This week I have a conversation with a great guest, Dr. Christian Zouain. He came to the U.S. after completing medical school in the Dominican Republic. Once here, he worked on completing his boards and applying to residencies. In the meantime, he began working as a medical assistant and scribe.
He was able to transition to utilization management and made the decision not to pursue a residency position. But his role in UM did not fully capitalize on his medical background.
So he began looking for his next career pivot by actively networking and looking for other positions. He discovered clinical documentation improvement, and it seemed to be an ideal way to apply his medical background and support hospital physicians.
He joined the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS) and enrolled in a coding and ICD-10 course. By stepping up his networking efforts, he located a nearby hospital that was holding an open house for physicians interested in CDI work.
He attended and was offered a job as a result. Since then he has become a CDI expert, and is now serving as a CDI advisor remotely with his new employer.
He loves his work. He believes he is adding value to the hospitals he serves, and to the physicians who struggle to understand complex coding and documentation guidelines.
