in the beleaguered healthcare system prompted her to get back into the game with her old organization.

Sheila is a 2022 CDI Professional of the Year award winner, a published author and passionate educator, but above all possesses a strong moral compass and a willingness to do what’s right for her CDI team and the patients they serve—one which has served her well in a tough spot.

On this show we cover:

• Sheila’s second act in CDI, from semi-retirement to full-time leadership role
• The cloud over Steward: How she puts that aside and focuses on the task at hand
• Her formative experiences as a nurse thrust into the ICU at age 19
• What makes for a good CDI educator, including her story of a challenging first educational session for a group of providers
• CDI as she sees it: A clarification that hospitals still miss, pros/cons of the current state of the profession
• Timeline toward retirement part 2 and final words of advice. Plus of course Sheila’s selection for the Off the Record Spotify playlist.

We all get excited—and rightfully so—at the rapid advance of clinical medicine. New treatments, therapies, and drugs save lives. But when you work in the revenue cycle, you know that payment mechanisms can significantly lag new technologies.

When codes don’t exist, or reimbursement is woefully inadequate, you have to take action. Petition, sometimes at the highest levels of government.

Jugna Shah is fighting for improved coverage and reimbursement for CAR-T and other cell and gene therapies, a trip that recently took her all the way to Capitol Hill. On this episode she talks about exciting work underway to improve healthcare accessibility and reimbursement, shaking hands with popular politicians, and of course some can’t miss documentation and coding tips.

On this show we cover:

• Jugna’s mission and the mission of Nimitt Consulting
• CAR-T and other cell and gene therapies: Current reimbursement mechanisms, insurance and coverage issues, and regulatory guidance
• Jugna’s advocacy efforts at the recent White House Cell and Gene Therapy Forum
• What came out of the Forum and what’s next given the recent change in administration
• What hospitals can do today to receive appropriate reimbursement for these life-saving therapies (she offers up some great advice on setting appropriate charges, citing the regulations)
• Where are we with drug administration (i.e., coding of injections/infusions)